auto accident claim

[CanadianJohn]

Sorry to ask this here - is there an auto section? - but I have no one to ask IRL. Please note I am in Canada, I'm sure rules are different here, it's the principle I want more than everything.

About 18 days ago my wife got too close to a parked vehicle, and grazed the side. Just paint damage, really. It was a 1998 pickup, in terrible shape, rust and dents all over it. We knocked on doors, found the owner, and agreed we would pay for his damage.

I was prepared to give a couple of hundred dollars right then, but the owner insisted he wanted the repair "done properly" and was going to get an estimate. Since then, we have heard nothing.

Neither of us particularly want to go thru insurance; the companies have a terrible reputation for increasing premiums with the slightest excuse.

My question is, how long to we have to wait, before I can tell the guy "ancient history, forget it." It seems to me 18 days is long enough to get an estimate.

In the UK he would have several years to make a claim against you.

A two second google search showed me this.

Most insurance companies have time limits within which you must submit your claim. The limit usually varies from 90 days to 12 months from the date of the loss or event.

www.canada.ca/en/financial-consumer-agency/services/insurance/make-claim.html

So maybe check your insurance T&Cs instead of asking on a (predominately British) online forum.