Car hit by builders - what are my rights?

[Brooklyn70]

Hello all

My car was parked in my driveway and the builder next door crashed into it with a forklift when reversing.

I had recently arrived home so I think he must have been reversing into my driveway all morning and didn’t even look.

the builder opened a claim with his liability insurance and after 2.5 months we got a reply today saying they’re offering x money. This has been calculated by a company they use to assess how much a repair costs and has been done by just looking at the evidence pictures we sent.

their offer is £772 under the lowest of the two quotes we sent them.

the thing is that it’s a brand new car on lease and in order To keep the warranty, it must be repaired at an approved garage, which is where we got the quotes.

spoke with the garage manager and they said they can try and lower the costs, but cannot guarantee they can go that low.

the builder seems to be under the impression this has nothing to do with him and we believe he should pay us the difference.

I cannot believe that we could be liable to pay for something that wasn’t our fault whatsoever.

we have sent an email back to the insurer asking them to reconsider, but don’t think we’ll have much luck.

spoke with my car insurer and there’s nothing they can do either, as it’s nothing to do with them and the other vehicle doesn’t have a number plate.

does anyone know where we stand in terms of having to pay the difference?

thanks a lot

I’d be expecting the neighbours getting the building work done to pay the shortfall. Our neighbours are currently getting a massive extension which means that for months our car has constantly been filthy with concrete and dust. They’ve paid for it to be valeted every 2 weeks - but I do appreciate that we have absolutely lovely, generous neighbours and not many would do this!

Do you have legal cover on your home or car insurance. If you do not accept their offer (and I wouldn't) then the next step would be to take the builder (via his insurance) to court.

Insurance companies will offer you whatever they wish (and they are sometimes a law unto themselves!) However you are legally entitled to be put back into the same position as you were in prior to the incident...

the difference is made up by your going ahead with the work / getting an invoice / suing the builder for the difference in the small claim court.

Up to him to then pass that to his insurance company if he wishes, but it is him you sue...

Home insurance doesn’t cover the car and my car insurance said they can try and recover my loss, but that would mean opening a claim that could affect my no claim bonus

Thanks, the house is being fully renovated and the neighbours have moved temporarily to another house.

i doubt they would be happy to coup up though…

you’re very lucky!

I would sue the building company for the shortfall.
Small claims court.

I’ll wait and see if they get back to me with a Higher amount, the garage manager has even offered to discuss the quote with them, he was lovely, but I think ultimately there will be an outstanding amount and the builder should cover it.

unfortunately, it’s not like with car insurance that they pay the garage directly. With liability, they would pay me and I have to pay the garage myself, and then the insurance would pay me for the VAT after I present the invoice, so I have to pay upfront.

there are months ahead of works and they’ve already asked access to our garage roof for a window they need to open next to it, so it would be short sighted of him to say no.

thanks to everyone!

Never done that and I wonder how complicated it is, but ultimately, I think it would be the way forward.

I can’t believe he thinks it’s reasonable for us to lose money on this.

he was like ‘the insurance must know how much it costs to repair a car’. Justifying their lower quote.

I would provide 3 quotes from garages that your lease will accept the work. Then if his insurance won’t pay you sue.

until you are made whole, don’t let the neighbors have any access to your property. Not a single inch. When they do, make sure you get an agreement in writing about damages being covered.

We provided 2, which is what they requested.

they’ve offered us £772 less than the cheaper one.

these are the two local approved VW garages I was referred to.

there aren’t those many around, but I guess I could expand my radius and get yet another quote.

As others have said, the builder is liable for the full cost of the repair. If his insurer refuses to pay the full cost, you take legal action against him. You start by sending a letter before action setting out the facts, how much he owes, how you've calculated that figure and listing any documents you want from him to help with your case. You send that with copies of any documents you will use to support your case (the quotes, any correspondence, etc.), give him a reasonable deadline to respond (28 days is normal) and say that, in the absence of a satisfactory response by the deadline, you anticipate taking legal action without further notice. Once the deadline has passed, you can start your claim.

This would be a small claim which is reasonably straightforward. You don't need a lawyer for this and you shouldn't use one - you won't be able to reclaim your legal costs from the builder. You can, however, add the court costs to your claim.

Thanks!

we’ll definitely do this if he refuses to cough up.

he hasn’t responded to texts today, we think he may be waiting to see what his insurer says to our email today.

I created this thread because I thought I might be told ‘tough luck, there’s nothing you can do about it’, but we’ll definitely not just accept it without a fight.

This is definitely worth fighting. If his insurance won’t pay, that is his problem to deal with.