Neighbour roof and new car

[Advicespls19]

Advice please I’m really stressing. Due to the bad weather last night the neighbours roof fell down and debris fell on our new car! Less than one month old car on PCP for 4 years. There is no real damage apart from a tiny dent in the passenger door. It’s very small and only can see up close.

what do I do? I spoke to neighbour and he said I don’t claim through him I claim on my home insurance or I should take it to a car garage that specialise in car dents. He’s a really lovely guy and I don’t want to fall out over this with him so I’m looking for advice on what to do. Can this be easily fixed? The dent is tiny probably half the size of a 5p coin

You remind me of myself with all the worry and the unhelpful husband.!

firstly, I have had many PCP deals with new cars and much to my annoyance nearly always something happens. I have had scuffed alloys (my own fault) and small scratches (not my fault)I have repaired some of these before switching cars but not all of them. overall I don’t think minor damage makes that much difference.
If it makes you feel better, look for a good local body shop repair place and get it repaired. I had a quote from Arnold Clark for £800 for one of my scratches but managed to get it perfectly repaired for £200 by an independent garage.

if you want to ask your insurance company for advise theN fair enough. When our neighbours were building an extension, some wood fell off the scaffolding and damaged our workman’s van. It was frustrating but not it did get sorted via the builders liability insurance

lastly, your husband should not be shouting and swearing at you. Not acceptable especially for a small dent in a car.

i hope you feel better soon

You have a nasty abusive husband.
Contact Women's aid for support.
Do your children witness this?
If so he is abusing them too.
Seek support.

PCP car owner here we’ve had a few. Last one I reversed in to a bollard 4 days after getting it 🙈. Had a small dent actually bigger than yours sounds but was minimal cosmetic damage and I didn’t get it fixed. When we changed cars over few months ago it didn’t actually impact our lives too much. They were not overly bothered. There were also other cosmetic damages to the interior. Would have cost us more claiming on insurance or paying yo get it fixed. For what you describe I wouldn’t be getting it fixed nor claiming on insurance will have a greater effect on your no claims etc. I wouldn’t think about it till you are changing cars.

I appreciate you are anxious but your neighbours roof has been hit by lightening and fallen down. This probably isn’t the ideal time to discuss a tiny dent in your car with him.

In what way do you think the neighbour has been negligent? They won’t be liable for the damage to the OP’s car.

If my house got struck by lightning and my roof fell down and my neighbour came and said there was a dent to the roof of their car that is so small you can’t see it I would slam what was left of my front door in their face.

what I think you should do is go and apologise for being quite selfish and even telling him after what he has had happened and see if he needs any help or a meal cooked for him!

You’re allowed to feel frustrated your brand new car got dented but jeez maybe put it into perspective and at some point if you would like to get it fixed call your car insurance and ask what to do/who to claim from or go to a car repair shop and ask for a quote.

Are you in Bristol? (I'm aware a house in Emersons Green got hit on Monday night).
If so I recommend Dentmagic.

I would not claim on my insurance for this if it is barely noticeable. Wait until the four years are up and get stuff fixed before returning to dealership. Check your contract. Yes, they may dock you some money.

However, more importantly at the moment is the way you are feeling around your husband, and the awful way in which he is treating you. This is abuse. He does not get to hide behind his autism with this one. You do not get to use autism as an excuse for abusing people. This is unfair to you and it’s unfair to autistic people. You have mentioned that you have some mental health problems. I would strongly suggest that you try and get some individual counselling to stand back and help you to look at what is going on in your relationship, or contact your local DV charity for guidance and support. This is not okay. I am sorry that you are dealing with this. Is he usually abusive like this?

I wouldn’t go through my car insurance but would expect the neighbour to pay. Doesn’t his house insurance cover such accidental damage?

Sorry Op, but as someone who has leased and PCP’d cars through my business for years I can tell you that they have guidance on fair wear and tear over the term and this will fall within fair wear and tear. I can also tell you that they don’t give a damn if you eat/drink/have pets in the car or whatever as long as you have it full valeted before taking it back and don’t cause any damage above fair wear and tear. I usually hand my back immaculate and they have no clue about the cats, muddy football boots and kit, food and drink and all the rest that’s been in it.

*edited for typo

No autistic men are not all like this. Abusive men are like this. You do need to leave this man. How can you bring your children up thinking that this is normal and to be expected in a relationship?

I had a car on PCP and someone scraped it in a car park a month before I was due to give it back. Didn't get round to getting it sorted and there was no issue handing the car back with a scrape down rear and drivers side doors. They valued the car at £500 more than I was expecting even with the damage!

If I had gone through my insurance I would have had to pay the excess, lost my no claims and premium would have gone up so I'm very glad I didn't fix it.

Why does your husband not want you to park on the drive?

To be honest, I would not put up with his behaviour - life is far too short to put up with his behaviour.

Interested to hear you say there won’t be any dings on it over four years. You can’t control for things like stone chips, or even people opening doors into your car. You must be very anxious about it all the time?

As always seems to be the way … OP you have a “D”H problem. It’s that simple. Regardless of what diagnosis he may have he doesn’t get to shout and swear at you for parking on your own drive and not being able to foresee that lightening woukd strike your neighbours roof and cause it to fall leaving a minuscule dent in your new car that even he cannot see!

It is your DHs attitude and temperament that is causing you to be anxious and walking on eggshells. Your DC must be scared to put a foot wrong with him for their dad - the preciousness around the car must be tip of iceberg. And NOW his issues are impacting your poor neighbour who has just had their roof collapsed in after a lightening strike!!!! Who in their right mind approaches a neighbour about a near invisible dent to their car when their ROOF HAS FALLEN IN!!! No one in their right mind but someone (ie you) terrified of living with an out of control raging husband would approach the poor neighbour. This is what your husband has turned you into. He needs therapy to control his issues. You are living in a state of anxiety from fear of his reactions.

Your car will be okay. It isn’t your fault. It isn’t the neighbours fault. It’s just one of those things in life. I’m sure it won’t be the last dent and will be fixable before end of lease or covered under wear and tear. It shouldn’t be taking up any head space for you. It only is because of your husbands reactions. He needs help. If he doesn’t change you need leave with DC as it’s not a safe space for them to grow up in really.

No house insurance doesn't cover unless the owner was negligent. However its twisted the homeowner is not responsible for a lightning strike so should not be expected to pay. The ops car has been struck by debris from a lightning strike, would it help to reframe it that way.

Why would the neighbour not cover it...either by his insurance or out of his pocket if he admits what happened. If he was decent he would.

No he wouldn’t. It was caused by an act of God and he’s in no way liable, legally or morally.

The amount of posters who think this is hi esrly scary. It’s not like he directed the lightening to strike his house then ensured the debris would fall to dent (is it a dent if can’t actually see!?) OPe car. None of this is the neighbkurs fault!! There is no negligence. OP claims on her insurance for damage caused by nature if anything. I can’t believe how many PPs think someone should be further out of pocket for a small dent when they aren’t responsible and are already dealing with their home not having a roof!!!

I honestly wouldn't worry about it. They only charge if its above a certain measurement and yours sounds too small. And yes, if your husband is autistic, he will catastrophise the event and blame you as he had told you not to park in the drive. My husband is autistic and would be exactly the same. Its hard work having an autistic partner and requires a bit of navigating around their quirks.

No autistic men are not like that - abusive men are like that. You shouldn't be living in a world where you are scared to tell your "D"H about a minor dent in a car.

We never repair dents or scratches. Although, I appreciate we buy our car when it's a year old and keep them for around 10 -12 years.

Well clearly the issue is your horrible husband. If it weren't this it would be something else. I'd have severe anxiety and depression if I was married to him too.

Why on earth doesn't he want the car on the driveway? You've been very unlucky with the roof but generally it's the safest place to be.

Great analogy.
Insurance payments often relies on a party being negligent. If it’s a new build property, so not likely to be poorly maintained, and was struck by lighting I can’t see any fault on his part.

if you swap it with the dealer for another car, they probably won't take much off the value. I sold my Aygo to a dealer in exchange for another one on PCP and it had minor scratches, but the value wasn't affected. You might be able to pop out a small dent like that yourself.