What would you do?

Desert Orchid

Desert Orchid

Senior Jockey
Joined
Aug 2, 2005
Messages
25,014
This morning a chap stopped me as I was getting into my car to tell me he had taken the reg no of a car that had damaged mine while I was in a shop.

I got the police on to it and they've been back in touch.

They say the guy who did it is very sorry - yeah, sorry he got caught :mad: - and is offering to pay to put the damage right but wants to avoid involving the insurance company.

My problem with that is twofold.

1. I want a job at least as good as 'an insurance job'. I don't want a cheap quick fix.

2. My own insurance covers me for car hire in the event of my car being off the road for repairs. Since I'm away from home from Sunday evening/Monday morning to Friday evening, I need a car otherwise I risk losing wages for not being able to report for work. So this guy would need to see that I had a car for a week too.

Would you trust him if he says he'll ensure I have no worries on either score or would you contact your insurance?

Would you contact your insurance and tell them what happened but that we were settling the matter between us?

(Part of my problem with trusting him is that if I can't trust him to leave me a note telling me he was responsible in the first place, I don't know if I can trust him to be as good as his word. On top of that, he's an estate agent and I don't trust estate agents.)
 
Just to add to that I'm also fairly sure that if you have work done on behalf of an insurance company then it is guaranteed for a certain period of time too. Would this work be guaranteed otherwise?

Also, your terms of insurance usually state that you should inform them of any accident at all. What if (hopefully not) you have another accident after this which involves the insurance company and their assessor can see the signs of recently done work? In a day when insurance compaies seem very keen to use any reason not to pay out, this could, in theory, give them the perfect excuse.
 
Id get my insurance involved to be honest - if the bloke cant be trusted to leave you a note with his details, then theres no way that hes going to be trusted with everything else. Always makes me wonder if they HAVE insurance when they dont want to involve a company - and thats not YOUR problem. Let your insurers do their stuff - they have people to deal with things like this.
 
Last edited:
Go through the insurance. As trudij said, if he didn't leave a note, why should you trust him with repair work?
I'd also go through insurance just on principle as he should have left his details. Make him pay!
 
He claims he thought he hit the bollard that was next to the car therefore didn't think he'd hit my car hence no need to leave a note. I find that one a wee bit difficult to believe as the bollard must have been another few feet away.
 
What benefit is there for you in not going through your insurance company which is obviously the safest way? Probably none. Read your insurance policy carefully for things such as what happens if the guy retracts his statements. But I far as I can see, dodgy bloke so use ins. co.

PS Buy neighbour a drink, even if against your principles.
 
With TS on all points, especially the kind person who took the details for you. You'll invalidate your own insurance using his bodger, if it falls apart. You seem to be answering your own question in the amount of times you 'don't trust' people, DO, so why start with this?
 
Well I tried to be Mr Nice Guy (as is my manner). I arranged for a reputable repairer to examine the damage and estimate repair work. I met the chap there this morning and explained to him that he would need to ensure I had a car while my own was off the road.

First off he insisted on taking a photo of the damage, which I didn't object to. The repairs estimator was there taking notes anyway.

Then he said he was only paying for the damage he'd done. I replied, "Do you really think I'd try and get you to pay for damage you hadn't done?"

He repeated in a deadpan voice, "I will pay for the damage I caused."

I then mentioned my needing a car while mine was off the road and got the same reply, "I will pay for the damage I caused."

I said my not being able to access my car while it was off the road was damage. He said, "I will pay for the damage I caused to the car."

At this point I nodded sideways towards the exit and said, "On yer bike."

I've decided to go through the insurance. I'd contacted them during the week and they'd taken details, logging it as information for the time being. They're now taking it forward.

When I asked where I stood if he refused to co-operate they said they can deal with that. When I asked what if he refuses to make a claim or provide his insurance details, they asked me for his registration number. I'd scarcely finished when they told me his insurer and policy number! Brilliant. They said I could contact them direct and do it all that way but I've decided just to let my insurers do it all and claim it back from the third party.
 
I got a message on Monday evening telling me the repair centre had been trying to get in touch with me.

I phoned them yesterday and spoke to the estimator. He told me the other party had been on the phone pestering him for details of what the work was going to cost as he wanted to know how much his insurance was going to hit him for. The estimator told me he told him that was now a matter for the two insurance companies and that he was not at liberty to say. He said the guy was not at all happy.:)

He gave me a "rough" idea of what it would be.:lol::lol:;)
 
It seems my claim against the third party is going uncontested. That in itself is a bit of a result. I really thought he'd try to argue the toss. So, instead of getting a very basic courtesy car from the repairers, my insurers sorted a like-for-like courtesy car, which was to be a Peugeot 407 or Skoda Superb or something like that. (I'm not sure they're true like-for-likes with a Jaguar but as long as I had a decent diesel with cruise control for getting me up and down the M74 I wasn't really minding.

As it turned out, they've given me a Land Rover Freelander diesel automatic. I'm not over-impressed with it (although I've always said I wouldn't mind switching to automatic transmission one day). I had to switch off the sat-nav - what a total f*cking waste of time that is - and it doesn't have a heated front windscreen. Being a bit of a midget myself, I find it quite a climb into the cabin, which I don't really like.

Still, it's got to be better than a Corsa.

And best of all, the third party's insurance will have to cover the cost.
 
Last edited:
So, let's see... a bulky 4x4 automatic, with a hateful SatNav which just annoys you, doesn't heat up its front windows, and which is a pain to climb up into - that's a like-for-like with a Jag stick shift saloon? Who arranged this for you - a yak-loader in Ulan Bator?
 
Back
Top