car park "accident"

[lurves]

my husband took our 6 yr old to an after school activity last week, he parked next to a car and she accidently hit the other car when she opened the car door!

this is a church car park, she has had a quote for �310 to remove what my husband describes as a "crease" - HELP!

[MargeB]

Insurers may not cover 'Acts of God'.

[scarletpimp]

If you are admitting that you caused the damage, yet you think the quote is excessive, why don't you offer to find a cheaper quote for them.

[mattie]

That sounds too much, I scraped my car on a concrete pillar in a carpark, and it left a fairly big dent, not to mention the damage to the surrounding paint work.

This cost me �170 to have fixed.

I would go to another body shop.

[Grunty]

As mattie says, shop around.  If you are not making an insurance claim, say so because it will probably be cheaper.  I had a bit of damage for which one firm after another wanted �400 + Vat.  I arrived at a small firm where the owner apologised and said that he would have to charge �100 including vat. 

[Francis Asis]

Isn't it "knock for knock" in a car park?

[BillyNoMates]

Talk to your insurance company FIRST.

Although it was on private property they should advise you accordingly.

[woofgang]

no it is not knock for knock!

[jake-the-peg]

She may feel thay as it was not her fault then she deserves to have the job done "properly" and has gotten a quote from a main dealer.

Depending on the age and condition of the car she may have a point. If it's new and has a full dealer service history it would seem reasonable for the repair to be done by a main dealer - if it's into it's second decade and a bit worse for wear then obviously less so.

I would ask where the quote was from and ask for a second competetive quote.

But remember bodywork can be very expensive and you havent told us what type of car it is whether it was metalic paint - that can have quite a bearing on the price

[MJT2003]

The Knock for Knock agreement no longer exists between insurance companies - they stopped using it in the mid 90s. It is not, as commonly thought, 50/50.

 

I'm happy to explain how it worked if anybody is interested, but its very boring!

[lurves]

thanks!

 

just to elaborate:

 

it is a fairly new car, we are of course happy (if thats the right word!) to pay for the damage, the crease didn;t break the paint and it is qiute close to the edge of the door, ont he dorr itself, now, apparently the garage that quoted her that much have said because of where the dint is they will have to remove wheel arches and all sorts to get it out, but surely if it is on a door it is easier to just take the door off?

 

My other half rang "chips away" to ask their advise and the recommended someone who specialises, who said his standard charge is �75! so even if we had to pay double that for a difficult job then it is still half the cost of her quote!

 

the garage she got her quote form is where her mother in law works, we have asked her to at least let this other guy have a look and give us a quote for comparison. does anyone know where we stand on who actually does the work?

 

we don;t really want to claim on our insurer as we are one year off getting max no claims xx

[MargeB]

If it goes to court they will emphasize that the claimant had a duty to minimize her loss, and any extravagant attempt to "cook" things otherwise amounts to fraud and extortion. Tell her that.

[WoWo]

"we don;t really want to claim on our insurer as we are one year off getting max no claims xx"

I can understand that but.... how much is your no claims actually worth? Is it worth �310 because thats what you will be paying her anyway.

I'd say to her that you will pay for the damage only if you can get 3 independent quotes for the work, other wise you would not claim responsibility and it would have to go through the insurance companies, meaning a long drawn out process for her.

Seems to me either she or the garage is on the make, especially if her mother in-law works there.

[Jay70]

Definately ask her to get other qoutes plus also ask to see them.  The amount of people I know who know someone they know to write out a high qoute in such circumstances to try and make a profit.  I'm not saying this is what they are doing but just be mindfull.

[jimtom]

Car parks aren't classed as roads so it's more than likely niether insurance policies are valid. That being the case if this lady wants to screw you for some minor damage then she'll have to take you to small claims court, where, as has already been pointed out they won't look too kindly on her inflated claim.
Best of luck.

Jimbo

[Jackson74]

Get a quote yourself, as the one you have received is the top end of extreme.  Someone is taking the urine with that quote.

[lurves]

thanks all for your advice everyone, I really appreciate it, nice to know others think their quote was excessive too.

An update:

 

The "dent devil" went and had a look for us, is 99% certain he can sort it - for �75 so he is doing the work, if it doesn't work he won't charge, if that is the case i'll go to citizens advice to see where we stand then xx