Car accident - damage to property - help!!
Discussion
I've been unfortunate enough today to slide off the road and through a fence and into someones garden.
To keep my insurance costs bearable, i want to pay for the damage myself. The car just needed a front bumper and headlight and i was lucky enough to get a bumper the same colour so the car will be back on the road tomorrow, probably at a cost of no more than £150 all in.
Now the problem lies with the third party damage. Basically, theres about four fence posts out, a couple of edging moved and several shrubs damaged. I've a joiner friend whos going to sort that out and they are happy with that.
Whilst the man of the house is reasonably sympathetic the woman of the house is very much of the opinion that the shrubs must be replace like for like in terms of size. One full grown bush shes talking about will cost £250 to replace and shes expecting a full grown medium sized tree to be replaced that has had just one of its four major branches broken. I'm no tree surgeon but i'd have thought the branch could be sawn off but shes adamant the tree will die, therefore must be replaced.
Whilst i know i have to 'man up' here and sort this out, shes using the veiled threat that if i dont agree to her terms and her 'like for like' on size insistence then she'll simply force it through my insurance anyway.
Have I any rights here in terms of
(a) the like for like on size of shrub / tree - i fear she'll come back saying shes found some company who specialises in full grown trees and that they will personally transport the tree for a mere £5000 or some other random amount. ie, whats reasonable when talking about like for like?
(b) can she 'force' me to go through my insurance?
Thanks in advance.
To keep my insurance costs bearable, i want to pay for the damage myself. The car just needed a front bumper and headlight and i was lucky enough to get a bumper the same colour so the car will be back on the road tomorrow, probably at a cost of no more than £150 all in.
Now the problem lies with the third party damage. Basically, theres about four fence posts out, a couple of edging moved and several shrubs damaged. I've a joiner friend whos going to sort that out and they are happy with that.
Whilst the man of the house is reasonably sympathetic the woman of the house is very much of the opinion that the shrubs must be replace like for like in terms of size. One full grown bush shes talking about will cost £250 to replace and shes expecting a full grown medium sized tree to be replaced that has had just one of its four major branches broken. I'm no tree surgeon but i'd have thought the branch could be sawn off but shes adamant the tree will die, therefore must be replaced.
Whilst i know i have to 'man up' here and sort this out, shes using the veiled threat that if i dont agree to her terms and her 'like for like' on size insistence then she'll simply force it through my insurance anyway.
Have I any rights here in terms of
(a) the like for like on size of shrub / tree - i fear she'll come back saying shes found some company who specialises in full grown trees and that they will personally transport the tree for a mere £5000 or some other random amount. ie, whats reasonable when talking about like for like?
(b) can she 'force' me to go through my insurance?
Thanks in advance.
Like for like is like it says. You did the damage with your negligence. They are entitled to be back in the position they were before, as close as possible. That means the same plants in the same health in the same size and in the same shape/form. Not waiting 10 years for them to fill out again or butchered on the cheap. Don't like the cost? Let your insurance handle it.
Equally, you crashed into their garden and don't want to go through insurance so are therefore trying to keep costs down. It's not necessarily 'trying to pull a fast one' to ask for like for like (as far as is reasonable, obv.) Most people would be pissed off at someone crashing through their garden and then trying to skimp on repairing the damage.
Why not try and meet them halfway - make a big point of asking them what they want, pay a bit extra for a larger tree and/or find someone yourself to replace them and present it that you're trying to save them the hassle?
Or, as previous poster says, if you don't want to stump up (see what I did there?) use your insurance.
Why not try and meet them halfway - make a big point of asking them what they want, pay a bit extra for a larger tree and/or find someone yourself to replace them and present it that you're trying to save them the hassle?
Or, as previous poster says, if you don't want to stump up (see what I did there?) use your insurance.
Mr GrimNasty said:
Like for like is like it says. You did the damage with your negligence. They are entitled to be back in the position they were before, as close as possible. That means the same plants in the same health in the same size and in the same shape/form. Not waiting 10 years for them to fill out again or butchered on the cheap. Don't like the cost? Let your insurance handle it.
So someone writes off your car you paid 17k 10 years ago, the insurers pay you 1k comp if your lucky, you write a shrub off which cost £5 about 10 years and that is £250 to replace, doesnt sound right.
daemon said:
Another problem is that i've tried to negotiate a little on the size of the replacements and shes immediately saying she will claim off my insurance.
Can she simply do that?
You do as she says.Can she simply do that?
If she says jump you say how high.
If you do not like it you give her your insurance details and let your insurance company deal with her.
You are the one trying to avoid using your insurance,so you are the one who needs to do as she says to keep her sweet.
daemon said:
Another problem is that i've tried to negotiate a little on the size of the replacements and shes immediately saying she will claim off my insurance.
Can she simply do that?
Yes.Can she simply do that?
Well, if you refuse to provide the insurance details you are committing a criminal offence.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/sectio...
So I wouldn't do that. If the lady talks to your insurance company they will call you and ask if there has been an incident. If you lie to them your policy is voided, so I wouldn't do that either.
daemon said:
Another problem is that i've tried to negotiate a little on the size of the replacements and shes immediately saying she will claim off my insurance.
Can she simply do that?
Not sure why she should negotiate. If you're unwilling to fully reinstate the damage you have done let your insurers deal with it. She's not the one trying to pull a fast one here. Can she simply do that?
daemon said:
One full grown bush shes talking about will cost £250 to replace and shes expecting a full grown medium sized tree to be replaced that has had just one of its four major branches broken. I'm no tree surgeon but i'd have thought the branch could be sawn off but shes adamant the tree will die, therefore must be replaced.
Depending on what tree it is, it is likely to be fine if you were to just saw the branch off! As long as the 'collar' (the growth ring around where the branch goes into the tree) isn't cut when you do it, or you don't leave the branch as a peg, it should be fine. Pictures would help to explain a bit better, but I'm not expecting you to take some just to put on here!daemon said:
...Have I any rights here in terms of
(a) the like for like on size of shrub / tree - i fear she'll come back saying shes found some company who specialises in full grown trees and that they will personally transport the tree for a mere £5000 or some other random amount. ie, whats reasonable when talking about like for like?
Compensation may not be simply the cost of replacing the tree like-for-like. This situation appears to be too complicated for you to handle on your own if she doesn't want to compromise.(a) the like for like on size of shrub / tree - i fear she'll come back saying shes found some company who specialises in full grown trees and that they will personally transport the tree for a mere £5000 or some other random amount. ie, whats reasonable when talking about like for like?
Here is a very interesting case (well to me anyway) in which compensation for damage to trees that needed to be replaced due to trespass was considered.
Settling with Third Parties privately is just such a risk these days. So difficult to stop them coming back for more.
Did they call the police when you destroyed their garden by your reckless driving ?? Clearly not.
They have been exremely fair and of course they would like things put back like for like before you ploughed through their privacy.
Get some quote yourself and try and negotiate or just givem your insurance details.
You have left yourself wide open to them coming back for more damage.
Work out what it all would cost like for like, offer them 30-40% cash full and final settlement and if they say no give them your insurance. Takes many years to get trees to a decent size.
Did they call the police when you destroyed their garden by your reckless driving ?? Clearly not.
They have been exremely fair and of course they would like things put back like for like before you ploughed through their privacy.
Get some quote yourself and try and negotiate or just givem your insurance details.
You have left yourself wide open to them coming back for more damage.
Work out what it all would cost like for like, offer them 30-40% cash full and final settlement and if they say no give them your insurance. Takes many years to get trees to a decent size.
hora said:
daemon said:
Another problem is that i've tried to negotiate a little on the size of the replacements
NO offence but if someone crashed into my garden then tried to cost-down etc etc I'd ask for like for like - for it to be put back to at least the way it was before. You've already inconvenienced them - before you drove into their property they didn't have any hassle re the Garden, phone calls, conversations with friends on how to proceed etc etc.
At the least you should be wow'ing them.
, they never asked you to park your car in their front garden, therefore they reasonably feel that restoring it to its former glory is your problem. If you ain't willing to fund whatever they want looks like a claim is the only route forward.Insurance all the way imo...
Think of the potential s
t you're exposing yourself to.
Your mate fixes the fence, you slip him some beer money, mate's rates, whatever... She ain't happy with the work, sends you an invoice from a professional of her choosing.
You buy her the plants, she doesn't like them... Offer her cash for the plants - ain't enough...
Your insurance will already take a hit when you declare the accident, even if you don't claim.
Gotta weigh up loss of ncd but your insurance having the headache (which is what you pay for, after all) vs outlay and you having all the hassle now.
Think of the potential s
t you're exposing yourself to.Your mate fixes the fence, you slip him some beer money, mate's rates, whatever... She ain't happy with the work, sends you an invoice from a professional of her choosing.
You buy her the plants, she doesn't like them... Offer her cash for the plants - ain't enough...
Your insurance will already take a hit when you declare the accident, even if you don't claim.
Gotta weigh up loss of ncd but your insurance having the headache (which is what you pay for, after all) vs outlay and you having all the hassle now.
Easiest way would be to ask her to pick out one she's happy with. If the cost is reasonable then stump up, if not go back to insurance. It's all well and good saying she doesn't have to be reasonable, but if she chooses to go down the insurance root, or angles for too much it could well end up taking over a year anyway.
I think these sort of settlements are far better for all involved than long, laborious insurance claims that end up making more money for solicitors than anyone else, but they do require both sides to be reasonable.
I think these sort of settlements are far better for all involved than long, laborious insurance claims that end up making more money for solicitors than anyone else, but they do require both sides to be reasonable.
AJS- said:
Easiest way would be to ask her to pick out one she's happy with. If the cost is reasonable then stump up, if not go back to insurance. It's all well and good saying she doesn't have to be reasonable, but if she chooses to go down the insurance root, or angles for too much it could well end up taking over a year anyway.
I think these sort of settlements are far better for all involved than long, laborious insurance claims that end up making more money for solicitors than anyone else, but they do require both sides to be reasonable.
Why would there be any solicitors involved? It's clear where the fault lies and I've yet to hear of a tree claiming for personal injury. I think these sort of settlements are far better for all involved than long, laborious insurance claims that end up making more money for solicitors than anyone else, but they do require both sides to be reasonable.
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