(Fairly heavy) car park bump - insurance not involved yet!
Discussion
First time poster - long time lurker.
My old Civic banger's been clobbered by a colleague in our work office car park.
It's a granny spec 2003 Civic that I'm using as my turbo charged MX5 is too pricey to do 100 miles a day in. Book value is probably well less than £1,000 but is has <45,000 miles, new Pirelli verdes, new brakes all round and does almost 50mpg.
Fortunately, my colleague has already written off a 67 plate Mini AND done a big claim on her new E class coupe cab this year (!) and is keen to avoid another insurance claim.
I suspect my car would just be written off by her insurance company and I'd get a check for about £500 and see my own insurance hit a bit too. That's not an option, I think.
I've been to a few bodyshops:
- dealer approved initial guess: £1,500+ (lol)
- private bodyshop, does classics: £700 + VAT
- local small garage to do a "good enough job, make it a bit more presentable" - min £400
I'm inclined to just say to my colleague "give me £250, it's not worth me repairing it - and we'll leave it at that".
Am I missing anything?!
My old Civic banger's been clobbered by a colleague in our work office car park.
It's a granny spec 2003 Civic that I'm using as my turbo charged MX5 is too pricey to do 100 miles a day in. Book value is probably well less than £1,000 but is has <45,000 miles, new Pirelli verdes, new brakes all round and does almost 50mpg.
Fortunately, my colleague has already written off a 67 plate Mini AND done a big claim on her new E class coupe cab this year (!) and is keen to avoid another insurance claim.
I suspect my car would just be written off by her insurance company and I'd get a check for about £500 and see my own insurance hit a bit too. That's not an option, I think.
I've been to a few bodyshops:
- dealer approved initial guess: £1,500+ (lol)
- private bodyshop, does classics: £700 + VAT
- local small garage to do a "good enough job, make it a bit more presentable" - min £400
I'm inclined to just say to my colleague "give me £250, it's not worth me repairing it - and we'll leave it at that".
Am I missing anything?!
JohnnyMc said:
I suspect my car would just be written off by her insurance company and I'd get a check for about £500 and see my own insurance hit a bit too. That's not an option, I think.
Definitely.JohnnyMc said:
I'm inclined to just say to my colleague "give me £250, it's not worth me repairing it - and we'll leave it at that".
Are you happy using it like that? If so, then go for this option.If not, then get it sorted (£4-700 options, main dealer's just a ridiculous option) and hand her the bill.
A few years ago I stupidly scraped another car in a car park. We settled cash, at the repairers (£450). I informed my insurance company, they noted that I hadj settled (they did not know the amount), and it never affected my premiums. I got the other person to sign a 'full and final settlement' statement. All done very amicably.
I have to say, that damage then was far worse than you show. I paid up because it was at about my excess level.
I would take it to a good repairer to just make it protected, rather than re-shaped. See what they say.
I have to say, that damage then was far worse than you show. I paid up because it was at about my excess level.
I would take it to a good repairer to just make it protected, rather than re-shaped. See what they say.
Jag_NE said:
Get the car fixed. Taking any amount of cash and not spending it on the car looks like you are profiteering from the situation.
Good point that I had considered. I have half an eye on my colleague (who already tried to get away with not reporting hitting my car) trying to pull a fast one and giving me nothing at all. Keen to avoid telling her a cost that will make her uncooperative, or even worse, make her decide it IS better to put my car through a car insurance claim, which will leave me much worse off.JohnnyMc said:
I suspect my car would just be written off by her insurance company and I'd get a check for about £500 and see my own insurance hit a bit too. That's not an option, I think.
Why not buy it back from the insurance company?Also, a quick look online suggests the asking price for a 2003(ish) Civic with less than 50k would be around £1500, so I'd be pushing for more than a £500 settlement fee if you did go down that route.
People are saying taking the money and no fixing it is profiting from the situation, but what if the OP decided to sell the car tomorrow, he wouldn't be able to sell it for as much as he could yesterday so surely there is no profit involved and any money is used to offset the reduction in value.
Rutter said:
People are saying taking the money and no fixing it is profiting from the situation, but what if the OP decided to sell the car tomorrow, he wouldn't be able to sell it for as much as he could yesterday so surely there is no profit involved and any money is used to offset the reduction in value.
Exactly my thoughts! Taking the cash and not repairing is not profiting, it's offsetting the loss come resale time.JohnnyMc said:
Good point that I had considered. I have half an eye on my colleague (who already tried to get away with not reporting hitting my car) trying to pull a fast one and giving me nothing at all. Keen to avoid telling her a cost that will make her uncooperative, or even worse, make her decide it IS better to put my car through a car insurance claim, which will leave me much worse off.
On that basis I'd go through insurance. It sounds like everyone else would be better off if she had to take the bus/train anyway.Any amount she would be likely to agree to isn't going to be enough to fix your car, I fear.
JohnnyMc said:
Jag_NE said:
Get the car fixed. Taking any amount of cash and not spending it on the car looks like you are profiteering from the situation.
Good point that I had considered. I have half an eye on my colleague (who already tried to get away with not reporting hitting my car) trying to pull a fast one and giving me nothing at all. Keen to avoid telling her a cost that will make her uncooperative, or even worse, make her decide it IS better to put my car through a car insurance claim, which will leave me much worse off.Get a quote for fixing the car, give it to her and see what she says. If she says no then it's off to the insurance you go.
Rutter said:
People are saying taking the money and no fixing it is profiting from the situation
Doesn't matter if it's profit or not. It's a bad idea to take cash from a colleague for something like this regardless of what you use it for.If you want the car perfect, then present colleague with a quote from a decent bodyshop for the full job. You're well within your rights to get the car back to pre-bump condition.
Personally I'd just want a sub-£1k car to look vaguely presentable and be rust-proof - so a quote to get it "OK" is good enough.
Rutter said:
People are saying taking the money and no fixing it is profiting from the situation, but what if the OP decided to sell the car tomorrow, he wouldn't be able to sell it for as much as he could yesterday so surely there is no profit involved and any money is used to offset the reduction in value.
Yep you’re right. Even if he doesn’t fix it, the money he takes from the woman will cover the diminution in value which crystallises when he sells the car.Had a car park bump like this, not a colleague though. Their insurer came out and looked at it, I had some quotes. Assessor called up and had managed some discount at my preferred body shop so offered me a cash in lieu settlement of that amount. I drove the car like it for a couple of years and then sold it on ebay cheap. Advantage of cash in lieu settlement is the car is not recorded as a total loss.
So negotiate a cash in lieu settlement with the person that bumped it, £250 seems a bit low as you'll never sell it like that in the future. Reckon 500 is probably closer the mark personally.
So negotiate a cash in lieu settlement with the person that bumped it, £250 seems a bit low as you'll never sell it like that in the future. Reckon 500 is probably closer the mark personally.
If your insurance is hit you can claim from her insurer for any rise in premiums caused directly by this incident. Most people don't do this and her insurer will almost certainly wriggle a great deal and try to fob you off but ultimately they'll pay up to avoid becoming liable to satisfy a judgement if you sued her for your future losses. If you have legal protection and/or uninsured loss recovery they can do this for you.
Zetec-S said:
Why not buy it back from the insurance company?
Also, a quick look online suggests the asking price for a 2003(ish) Civic with less than 50k would be around £1500, so I'd be pushing for more than a £500 settlement fee if you did go down that route.
Thanks for your thoughts - had considered that too. It would then be cat D, and putting a cat D insurance car on my policy is just too painful for me to go through with. Already have three cars on my policy, so I'm much more concerned with avoiding insurance altogether than most, I suspect! Also, as a cat D it'll still be worth much less (probably less than if I just left it as it is!).Also, a quick look online suggests the asking price for a 2003(ish) Civic with less than 50k would be around £1500, so I'd be pushing for more than a £500 settlement fee if you did go down that route.
As for the value, I too had initially thought £1250 but I checked the book values on Glass etc, and they say c600-700.
ElectricPics said:
If your insurance is hit you can claim from her insurer for any rise in premiums caused directly by this incident. Most people don't do this and her insurer will almost certainly wriggle a great deal and try to fob you off but ultimately they'll pay up to avoid becoming liable to satisfy a judgement if you sued her for your future losses. If you have legal protection and/or uninsured loss recovery they can do this for you.
That is really useful - didn't know that! ThanksAsk her what her excess is and then go above that figure and keep the car as is.
i did this with my old car that I bumped into a dwarf wall.
To make it look more presentable get some wet dry paper, can of undercoat, top coat and lacquer
All for less than £50 to " make it look presentable"
i did this with my old car that I bumped into a dwarf wall.
To make it look more presentable get some wet dry paper, can of undercoat, top coat and lacquer
All for less than £50 to " make it look presentable"
anothernameitist said:
Ask her what her excess is and then go above that figure and keep the car as is.
i did this with my old car that I bumped into a dwarf wall.
To make it look more presentable get some wet dry paper, can of undercoat, top coat and lacquer
All for less than £50 to " make it look presentable"
Thanks mate - this is what I'm thinking. Need to keep in mind that she now has an E-class coupe with about £1,500 worth of damage too though! i did this with my old car that I bumped into a dwarf wall.
To make it look more presentable get some wet dry paper, can of undercoat, top coat and lacquer
All for less than £50 to " make it look presentable"
Suspect writing off a new Mini and claiming twice on an E-class in less than six months could make her insurance pretty painful next year...
KungFuPanda said:
Rutter said:
People are saying taking the money and no fixing it is profiting from the situation, but what if the OP decided to sell the car tomorrow, he wouldn't be able to sell it for as much as he could yesterday so surely there is no profit involved and any money is used to offset the reduction in value.
Yep you’re right. Even if he doesn’t fix it, the money he takes from the woman will cover the diminution in value which crystallises when he sells the car.Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff