Car accident damage.

[MORG]

I guess this is a common kind of legal dispute played out every day...

My brother side-swiped a lady a while back, a minor bingle. He's young, doesn't have much money or third party property insurance. He can be poor in reporting details but apparently the damage he caused was minor. He doesn't think more than one panel was damaged. He claimed responsibility and they swapped details.

Anyway, he doesn't hear from her for 6 months. He has tried to reach her in the past but not been able to. Now she calls him, tells him he owes her $1400, the job's done, car repaired.

This is unfair. She's been bad with the communication and anything could have happened in the intervening 6 months. If she has no photos of the damage I don't think she has a leg to stand on. From what I've heard of the damage, the quote is grossly inflated and my brother deserves the courtesy of a well-justified quote BEFORE the work goes ahead.

He's now getting copies of the invoices for scrutiny.

What would you do? Anyone have insight into the legalities here?

If I thought I could pull it off legally I'd tell her to get stuffed and deny the accident happened. This is not how you go about openly and honestly resolving an accident like this.

[Torsten]

I've had a couple of cash settlement claims [even though I have full comprehensive insurance] and I am pretty sure that she would have needed to at least get 3 quotes and then use the cheapest one. Also, standard practice is to get in touch with the guilty party before the repair is authorised. This needs to include detailed proof that ONLY the damage done in that accident is being repaired.

I don't think denying the incident is a good idea. But paying the full amount isn't either.

One panel can still be quite expensive. Minimum $500 depending on how much body work needed to be done and what make/model of car it was.

The best thing to do is to make a counter offer. Make it reasonable. This means possibly paying a little more than justified, but at the same time avoiding legal costs. Even getting a solicitor to send a letter will cost $150 to 200, so you can easily take $500 off the amount. Not knowing the exact amount of damage I'd offer somewhere between my own estimate and 20% above. ie, if the panel was realistically worth $500 then offer $600. If it was worth $750 then offer $900. Make sure you putline why you are offerign this amount and why she has a weak legal case. Chances are that if you brother makes a decent offer [in writing!!!], and if she still takes it to court, then at least the judge will award costs each way. if you don't make an offer your bro might have costs awarded against him. That's why the 20% is important.

[Avaricial]

3 quotes isn't required if you go to your insurer's approved repairer i believe.

Not having insurance is not funny, 1.4k is a mere pittance compared to what it might have been. Tell him to take it as a lesson. A small dent to a panel would be the same as a large dent to the same panel, a repair typically means a replacement anyway. Don't think paintless dent removals can do much besides certain exceptional cases.

Very believable too, a powder coated panel can cost anywhere from $350 to $800, depending on who you talk to, this does not include the paintjob, which adds another $200 - $300. She certainly didn't spend much time shopping around, neither was she particularly obligated to find the best price for your brother, Morg.

Typical mechanics or bodywork places usually double dip, profiting on both the parts and labor incurred during the job. Quote for a plain panel for a friend's accident was $750 unpainted, happened to find one for less than $350 from the parts distributor (also brand new). minor sideswipe on my friend's part (put a tiny fresh dent on an already dent ridden corner of a van bumper) cost her $1500, not inclusive of her own repairs.

If your brother chooses to deny it ever happened, her own insurance would cover her costs, minus excess. But i think the insurance company would sic the debt collectors on your brother's ass. Not that I'm overly familliar with the issue, just think its what would happen logically.

[2b]

You can't get blood out of a stone , if he can't pay then the other parties insurance steps in pays the repair. The insurance company then commences recovery procedures for the monies owing. But as i said you can't get blood out of a stone.....

[Torsten]

if she had insurance then the insurance would have dealth with the brother. in fact, if she had insurance then she is not allowed to deal with the matter. looks to me neither of them had insurance.

[MindExpansion]

No offence Morg and I know it's often expensive but IMO you'd have to be crazy to drive around without insurance!

I mean you hope nothing bad ever happens but if it ever did you'd rather be with it than without it.

Peace and hope your bro can sort it out peacefully.

Mind

[MORG]

Hehe, no offence taken.

Well, turns out the story is a bit different. My bro has a bad habit of omitting important details, epsecially when he's in crisis mode.

The lady didn't get in contact with him, it was her insurance company. Also, it appears that he DOES have third party so he'll probably just have to pay his excess (sizeable for a 19 year-old driver).

So that changes things a fair bit. I was just steaming a little bit when I made the first post. Still, I believe $1400 is excessive for the amont of damage that apparently occurred, (but then again, my bro could be wrong on that) and the communication factor here definitely stunk.

I recently was quoted $900 maximum (out of two quotes, $700 minimum) to get my handle replaced, panel repaired, lock replaced, rekeyed and colour matched and resprayed with metallic paint on an uncommon 1996 model of car after someone attempted to break in and just fucked up the door. In light of that I find this $1400 pretty exxy.

But fucking mechanics and panel beaters. I feel like they've used their tools on me most times I leave one of those places. I think they're partly to blame for expensive premiums... I imagine it is so easy for them to take more than they deserve.

Guess we'll wait to see the invoice. I've got to stop talking about this... one of my pet hates is insurance... it's getting me worked up.

Thanks for the input fellas. Despite the mundane nature of your whinge, you can always find friendly ears on SAB!

[2b]

As a general rule of thumb. Walk around the car and allow 350 for every panel that needs to be painted (scratches included) and you won't be far off.

[Torsten]

a side swipe would need more than just a paint job. and that's where it gets expensive. I killed one panel on our ute and the quotes ranged from $1800 to $6000 for exactly the same work, so shopping around helps.

As this was done by insurance companies there is little wiggle room, but you can also be quite sure that the quote wasn't far off a reasonable price as the adjuster makes sure of that.