[Misc] Am I being conned here, or not?

bhafc99 · Jan 18, 2021

A few days ago, my son bumped into a car with his bike. He made a few minor dent/scratches just below the wing mirror, as shown in this picture.

I'm an honest guy, so I left a message on the windscreen for the owner to contact me and I'd pay for any repair.

He did so, and it all seemed to be reasonable and grown-up.

He's now got back to me and said he's been quoted £735 plus VAT (so £882 in total). He also wants reimbursing for having to take three half days off work (and drive 180 miles in total) in order to go to an approved dealer for the quote, the drop off and the collection.

My questions to the great and good of NSC are:
1) I don't think that I should pay for his time off work and mileage. Do you agree?
2) Is £882 a reasonable price for this? It seems a hell of a lot for a few minor scratches, and his car is only an old Kia – it's not like it's a Ferrari or something.
3) Would it be unreasonable for me to ask if his insurance would help here – if I pay the excess, and so long as he has his no claims protected?

StonehamPark · Jan 18, 2021

Clearly his fault (and questionable mental state) for owning a Kia Soul.

Tricky spot, but I'd be getting him to go to his insurers.

The price may be reasonable if it's deemed he needs a full door replacement (to bring it back to pre-accident condition).

And definintely not into the idea of paying him for his time.

Insurance.

(Insurance Claims Investigator here, for what it's worth)

neilbard · Jan 18, 2021

Change your name and move house, then go back and boot the door mirror clean off. :thumbsup:

Seriously get him to go to his insurers..

HantsSeagull · Jan 18, 2021

bhafc99 said:
A few days ago, my son bumped into a car with his bike. He made a few minor dent/scratches just below the wing mirror, as shown in this picture.

View attachment 132640

I'm an honest guy, so I left a message on the windscreen for the owner to contact me and I'd pay for any repair.

He did so, and it all seemed to be reasonable and grown-up.

He's now got back to me and said he's been quoted £735 plus VAT (so £882 in total). He also wants reimbursing for having to take three half days off work (and drive 180 miles in total) in order to go to an approved dealer for the quote, the drop off and the collection.

My questions to the great and good of NSC are:
1) I don't think that I should pay for his time off work and mileage. Do you agree?
2) Is £882 a reasonable price for this? It seems a hell of a lot for a few minor scratches, and his car is only an old Kia – it's not like it's a Ferrari or something.
3) Would it be unreasonable for me to ask if his insurance would help here – if I pay the excess, and so long as he has his no claims protected?

he is taking the piss imho.

1. yes i agree
2. if its an old Kia - why does he need to go to an approved dealer? Cos he knows they will charge the earth, he will take your money and get his mate to do it for 50 quid round the corner.
3. tell him you arent paying such a ridiculous amount and then he wont have a choice.

well done for being honest - as usual never pays.

Miximate · Jan 18, 2021

Fair play to you for leaving the note, many wouldn't have.

I would want to see the quote (and probably ask for at least one more to compare). It does seem excessive to me.

I certainly wouldn't offer to pay for his time off and mileage.

You can try the insurance company but I cant see he would accept this as (even if his NC is protected), he will have to disclose this upon renewal

Good luck.

I'm a great believer in Karma, so now that you have done this, the Albion will remain in the Premier League!

beorhthelm · Jan 18, 2021

doesnt reasonable for a Kia, get additional quotes. no way should have to pay for his time off, there's nothing time critical about this repair. where does he live needing to travel 180miles to a dealer, theres about one in every town?

Lenny Rider · Jan 18, 2021

Certainly not for the time off and mileage, he's taking the p***

Ask for two more quotes, I take it you are not in Dubai but Sussex, both Portslade Panel Works in Hove and Gleam Clean would give him a free estimate for the work.

vegster · Jan 18, 2021

TBH, I think you were remarkably generous to offer to pay the repair. If you had scratched his door with your car then you exchange details and contact the insurers. I get the feeling that he is rather milking this a bit, Someone reversed in to my car at the Marina and drove off and I claimed on my insurance but certainly did not claim for time off work when it came to sorting it. However, some people like the idea of the full weight of opprobrium is brought to bear in a case like this, surprised he's not charged you for telephone calls and dry cleaning.

Harry Wilson's tackle · Jan 18, 2021

When someone drove into the side of my car in a supermarket a few years ago they claimed it was my fault. Insurer told them to sod off. I got several quotes to get my door fixed. The damage was much worse than in your photo. Anything from £400 to £1200. All the days of work is total bullshit and he's taking the piss, so...I'd tell him to eff off.

Some clown pulled out of a minor road onto a main road straight into the side of my car last year. Smashed the front left wheel and axle. Three grand's worth of damage. Minor scratches on his car. He's trying to get his back off my insurance - dream on, pal. Mrs T was driving. Unfortunately like your son, my missus wasn't insured (to drive my car) owing to an 'administrative error' so I was 3K light and without my car for 3 months due to Covid delays. Can it ever be the fault of the driver whose car is hit side on? No I didn't think so. I'd have paid the bloke off but he's clearly a tool.

GT49er · Jan 18, 2021

bhafc99 said:
A few days ago, my son bumped into a car with his bike. He made a few minor dent/scratches just below the wing mirror, as shown in this picture.

View attachment 132640

I'm an honest guy, so I left a message on the windscreen for the owner to contact me and I'd pay for any repair.

He did so, and it all seemed to be reasonable and grown-up.

He's now got back to me and said he's been quoted £735 plus VAT (so £882 in total). He also wants reimbursing for having to take three half days off work (and drive 180 miles in total) in order to go to an approved dealer for the quote, the drop off and the collection.

My questions to the great and good of NSC are:
1) I don't think that I should pay for his time off work and mileage. Do you agree?
2) Is £882 a reasonable price for this? It seems a hell of a lot for a few minor scratches, and his car is only an old Kia – it's not like it's a Ferrari or something.
3) Would it be unreasonable for me to ask if his insurance would help here – if I pay the excess, and so long as he has his no claims protected?

Yes, he's taking the piss. You say the car was an old Kia? - do you know the reg. number? If so, feed it into we buy any car.com and offer him what they would offer him for the car .....................

.................. and tell him you'll buy it for that!

Icy Gull · Jan 18, 2021

Classic case of someone being honest and being taken advantage of. I’m sure a body shop could come up with a quote like that and justify it, but if the car is not immaculate all over it’s a pretty shitty way to treat the op imo. That could be sorted at a fraction of the cost imo

Taking the piss big time asking you to pay for his time off, what a ****

Bry Nylon · Jan 18, 2021

I'm no expert but I think that's somewhere between a 4 and 6 minute job.

dsr-burnley · Jan 18, 2021

bhafc99 said:
1) I don't think that I should pay for his time off work and mileage. Do you agree?
2) Is £882 a reasonable price for this? It seems a hell of a lot for a few minor scratches, and his car is only an old Kia – it's not like it's a Ferrari or something.
3) Would it be unreasonable for me to ask if his insurance would help here – if I pay the excess, and so long as he has his no claims protected?

1. You are correct.
2. Yes.
3. More than reasonable. It would be perfectly reasonable, in fact, to tell him that he is taking the **** and the offer is withdrawn. You won't pay him a penny. Your legal liability is nil; I suspect your son's will be too.

Incidentally, whatever you do, he won't claim on insurance because even no-claims protection doesn't stop them bumping the premium up. They ask whether there have been any insurance-related accidents and raise the price if the answer is yes. He'd be a fool to claim for a few scratches on an old car.

timbha · Jan 18, 2021

Not sure how he/you stand legally. Is your son a minor? Was the car legally parked when the accident happened ?

I would enquire at a local garage how much the repair would cost and offer him that. No more. He chose to have the time off work and drive to the garage. Presume you didn’t agree to it.

junior · Jan 18, 2021

Piss take.

I'd tell him to do one. I wouldn't be surprised that if you told him you'd offered to pay as you expected it to be no more than £300 but now it has come to that much he will need to go to insurance, he will probably come back to you with "okay just give me £300 then".

nwgull · Jan 18, 2021

The £735+VAT seems about right for an approved accident repair centre. Although he probably could get it done cheaper elsewhere.

Charging you his travel time and mileage is taking the piss though. If you'd done this in your car and your insurance company was paying he wouldn't be getting these expenses - I certainly didn't on the 2 occasions that I've been shunted! Besides, is it really going to take him a half day (3.75 hours) to make a 60 mile round trip?!

My advice would be to just offer him the cost of repairs. He can take you to the small claims court if he wants any more, but I doubt he will and I doubt he'd be successful.

lawros left foot · Jan 18, 2021

It’ll buff out.

Seriously, I had this type of thing a few years ago, I backed into a car door at the tip. I apologised to the woman who’s car it was , gave her my details and told her I would pay for the repairs. It was a scratch and small dent, and the car was a 10 year old clunker. She came back with a verbal quote of £1200 .
I told her that was ridiculous, and said if she got 2 more written quotes I would give her the money.

I never heard from her again.

drew · Jan 18, 2021

Miximate said:
Fair play to you for leaving the note, many wouldn't have.

I would want to see the quote (and probably ask for at least one more to compare). It does seem excessive to me.

I certainly wouldn't offer to pay for his time off and mileage.

You can try the insurance company but I cant see he would accept this as (even if his NC is protected), he will have to disclose this upon renewal

Good luck.

I'm a great believer in Karma, so now that you have done this, the Albion will remain in the Premier League!

Have to agree that as a priority you should ask to see the quote so you can see the extent of work their quoting for. He may well be having other work included. With the quote you could approach another local bodywork shop for a comparison. Also agree with others that there is no reason for him to travel 45 miles each way for an approved repairer. They will normally just farm it out to a local body repair shop to them.

If his insurers get involved then you might find they'll pursue other costs, especially as there is an admission of liability. For example, they might chuck in a hire car for the duration of repairs and may well farm it out to a solicitor to deal with so their costs as well!!!

You might want to check with your household insurance as that should have some liability cover. Some extend to include cyclists involved in accidents so worth checking. It might also include free legal helpline which might be worth a call.

My guess is he's having extra work done so make sure you see the quote. If he stalls, take your photo to a bodyshop for a rough idea and just offer him that.

Out of interest, how old is your son and why was he so close to the car? Was there other traffic around that made him cycle that close? Might be a get out if he was forced to cycle closer because of another road user although I'm guessing there are no witnesses.

AmexRuislip · Jan 18, 2021

bhafc99 said:
A few days ago, my son bumped into a car with his bike. He made a few minor dent/scratches just below the wing mirror, as shown in this picture.

View attachment 132640

I'm an honest guy, so I left a message on the windscreen for the owner to contact me and I'd pay for any repair.

He did so, and it all seemed to be reasonable and grown-up.

He's now got back to me and said he's been quoted £735 plus VAT (so £882 in total). He also wants reimbursing for having to take three half days off work (and drive 180 miles in total) in order to go to an approved dealer for the quote, the drop off and the collection.

My questions to the great and good of NSC are:
1) I don't think that I should pay for his time off work and mileage. Do you agree?
2) Is £882 a reasonable price for this? It seems a hell of a lot for a few minor scratches, and his car is only an old Kia – it's not like it's a Ferrari or something.
3) Would it be unreasonable for me to ask if his insurance would help here – if I pay the excess, and so long as he has his no claims protected?

Apart from you being a good citizen and him being an utter pratt for requesting monies from you, for taking time off work.
I would question what work he does, as no one should be taking unnecessary journeys in todays clime, with the WFH mantra being rammed down our throats.

Westdene Seagull · Jan 18, 2021

I'm going to break the trend here. The price for repair seems standard - that's quite some dent and a very deep sctrach - what the hell did your son do ? Equally why should the car owner be out of pocket ?

So questions :

1. Ask if he works from home given the current conditions - if so no, you shouldn't pay for his time off work. Equally he should get a curtisory car. So no, don't pay this bit. That said, having had my car damaged by a third party, it is an absolute pain in the arse even if someone else is paying so maybe add a bit for this hassle.
2. Seems a standard price. The age of the car makes no difference to the to the cost of repair for something like that.
3. Errr .... no .... it's your son's fault - nothing to do with the owners insurance.

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