Car Accident

[ladderz]

Help needed please - My daughter clipped a car in a private car park, she left her details & took a picture of the damage which was very light and there was no damage to my daughters car; When the lady rang it was agreed to get two quotes which have come back as very high, over £500.00, my daughter can get the work done at a franchised garage for £50 - £100.00.
Does my daughter have to use the garages the lady got quotes from or can she use the one she got the lower quote from, and, how does my daughter stand legally bearing in mind the accident occurred on private land?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you.

[wales01man]

Re: Car Accident

She has admitted damaging the other car in writing and I would expect the other driver has the right to decide where it should be fixed would you or her allow someone to tell you where get your car fixed if it was the other way round?
if she is paying without the insurers she must ask to see the estimate for the work

[ladderz]

Re: Car Accident

I personally wouldn't mind it being repaired at any reputable garage especially when the lower quote is from a main dealer Mitsubishi outlet, but it is a good idea about seeing the estimate first

[JulieM]

Re: Car Accident

Although you have a photograph of the damage has it been assessed by your cheaper garage. It may be that the damage is more extensive. I remember I once damaged another car and it was several hundred pounds to repair a very minor bump on the bumper.

[Snoopy1948]

Re: Car Accident

I agree with the comments about even minor damage costing hundreds of pounds to do correctly and professionally. I recall an incident a few years back when my local government lease car was parked and a 13 year old cyclist hit it. He was badly shaken but I took him to his parents to explain what had happened and they paid the council directly for the damage. And even for a bicycle scrape the bill was £600 to £700 and that was probably some 8 years ago. I guess that's the price of keeping your insurance record clean but you should remember that this accident remains a notifiable event to your insurance company regardless of whether you are claimed against or not ( at least, that's my understanding ). Plus it must be very hard to quote on damage from a photograph ...