The car was hit while stationary - advice needed!

[Vlady]

HI all, I was away with family for a weekend and last night received a text from my neighbour saying that another neighbours car rolled down and hit my Lexus!

It happened before, their Megane rolled down and hit my wifes car but it was about 1-1.5m down the slope and no damage was done, so I thought this is what happened this time.

When we came back today I inspected the car and was quite shock how much damage there, from 1st glance I can see that the bonnet dented and scratched, radiator grill shattered, still in place but cracked in a few places, number plate holder cracked, front bumper popped out in one side! When I opened the bonnet all the clips holding the radiator cover are sheared and loose, seal above radiator grill popped out and the grill is cracked and this is all I can see so far, I am not sure of any other bracketry behind the bumper are damaged or not. This tells me that the hit happened not when car was a meter away but probably a few meters up the road!

SO far this neighbour did not approach me or never left a note or anything and I do not see his car so probably not at home.

What do I do in this case? I think I need to talk to them anyway  but my plan is to go through insurance as I am not sure how deep the damage is but that means higher premiums for the next 5 years even though the accident was not at my fault! To do it privately if my neighbour agrees would cost him quite a lot of money as this is not a simple bonnet polish!

I have no pictures of the accident but I have a few other neighbours who saw it, so I if I have a no for an answer from Megane owner, do I call police or my insurance can deal with it?

Also, if he comes forwards and agrees to go though insurance, so I call my insurance or he calls his?

I know, so many questions but I have never been in this situation, the last accidemt I was in was not my fault and the guy on his Mondeo caught me from behind so it was clearly his fault and he admitted it.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated even if it is a couple of sentences!

Vlady

[PCM]

Oh dear.

https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/askhj/answer/88581/our-neighbour-hit-our-car-quite-badly-and-won-t-pay-for-repairs---what-can-we-do- 

[PCM]

+ I would get 'statements' from witnesses asap - before they forget.

[NemesisUK]

You need to contact your insurers and explain what happened, giving them the neighbour's vehicle details. They should then approach their insurer to settle the claim.

You should also give any willing witnesses' details to the insurer. Not sure what the Police might do other than give a crime number. Probably worth contacting them anyway, cover all the bases.

[royoftherovers]

1 hour ago, PCM said:

Oh dear.

https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/askhj/answer/88581/our-neighbour-hit-our-car-quite-badly-and-won-t-pay-for-repairs---what-can-we-do- 

HJ is a brilliant port of call.

[royoftherovers]

1 hour ago, PCM said:

+ I would get 'statements' from witnesses asap - before they forget.

Make sure that such Statements are obtained immediately and prior to discussion with the offender.

The Statements must be written/typed, signed  and dated with the author signing in signature and capital letter form.

Good luck Vlad.

[Vlady]

Hi all, thank you all for quick and very useful suggestions Really appreciate this

I went to see the neighbour (I saw him parking, gave him 15 minutes and went to see him myself), he was actually really nice, admitted the fault and gave his details and said he doesn't mind if I go through insurance, he will call his insurance as well.

So, lets the insurance saga begins! I just hope it will be quick and painless! 

Once, again, thank you all!

I will keep this post updated with how it goes.

[Shahpor]

Sorry to hear this Vlad

Hope the damage isn't too bad.  At least it sounds like your neighbour is doing the right thing.

Just make sure you take it to a decent body shop, not where the insurance company want to send you!  I have seen this mistake a few times and it never ends well.  On the other hand, the garage that Lexus Sidcup used to do my repair were very good.

Either way, I hope you get it sorted soon.

[Vlady]

Do I have a choice to what body shop the car to go to be painted? I don't even know which one is good in Glasgow, never had to deal with it.

The Passat we had, was done badly by Parkers in East Kilbride, I know no other. Shall I give a call to Lexus Glasgow, the guys might tell me what paint shop they use.

It has to be done properly! 

[Vlady]

1 hour ago, Greer said:

I'd like to know that answer to that as well, I thought the insurance PLC's only cover pay outs if we comply with their 'terms & conditions', including any limitations, not them with our 'terms & conditions' which could not be 'prior, unpredictable event' clearly outlined & stated. Take into account this neighbour has already breached the road traffic act, you are probably talking about a lot of money to get it fixed 'properly' & so far nothing in writing from any source.

stated.

Hi Alan, I think it will be expensive and what worries me that my insurance premium will go up so I will have to try to get out of the insurance as much as I can, to compensate somehow!

Nothing in writing apart from my neighbor writing the details of his car and insurance details. Looks like I do not need other neighbors statements as this one is willing to communicate.

I also know that if you are not happy with the bodyshop repair you can take it back for them re-do it, I wish I knew that when I picked up my Passat with some panel still misaligned! 

[olliesgrandad]

2 hours ago, Vlady said:

Do I have a choice to what body shop the car to go to be painted? I don't even know which one is good in Glasgow, never had to deal with it.

The Passat we had, was done badly by Parkers in East Kilbride, I know no other. Shall I give a call to Lexus Glasgow, the guys might tell me what paint shop they use.

It has to be done properly! 

Yes you do have a choice of repairer and I strongly suggest an approved Lexus Bodyshop.,having had a really bad experience with insurers repairer a couple of years ago. You may not get a loan car, but if you have legal protection in your policy with a no fault claim they should cover the cost of a loan car. 

[Vlady]

Just now, olliesgrandad said:

Yes you do have a choice of repairer and I strongly suggest an approved Lexus Bodyshop.,having had a really bad experience with insurers repairer a couple of years ago. You may not get a loan car, but if you have legal protection in your policy with a no fault claim they should cover the cost of a loan car. 

Hi Les, I think I have a courtesy car on my policy, it won't be something luxurios as Lexus and I am not sure for how long I will get it but I should get something.

I am waiting for 8am to call my insurance, dreading this moment! Well, I will call Lexus Glasgow 1st to find out what is the Lexus approved body shop!

[Vlady]

To choose a body repair centre of my choice will cost me £200 on top of my excess as far as I can see.

Do I pay an excess if the accident is not my fault?!

[Malc]

if it's not your fault you should be able to get your excess back or sure

Malc

[ShaksR]

You need to make it clear to your insurer that you are not claiming against your own insurance but rather the 3rd party's insurer, in which case as you correctly state you do not have to pay an excess, the 3rd party will have to if he wants his vehicle repaired by his insurer.

If however you are asking your insurance company to sort this out with the other insurer (rather than dealing with the insurer yourself), then you may well have to pay the excess in the first place and then claim it back later if the 3rd party pays up.

[Farqui]

Yikes...sorry to read this 'news' Vlad, not good.

I hope that you get it sorted quickly and with minimum fuss.

[John Hutton]

Hi Vlad

Sorry to hear about your knock. As ShaksR said do not worry about the extra excess to choose your own repairer you will get it back but I recommend that you deal with your insurer in case complications arise.

I had a similar situation a couple  of years ago when I was stationery at a red light and hit up the rear by a truck who had also stopped but was in gear and his foot slipped whilst blipping the throttle! I got a sorry mate but he did what turned out to be about 10Ks worth of damage to my car. Problem was that the car in question is a classic 60's Lotus Elan and there was no way I was going to allow any old body shop loose on it. 

Was all repaired very well and  my insurer and I got full recompense from the other parties Insurance including the extra £500 I had to pay because of my choice of repairer. I was insured with Flux at the time and they eventually put everything in the hands of a third party claims company as there was a problem. Although I had admission of fault from the driver his insurance company refused to acknowledge any correspondence (a common problem apparently) and we eventually had to threaten court action. They paid up in full the day before the court case!

Hope the repairs go well

 

John

 

[Vlady]

1 hour ago, ShaksR said:

You need to make it clear to your insurer that you are not claiming against your own insurance but rather the 3rd party's insurer, in which case as you correctly state you do not have to pay an excess, the 3rd party will have to if he wants his vehicle repaired by his insurer.

If however you are asking your insurance company to sort this out with the other insurer (rather than dealing with the insurer yourself), then you may well have to pay the excess in the first place and then claim it back later if the 3rd party pays up.

Hi Adbul, thank you.

Now I was advised not even to contact my insurer and try ti get in touch with my neighbor car insurer, you see, I don't want my insurer to use this against me in a future!

But I know that I MUST tell my insurance about the incident, right?

So if I tell my insurance about it I need to be perfectly clear that this is not a CLAIM but I think they will use it against me and it will be on my record for another 5 years! 

Bloody hell, this is not what I wished for!

[olliesgrandad]

1 hour ago, Vlady said:

Hi Adbul, thank you.

Now I was advised not even to contact my insurer and try ti get in touch with my neighbor car insurer, you see, I don't want my insurer to use this against me in a future!

But I know that I MUST tell my insurance about the incident, right?

So if I tell my insurance about it I need to be perfectly clear that this is not a CLAIM but I think they will use it against me and it will be on my record for another 5 years! 

Bloody hell, this is not what I wished for!

First question, Have you legal cover on your policy - if so they will deal with getting your excess back and any other incidental expenses. 

Secondly. Contact your insurers and let them deal with the 3rd parties insurers. Tell them that you will be using your own repairer. I did this a year ago when my wife had a bump. The repairer we used  (recommended to us) was very good and supplied a loan car foc. (normally the loan car included in the policy is dependent on using the insurers repairer). Clearly this is a no fault claim so shouldn't hopefully affect your ncb. 

 

[Vlady]

Latest so far, I have contacted my insurance and told them what happened, I have not raised a claim but pretty sure it will show on my history in a future. an hour later or so my neighbor insurance contacted me, confirming that they take all the blame and agreeing it was their fault, this is good.

They provided me with garage details for a repair and the Hire car company which is 5 minutes walking from my house, this is good too!

I phoned the garage and they will pick up the car tomorrow form Hire Company place and I will pick up a rental/courtesy car in the morning, this is good too.

I do not know how long the repair will take or how much will be involved in it. Insurer assured me the garage is very respectful and approved repair shop for BMW, Audi, MB and Jaguar, based on their site they worked on some pretty good cars! Google has just 3.5 stars in reviews for them, so not good part!

Glasgow owners, did anyone deal with Mitchell Inglis Glasgow?

So far everything moves quickly (much much quicker than I expected) and painless, fingers cross this will be all the way!

[Shahpor]

Sounds good Vlad.  Good to hear your neighbour owned up.

Don't let the insurance company bully/rush you into taking it somewhere you aren't comfortable with.  Why not give your local Lexus dealer a call and see where they send their cars?

[ambermarine]

Vlad

You need to insist on a Lexus dealership taking care of the damage,I had an accident with My Mark 1 and the insurance sent me to their approved repair shop which on arrival was awfull, cars piled up like tin cans waiting for approval and shoddy staff welcome .

I left and went back to my insurance and told them I would not use these contractors ,the insurance agreed on Lexus doing the job but insisted on their engineer monitoring the costs.

Push hard do not let them fob you off.

When the work is done Lexus will warranty it so they have to make sure its done properly.

[Vlady]

46 minutes ago, ambermarine said:

Vlad

You need to insist on a Lexus dealership taking care of the damage,I had an accident with My Mark 1 and the insurance sent me to their approved repair shop which on arrival was awfull, cars piled up like tin cans waiting for approval and shoddy staff welcome .

I left and went back to my insurance and told them I would not use these contractors ,the insurance agreed on Lexus doing the job but insisted on their engineer monitoring the costs.

Push hard do not let them fob you off.

When the work is done Lexus will warranty it so they have to make sure its done properly.

I was thinking on insisting to use a Lexus approved paint shop but, I have read reviews about Mitchell Inglis and most of them actually quite good (I hope I will live a good one too) and I like the speed they agreed to take my car in, i hope it will be fixed quickly. I will be checking the quality of the work like gaps, paint quality, color matching etc. 

I had another conversation today with the insurance and asked of I am not happy with the repair what should I do? The answer was contact them and they will sort all things out. Basically i will make sure the car is 100%!

Regards what Lexus Glasgow is using, I think for this one they will use cheap away for a paint shop who is just around the corner from them and I had experienced them before and was left not happy the least!

The paint started flaking in slightly more then a year, I took it back for them to fix it and they did another horrendous job by overspraying my nickel exhaust end and wheel covers which told me that the bumpers were not removed to get it done properly and wheel arches badly covered and not done from inside at all! I asked them what if i get the same issue (flaking lacquer, rust) they only told me to come back and they will do it again! It was not my Lexus but i had a conversation with them about Lexus garage that is around the corner and the guy said that they fix cars for them so I was shocked, how Lexus can allow to work them on their cars? Basically, if it was a major crash I would go to Lexus, as it is minor I will give a chance to this garage but I will be pain in the neck if everything is not 100%!

[Malc]

5 hours ago, Vlady said:

to come back and they will do it again!

a salutary lesson here ......  my son-in-law age 51 is the YOUNGEST professional and competent paint sprayer etc that he knows and is aware of locally in Kent.

There aren't many left much at all anywhere in the country.

The training that new guys /gals get isn't good enough.

An ageing breed and the skills are vanishing fast 👻

Malc

[Vlady]

Just a quick update, yesterday I got a Qashqai as a courtesy car, not too bad but my leg hearts shifting the gears as the car is manual and diesel! 

Enough space inside though, decently quite and economical, so will do the job for now!

I got a text today from the garage saying that parts were ordered (no details) and once they get them I will be informed on how long it will take to repair it. I am planning to find out what exactly will be done and changed but they might refuse to provide that information.