Paying for damage to car- my fault?

Was it a posh car? Our wing mirror unit cost about £250 on a VW golf two years ago. The electrics make it expensive. Bad luck.

I'd always go through my insurance, that's what it's for. There are scammers and chancers out there and the insurance protects you from them. Check you policy you may have protected bonus and won't lose your NCB. If you don't, for a small claim, you don't usually lose all the bonus.
Anyway, I'd ask for 3 quotes to makes sure they are all similar. Many wing mirrors are linked to the electronic system of the car so that they heat up, have indicator lights, move and in some cases alert you to close overtaking cars. So they would be expensive to replace.

I would ask him to get two or three written quotes and even maybe contact a garage yourself and give the car registration - they can look them up on a computer now and find out all the details they need for parts etc.
I wish you luck with it all and a not too large a bill!

Have you contacted your insurance company to ask for advice?

I know when I knocked off our wing mirror a couple of years ago (bad reverse driving out of our garage!!) it cost us £180. It was linked to the electric system in the car so was more expensive to replace.

We have no claims protection with our insurance so as J52 says I'd check that out first.

£500 does seem rather excessive and could well be linked to the dealership rather than a local garage. Hope you find the cheapest and easiest way. xx

Sorry this has happened to you and good on you for doing the right thing. I would certainly ask for more quotes, but as MOMB says, it is the electronics that make it expensive - our latest car has the sort of sensors that J52 refers to. Heaven only knows how much they would cost to replace. I hope I never have to find out, but my record is not good!

i would go through my insurance company every time.
and, when you renew, ask if you've got protected no claims bonus - it costs just a little bit extra but it's worth it.

Wing mirrors are expensive to have fitted because of the labour costs, the mirror itself is probably only half that - though it can cost up to over £1000 for mirrors to be fitted to the top of the range cars

Even if you just contact your insurer to ask advice they may load your premium next time. I rang our home insurance to seek advice, 4 years later when changing provider they wanted to load my premium as by asking for advice it was suggested that I might make a claim!

Unfortunately I think it sounds about right, if someone had damaged my car I wouldn't be prepared to go anywhere other than the main dealership that I always use I'm afraid either. As mentioned previously electrics and even heat run through the mirrors and could even be a special/limited edition paint "job". Please don't regret doing the right thing though, accidents happen and you have been honest.

I completely agree with J52.

Grandma2213 Do it the legal way.Exchange insurance details and make sure you have his car reg.Did you have your phone with you to take a photograph? If the guy refuses to exchange details making note of his reg is important.
If this is your first claim although you may lose your no claims you can't be too careful with those who appear 'nice'.Had a similair encounter with a Mr Friendly Nice Guy several years ago.

I think it's about right unfortunately. These days wing mirrors are fairly complex things with wiring for adjusting electronically and some have heating elements.

There are scammers and chancers out there and the insurance protects you from them

Really J52 ? In my experience of running a small fleet of vans (and cars) I would say the insurance companies are only interested in settling the claim. They scratch each others back in terms of often paying out far too easily without investigating whether the claim is genuine. We uncovered a massive (and I am not exaggerating) scam involving false claims and people calming to be in cars that weren't etc. after one of our drivers was involved in a very minor incident. There were even doctors involved who were happy to write reports that their client/customer/patient had suffered whiplash etc. when they weren't even in the vehicle at the time. I was determined to take it all the way without any help from the insurance company (or the police who were more interested in staying very politically correct) . We did not get so much as a thank you from our insurance who told me that it was easier to just pay out than go legal. The scammers who were using various versions of a similar name had various car body parts stashed at their home that they were putting on vehicles and removing accordingly.

My advice to Grandma2213 would be to do some research yourself regarding the prices of replacing the mirror of the car concerned. £500 does seem excessive to me and going via your insurance (unless you have no claim protection) could mean you will pay it back 10 fold ! Good luck.

So glad I have an old car, generally held together by the mud splashes from living in a rural area. Has never let me down, passed it's MOT first time over the last 3 years that I have had it, fingers crossed it does the same this year. I don't think I would ever have a 'posh' car I'd be too worried about it. But with respect to the original advice requested, definitely ask for other quotes too or get quotes yourself then you can be sure they are genuine. Then hopefully you can decide whether or not it's worth just paying up or going through the Insurance and suffering the inevitable rise in the next premium.

Meant to add....that's the thanks you get for being honest. I wonder if the owner has just rang a main dealership and asked the price for replacing the mirror? No negotiation. There are plenty reputable small garages that could do the work equally well and probably charge half of what a main dealer would charge.

A local bus company knocked my husbands wing mirror off whilst we were at traffic lights. We didn't go through their insurance. We insisted they used the main dealer for the repair and that cost over £500. I know this because we had to pay the bill and the bus company reembursed us. Depending on the make/model of the vehicle bare in mind it's not just the cost of the wing mirror, it will probably have to be painted and the costs for fitting can be ridiculous. Ring a main dealer of the make of vehicle and ask them how for a quote and then you will know if the price they are asking is correct. If you go through your insurance then your policy will go up and you will end up paying more.

Check your insurance policy, first. Many companies, when you renew, ask whether you've had an accident in the past year, irrespective of whether you've claimed or not.

Not telling the truth about this could invalidate your insurance, should you have another accident, so you may as well claim it on your policy in the first place.

Insuring your no claims really works ours is about 10 to 15 pounds a year

Does the person's car have a turn signal light incorporated into the assembly? That can get expensive, too. Was it a new or old car?

Have you seen the quote yourself? Ask to see the original... not a photocopy or scanned to you. People can 'change' things.

Many years ago I hired a car through my workplace as that was their policy. It was a model my husband was interested in so he decided to take a run in it. After reversing into a tree and tearing off the wing mirror he gave the keys to me and left me to take responsibility for causing the damage. The cost of repair then, some 20 years ago was £300 so £500 doesn't sound so bad really.

A couple of years ago I was parked at our local garage/shop, I was in the shop when a young man came in to say he had hit my car. Very honest, we exchanged details & he went to get his Insurance details & met me back at my home where he rang his Insurance Company in front of me. I informed my Insurance Company as well. His Insurance Company paid for all repairs & hire car. This incident is noted on my Insurance now but does not affect my renewal.

For your protection I would hand this over to your Insurance Company & let them deal with it. Make sure you have all details of car owner's Insurance as well as registration & make & model of car + full name & address of owner.

Good luck

tigger Are you still married to him?

Do go through your insurance. I know that your £350 excess is a lot of money but it will probably cost at least that much.

I was in an accident some years ago where a smart Mercedes walloped into my boot, stopping it from opening. The driver wanted to settle in cash so we got a quote (very expensive incidentally, but from our normal garage) which he was happy to pay. However then he baulked about paying the VAT so we said we'd go through our insurance. It transpired that he had no insurance so faced a criminal charge - and probably other difficulties as he was a hospital doctor and from abroad. He did pay up eventually, though there was always the risk that he might simply disappear!

I'm now always suspicious about people not wanting to go through their insurance company as they may well not be insured.

Sadly for you sounds about right. Two years ago it cost us £350 to replace driver mirror on our Volvo S40 when speeding idiot from opposite direction took it off completely. Didn't stop of course. We paid up as excess was £250 and seemed better than affect no claims.