Minor vehicle accident - advice needed please.

[Old Frightful]

Hi folks, hoping someone can give me a bit of advice on the following situation.

Whilst doing a favour for a pal, I was towing a large trailer to collect a couple of gates from a woodyard in Grimsby, but, as I turned into the premises, the rear box section of the trailer that contains the indicators, caught the bumper of a small van belonging to the company that owns the premises. It was only a minor bump but it put a dent in the bumper so I gave them my details and they said they'd be in touch. In the mean time, I priced up a new bumper and got in touch with a garage in Hull I use to quote me for the work. They reckoned it would only be an hour or two at the most to replace the bumper. I asked the van owners if I could collect the van when they shut at lunchtime on any given Saturday, have the work done over the weekend, and return it 8am Monday making sure they were happy with the work. They said that would be fine but they'd still send me three local (Grimsby) quotes anyway to see what I thought. They have since gone back on that and decided it won't be convenient for me to collect the van and are saying they want the work done local to them at their convenience.

I have since received the three quotes, the first was for £1,650, the second for £2,150 and the third for £1,750. I nearly bloody fainted after the first and that was the cheapest. One of the quotes has "This is worst case scenario, if he wants it done for cash it'll be about £500" as a footnote at the bottom of the quote. 

If my local garage in Hull carries out the work, they reckon it would be £500 at the most. Apart from the fact that it looks obviously like the Grimsby garage owners are profiteering if I either go through insurance or pay cash, do the van owners have the right to refuse to allow me to take the van to have it repaired at a garage of my choice?

The van itself is four years old and is worth around £3,800 - £4,000 looking at similar vans for sale elsewhere.

I've no interest in going through insurance as I have a £650 excess, unless of course I can't get it done in Hull.

Any ideas?, thanks in advance for any advice which will be greatly appreciated. 

[Shadow]

14 minutes ago, Old Frightful said:

Hi folks, hoping someone can give me a bit of advice on the following situation.

Whilst doing a favour for a pal, I was towing a large trailer to collect a couple of gates from a woodyard in Grimsby, but, as I turned into the premises, the rear box section of the trailer that contains the indicators, caught the bumper of a small van belonging to the company that owns the premises. It was only a minor bump but it put a dent in the bumper so I gave them my details and they said they'd be in touch. In the mean time, I priced up a new bumper and got in touch with a garage in Hull I use to quote me for the work. They reckoned it would only be an hour or two at the most to replace the bumper. I asked the van owners if I could collect the van when they shut at lunchtime on any given Saturday, have the work done over the weekend, and return it 8am Monday making sure they were happy with the work. They said that would be fine but they'd still send me three local (Grimsby) quotes anyway to see what I thought. They have since gone back on that and decided it won't be convenient for me to collect the van and are saying they want the work done local to them at their convenience.

I have since received the three quotes, the first was for £1,650, the second for £2,150 and the third for £1,750. I nearly bloody fainted after the first and that was the cheapest. One of the quotes has "This is worst case scenario, if he wants it done for cash it'll be about £500" as a footnote at the bottom of the quote. 

If my local garage in Hull carries out the work, they reckon it would be £500 at the most. Apart from the fact that it looks obviously like the Grimsby garage owners are profiteering if I either go through insurance or pay cash, do the van owners have the right to refuse to allow me to take the van to have it repaired at a garage of my choice?

The van itself is four years old and is worth around £3,800 - £4,000 looking at similar vans for sale elsewhere.

I've no interest in going through insurance as I have a £650 excess, unless of course I can't get it done in Hull.

Any ideas?, thanks in advance for any advice which will be greatly appreciated. 

I'd send a copy of the one with the note to the Insurance company, I'm sure they'd be interested in the discrepancy. That looks like fairly strong evidence of Insurance or VAT fraud. 

[Bleep1673]

I would get three quotes yourself, and then speak to your insurance company, as off the record as you can, to see what they suggest.

[Old Frightful]

7 hours ago, Shadow said:

I'd send a copy of the one with the note to the Insurance company, I'm sure they'd be interested in the discrepancy. That looks like fairly strong evidence of Insurance or VAT fraud. 

Indeed, I don't think the van owners had read it through fully.

Just wondering if anyone else out there knows whether I can demand to get the van repaired myself or not.

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

9 minutes ago, Old Frightful said:

Indeed, I don't think the van owners had read it through fully.

Just wondering if anyone else out there knows whether I can demand to get the van repaired myself or not.

Never heard of that but I'd be tempted to report the 'for cash' bit regardless ....personally I'd also go for the insurance claim excess or not

[Rawschach]

The good news - you don't pay an insurance excess on third party liabilities.  It only applies if claiming for your own vehicle damage.

They are entitled to get the vehicle repaired where they want to.  You cannot insist on choosing where it is repaired. Your could pay for an independent engineer to inspect the car and agree a reasonable cost with a garage but that will cost you about £140 for the report.

Your best bet is to advise the other side that you want to go through insurance - your insurer will inspect the vehicle before paying for the damage.  You will lose some NCD (unless it is protected) and your premium will go up at renewal.

[bobbruce]

Offer them the £500 that’s in the quote and tell them if it’s turned down that quote will be getting past on to the relevant authorities. 

[Old Frightful]

37 minutes ago, Rawschach said:

The good news - you don't pay an insurance excess on third party liabilities.  It only applies if claiming for your own vehicle damage.

They are entitled to get the vehicle repaired where they want to.  You cannot insist on choosing where it is repaired. Your could pay for an independent engineer to inspect the car and agree a reasonable cost with a garage but that will cost you about £140 for the report.

Your best bet is to advise the other side that you want to go through insurance - your insurer will inspect the vehicle before paying for the damage.  You will lose some NCD (unless it is protected) and your premium will go up at renewal.

Really?!?!, wow, that's fab news if so.

And I'm pretty sure my no claims is protected so it could be a win win.

Here's hoping, thanks very much.

[Padge]

17 minutes ago, bobbruce said:

Offer them the £500 that’s in the quote and tell them if it’s turned down that quote will be getting past on to the relevant authorities. 

This ^^^