What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks

I think a third party who's car I damaged is lying about repair costs. What should I do?

A month ago, I parked my car and stupidly didn't put the handbrake on. It rolled backwards and it scraped across the back bumper of another car. The only damage was a scratch on my car and chipped paint on the other car. The owner said he had only just had it repaired as someone had run into the back of him. I said that I would pay as it had cost him £250 for the other repairs. He emailed me a quote saying he had taken the car for a visual inspection and they had said £315 so I paid that. Now he has sent a receipt saying its cost £600. Apparently, there was internal damage. I really don't know how. I would have thought he should have contacted me first to make sure I didn't want to go through insurance, and if the garage has done a quote based on a visual Inspection then that should be honoured. Should I ask for proof of the damage?

Asked on 11 June 2020 by Jayne L

Answered by Honest John
You are liable for the damage as you caused it. £600 is not much when it comes to repairing a car. An estimate is just that, it does not need to be honoured. Only an invoice would have been sufficient to make that first price final. I would be asking him to provide a full break down of cost from the repair along with supporting images to justify his claim. You are ultimately liable, but make sure any agreement is in writing and witnessed.
Similar questions
I had a crash over Christmas, luckily I wasn't at fault. He hit me from behind at a roundabout, causing minor damage to my bumper. We exchanged details and agreed not to claim via insurance, but that he'll...
This afternoon we parked in a very busy Tesco car park and returned to find a note behind the wiper blade. Someone had seen another car hit ours whilst parking, and had then just driven off. Although they...
While parked on the street, our car received damage to the rear light and bodywork but no details were left of the offending vehicle. Our insurance policy does not have no claims protection and the excess...