Hitting wing mirror - advice??

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Sat 7 Mar 2020 06:00
Hitting wing mirror - advice?? - Morga2543

Hi all,

Recently my friend clipped a car wing mirror in Bristol. It was parked illegally on double yellowd in a one way, single lane street. She chose to settle the matter with the person there and then. She gave him what he asked for (cost of a new wing mirror that the car owner priced themselves there and then). She didn't complain about the price whatsoever and was more than happy to try settle the matter without insurance becoming involved. She asked him how much would he be happy with. However, the car owner only asked for the cost of the part. She is worried they will get the insurance involved for possibly labor charges, cost of fitting, etc., plus there is no guarantees the other person got the part they were looking for at the exact price they said I suppose. She would have given him more had he asked she is that worried. When driving away the man gave her a thumbs up, thanked her for stopping and assured that it was the end of the matter. He was extremely thankful for her pulling over and tracking him down and not just driving off, so hopefully he can see it was a genuine mistake she has tried to fix. The car was quite flashy and £100 doesn't sound much for a 3-5 year old car. My question is, after a few weeks, would she have hear by now if a claim was put in? Again, she did all she could to rectify the issue there and then and surely the other person would possibly have the decency to get in contact if they did incur any other costs. I'm not very good at advising with these things so thought it is worth asking as I don't know what to suggest. I have tried reassuring as best as I can. She's only 22.

Thanks!

Edited by Morga2543 on 07/03/2020 at 06:08

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Sat 7 Mar 2020 06:18
Hitting wing mirror - advice?? - gordonbennet

Did she knock the complete mirror off, or did the blow simply break the glass.

The former could cost anything really, £400 quite possible, the latter anything from £10 to that magic £100 for a new glass.

Hopefully they exchanged details as required and she didn't just hand £100 over to some stranger in the street, she should of course in retrospect have asked the chap to provide her a written receipt in full and final settlement but like most of us she wouldn't be thinking of such things at the time.

Personally i wouldn't worry too much about it, if the bloke turns out to be a rogue who denies the payment and goes for a claim there is not much she can do about it other than tell the absolute truth when needed, but i reckon the chap knows he's made probably £50 profit from the incident after changing the cracked glass and she'll hear nothing more from him.

If there were more honourable people like your friend about who take responsibilty for their mistakes and do the right thing the country wouldn't be disappearing around the U bend at the rate it is, all credit to her...it could also be the chap was grateful for her decency in owning up and even of he's out of pocket by a few quid is looking at the bigger picture here.

Edited by gordonbennet on 07/03/2020 at 06:21

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Sat 7 Mar 2020 09:46
Hitting wing mirror - advice?? - Morga2543

Hi,

Thank you for the reply. If I'm right I remember her telling me some time back that she broke the back plastic of the wing mirror, but that the structural part of the wing mirror was completely intact. So the mirror apparently did not actually come off if that makes sense? Possibly the glass broke or at the very least the back plastic. She said she is unsure about the mirror due to how much shock she was in. At the time I am sure she told me in a phone call though that the glass was intact but would not clip back into the frame. She said her mirror bent his wing mirror all the way back the wrong way when they hit.

That's for a receipt, the gent went with her into a store to withdraw money so I am sure CCTV would hold up, wouldn't it? Also her dash camera logs the time and date of the incident and she kept the store receipt of the £100 withdrawal which was a few minutes apart from the incident if that, as logged on the dash cam. So even though she did not get a written receipt she does have all this. I'm not sure how well it would hold up though? I think she is okay if it has been a few weeks. I would have assumed anyone intending to make a claim would not take their time about it. I copied her dash camera footage to her laptop though to be on the safe side.

I like to think the man is true to his word. If he came to her address and said it amounted to more and provided a receipt to prove, she would find a way of paying the rest on the spot. She is very honest, so I hope the man could see that and give her the benefit of the doubt. She only worries due to relying on her car for both family (her sister is disabled and parents don't drive) and work. Insurance is high as it is for these younger drivers.

Personally myself, even if out of pocket, if someone has given me the money I asked without complaint and did all they could to rectify the damage, I would not go down the insurance route. Particularly if they could of ran, it proves integrity. But everyone is different.

Edited by Morga2543 on 07/03/2020 at 09:59

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