Car Damage By Another

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › Car Damage By Another

gulfa

321 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#225847 7-Dec-2017 15:48

Here I am parked at my golf course on returning after 4 hours found my car Front door had been damaged by some bad driver who had backed into it with his tow bar causing major damaged. I have his details etc. The door has to be replaced. What I want to know is apart from him having to pay for my Excess can I get him to provide me with another car while mine is off the road. Apart from being extremely pissed off by such bad driving I don't see why I should have to suffer because of this incident. The inconvenience and time spent getting the problem dealt with is bad enough. Any advice or comments would be welcome. Just as a side issue it is my Nissan Leaf Tekna 20126 30kw model which has made me more annoyed. It would have to be the best car I have ever owned.

1 | 2

3457 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1914701 7-Dec-2017 16:00

One person supports this post

Do you have rental car cover on your insurance?

gulfa

321 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#1914719 7-Dec-2017 16:14

I will need to check but I doubt it.

Mistenfuru

198 posts

Master Geek

#1914721 7-Dec-2017 16:18

No, you could pay for a rental car and try and recover the cost through small claims court for "punitive damages" but the outcome is a very grey area.

And he doesn't pay for your excess, either his insurance company pays everything and he pays his excess, or your insurance company pays yours and he pays your insurance company!

WyleECoyoteNZ

736 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1914725 7-Dec-2017 16:28

Sucks yes, but not the end of the world.

Does the door still open and close? Can the car be driven still?

If the car can still be driven, then have it assessed by your local Nissan dealer, as you should have the option to choose who does the repair. If the Nissan dealer isn't the insurers preferred supplier, then sometimes they don't guarantee the work.

But if you can have it assessed and all the insurance stuff happen, then you might be able to book in with the Nissan dealer and use one of there loan cars. In my experience, these are used booked out weeks in advance, so don't expect to rock up to the dealer tomorrow and get one of there loan cars.

Bank on the car being off the road for 2 -3 days while panel beating and painting is done.

gulfa

321 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#1914742 7-Dec-2017 16:38

I should have said I have already taken it to my insurance company's recommended agent they were very thorough took photographs etc.The car is still driverable just has this large dent in the bottom of the door which opens and closes with ease. Slight damage on the sill. The repairer said they will order a new door which will take time so it could be after Christmas before I see a result. It just annoys me that someone could be such a bad driver and cause so much inconvenience and get away with stuff all. I would hate to meet him on the open highway. You had to see the parking situation how bad he must have been. I still cant believe that any one could be such a bad driver. This not a small dent which you could accept but he must have hit the car with some force with the towball to cause the damage, Thanks for the comments so far

CamH

429 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1914752 7-Dec-2017 16:58

10 people support this post

Life sucks, sometimes accidents happen. I'm sure he didn't purposely drive into your car.

Be happy he left his details, take the car to a panelbeater who gives out courtesy cars and there's your problem solved.

gulfa

321 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#1914780 7-Dec-2017 17:17

The guy left his phone number when I approached him on the course he admitted he had done the damage He didn't even have the decency to say sorry I rang him the next day He told me I needed to ring my insurance company I told him hat I had and that he should ring his He didn't think it was necessary Once again no sorry or any apology what so ever. I have now found out who he is and the fact that he has a multimillion dollar house on Tamaki Drive. Not surprised he doesn't want to deal with a commoner such as myself. I guess I just suck the kumara.

tripp

3457 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1914781 7-Dec-2017 17:18

I have also had it happen to my 1 month old brand new car. Group of us went out at lunch time as someone was leaving work, got back to my car and notice a bit of paper on my front window, walking around and the guy had hit the back right side as he was pulling into a empty park next to mine. I was really not happy. Called insurance who then called him and we ended up being with the same insurance company so did not have to pay an excess etc. Got it repaired the following week and the repair place had a spare car i could use for a couple of days.

dickytim

2514 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1915280 8-Dec-2017 13:15

gulfa:

The guy left his phone number when I approached him on the course he admitted he had done the damage He didn't even have the decency to say sorry I rang him the next day He told me I needed to ring my insurance company I told him hat I had and that he should ring his He didn't think it was necessary Once again no sorry or any apology what so ever. I have now found out who he is and the fact that he has a multimillion dollar house on Tamaki Drive. Not surprised he doesn't want to deal with a commoner such as myself. I guess I just suck the kumara.

He admitted liability and left his details, in my books he is a decent bloke, many more wouldn't have.

As for your judgemental attitude towards him, what is with that, do you begrudge him where he lives? seems petty really.

I have been hit by a truck causing a major amount of damage, he was making an illegal turn without signalling, guess what? I am technically at fault as I didn't go into the left most lane when turning left, so I have to pay an excess and loose my no claims bonus, so to you I say... suck it up princess and get on with your life.

dickytim

2514 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1915281 8-Dec-2017 13:15

gulfa:

The guy left his phone number when I approached him on the course he admitted he had done the damage He didn't even have the decency to say sorry I rang him the next day He told me I needed to ring my insurance company I told him hat I had and that he should ring his He didn't think it was necessary Once again no sorry or any apology what so ever. I have now found out who he is and the fact that he has a multimillion dollar house on Tamaki Drive. Not surprised he doesn't want to deal with a commoner such as myself. I guess I just suck the kumara.

He admitted liability and left his details, in my books he is a decent bloke, many more wouldn't have.

As for your judgemental attitude towards him, what is with that, do you begrudge him where he lives? seems petty really.

surfisup1000

4573 posts

Uber Geek

#1915349 8-Dec-2017 15:14

Lucky you are not me.

5 accidents in last 12 months now. None my fault.

Latest one last week, skateboarder threw his board across the road smashing out our tail light and cracking the rear spoiler.

Apart from the skateboarder, each time, the at fault party was apologetic and admitted fault and always had a great excuse why they hit our car.

Fed up!

networkn

22298 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1915350 8-Dec-2017 15:14

gulfa:

The guy left his phone number when I approached him on the course he admitted he had done the damage He didn't even have the decency to say sorry I rang him the next day He told me I needed to ring my insurance company I told him hat I had and that he should ring his He didn't think it was necessary Once again no sorry or any apology what so ever. I have now found out who he is and the fact that he has a multimillion dollar house on Tamaki Drive. Not surprised he doesn't want to deal with a commoner such as myself. I guess I just suck the kumara.

Other than not apologizing, he has done what he should have done, left his details and told you to deal with his insurance company. Accidents happen. The fact he owns a house on Tamaki Drive is irrelevant and you are projecting. I wonder how you would feel if you had hit HIS car, and he had said, "I have now found out who Gulfa is and he lives in Otara! No wonder he doesn't want to apologise to me."

I understand you are frustrated, but you will get your car sorted and not be out of pocket, so compared to a lot of different things that could happen, it's not too bad.

My nice new car has been dented 5 separate times in the past 2 years, almost always people opening their doors into mine, not one has left a note.

kryptonjohn

2523 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1915360 8-Dec-2017 16:06

gulfa:

Here I am parked at my golf course on returning after 4 hours found my car Front door had been damaged by some bad driver who had backed into it with his tow bar causing major damaged. I have his details etc. The door has to be replaced. What I want to know is apart from him having to pay for my Excess can I get him to provide me with another car while mine is off the road. Apart from being extremely pissed off by such bad driving I don't see why I should have to suffer because of this incident. The inconvenience and time spent getting the problem dealt with is bad enough. Any advice or comments would be welcome. Just as a side issue it is my Nissan Leaf Tekna 20126 30kw model which has made me more annoyed. It would have to be the best car I have ever owned.

I understand your anger and sympathise with you accidents happen and you should count yourself lucky that he fessed up and you won't be losing your no claims discount nor have to pay the excess. He's more honest than whoever scraped my car in a car park a few weeks ago. My car is in at the panel beaters now and I have to wear the $400 excess (but luckily with AMI it seems you don't lose your NCB).

As to claiming extra costs - forget it, it's too hard to be worth it.

What you can do is find a panel beater that provides a free loan car while they have yours. Mine does!

dclegg

2729 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1915364 8-Dec-2017 16:11

At least he admitted liability.

We had someone ding the side of our car while it was parked at my wife's work (a local primary school).

There was construction work being undertaken at the school, so there were tradesmen vehicles coming and going all day out of the carpark. Not long after the incident, my wife found one of the vehicles with blue paint matching our car scraped on their back bumper. We passed this information onto our insurer, who contacted the company. The driver of the vehicle said that he didn't hit our car, and explained the paint away by accusing my wife of hitting his instead (which would be difficult, considering it was stationary in the car park all day, and parked with no vehicles around it initially).

So due to this persons probable dishonesty, we were stuck with the excess.

kryptonjohn

2523 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1915367 8-Dec-2017 16:18

networkn:

gulfa:

The guy left his phone number when I approached him on the course he admitted he had done the damage He didn't even have the decency to say sorry I rang him the next day He told me I needed to ring my insurance company I told him hat I had and that he should ring his He didn't think it was necessary Once again no sorry or any apology what so ever. I have now found out who he is and the fact that he has a multimillion dollar house on Tamaki Drive. Not surprised he doesn't want to deal with a commoner such as myself. I guess I just suck the kumara.

Other than not apologizing, he has done what he should have done, left his details and told you to deal with his insurance company. Accidents happen. The fact he owns a house on Tamaki Drive is irrelevant and you are projecting. I wonder how you would feel if you had hit HIS car, and he had said, "I have now found out who Gulfa is and he lives in Otara! No wonder he doesn't want to apologise to me."

I understand you are frustrated, but you will get your car sorted and not be out of pocket, so compared to a lot of different things that could happen, it's not too bad.

My nice new car has been dented 5 separate times in the past 2 years, almost always people opening their doors into mine, not one has left a note.

Yeah while my car is in getting it's $5000 repair (I was gobsmacked, I think they over-estimate then under-claim to be covered) I've asked them to also fix at my cost the many door dents from ignorant w*nkers who park to close (non centred in parking space) to me and open their doors into mine.

The Dr Dent type guy comes in to do it rather than the panel beater and it is surprisingly inexpensive.

1 | 2