Period find

[noj]

Found a jaguar in our front garden last week!
Apparently I'm not allowed to keep it - but what to do next?







Do I get quotes for the new fence and gatepost, then ask the driver for the cash, get her to sort it all out or get my household insurance to sort it out with her insurers?

No question of liability - she just lost control in the snow and parked her Jag and two kids in the garden, so entirely her fault (and the poor little darlings then had to walk to school, which upset them). Nobody hurt, no street furniture damaged and so not reported to anyone yet (police, insurers).

I guess if my home insurance is involved, then it raises the overall risk assessment for the property and could put our premiums up. If I just ask/tell her to 'put it right' then I don't have much control over what's done. And if I spend time getting quotes and dealing with fencing people, I have all the hassle and still have to get her to pay up (which I don't think will a problem). What would you do?

Thanks

 

[Flyfisher]

If it were me, I would obtain a quote for a new fence that you're happy with (which you'll need to do anyway whatever the eventual settlement route) and send it to the driver for full payment before any work is done. If they are happy to pay immediately then I see no reason to involve any insurance companies.

I can't imagine the repairs being much more than £500ish so I'd be surprised if the driver wants to claim on their insurance, but if they do then so be it - that's up to them. You just want the damage they caused to be quickly repaired at their cost.

 

[MikeG]

No, this is for her car insurance to pay out on. Have you spoken to her? Tell her that she is liable, and that her insurance company will cover it. Don't claim yourself.

 

[a twig]

As per my experience, when a moment of inattention on a snowy day resulted in my Land Rover leaving a small dent in a 2ft boundary wall, accepted practice is to go through the driver's insurance company, and find a "friendly" builder to do the work, who will build the property owner a small new extension, and bill it back to the car insurance company as £4,000 of "wall repairs"... :evil: :evil: *grump*

 

[Flyfisher]

No, this is for her car insurance to pay out on. Have you spoken to her? Tell her that she is liable, and that her insurance company will cover it. Don't claim yourself.

Surely it's up to the driver to decide who pays? She is definitely liable but isn't it HER decision whether to claim on her insurance?

I agree about not the OP not claiming on their own insurance but their claim, strictly speaking, is on the driver not the driver's insurance company. That's between the driver and their insurance co.

 

[Flyfisher]

As per my experience, when a moment of inattention on a snowy day resulted in my Land Rover leaving a small dent in a 2ft boundary wall, accepted practice is to go through the driver's insurance company, and find a "friendly" builder to do the work, who will build the property owner a small new extension, and bill it back to the car insurance company as £4,000 of "wall repairs"... :evil: :evil: *grump*

Funny you should say that about 'claims inflation'. A few years ago someone broke the wing mirror on my Mercedes and put a small dent in the door skin (long story but entirely their fault and liability not contested). The repairs cost their insurance company £2500! :shock:

Last month I broke both wing mirrors on my Defender (a shorter story involving driving through some woodland!). I bought two brand new ones for a grand total of £13, postage paid!! Guess I should charge myself a couple of grand to fit them. :wink:

 

[MikeG]

No, this is for her car insurance to pay out on. Have you spoken to her? Tell her that she is liable, and that her insurance company will cover it. Don't claim yourself.

Surely it's up to the driver to decide who pays? She is definitely liable but isn't it HER decision whether to claim on her insurance?

I agree about not the OP not claiming on their own insurance but their claim, strictly speaking, is on the driver not the driver's insurance company. That's between the driver and their insurance co.

Yes, yes, of course. I was merely pointing out the fall-back position about which insurance company would bear the ultimate claim.

 

[noj]

Thanks all.
There's no question of liability - ultimately she'll pay (either from her own pocket or via her insurance). I was just wondering if I should do all the legwork of getting quotes etc myself or pass the buck to her/an insurance company and get them to handle the entire process?

 

[dandrew]

I had a similar experience a couple of years ago, with a car that skidded on snow and ended up demolishing a substantial length (10 feet or so) of my front boundary stone wall. The wall was deemed not economical to repair and needed to be rebuilt, with several quotes obtained. I tried to pursue settlement solely through the drivers insurance company, who refused to deal with me and said I had to make a claim through my own house insurance. This I duly did, with me paying the builder, I was reimbursed by my house insurance who claimed the same amount from the drivers insurer. The drivers insurers then settled the excess from my policy directly with me (why they couldn't have settled the whole amount was never explained). At this point we're all even, with all the costs borne by the drivers insurance.

Fast forward 6 months, when renewing the house insurance:
Prospective new insurance company: "Have you had a claim on your existing policy in the last 3 years"
Me: "Not directly, but someone drove into my wall 6 months ago and I had to involve my existing insurers"
Them: "So you had a claim then"
Me: "No as it was all settled by the drivers insurers"
Them: "But you did claim on your policy"
Me: "I suppose so, but the costs were all paid by the third parties insurers"
etc.

Upshot was that I was deemed to have claimed on my policy, which then jacked up my renewal costs.
Moral of the story: If you can convince the driver to settle directly with you. If not possible, cost inflation would be necessary in order to offset the inevitable rise in you own insurance premium.

David

 

[noj]

That's the thing with insurance - any claim, regardless of liability, increases the risk in the eyes of the insurer. I guess as soon as an insurance database ranks the property as prone to vehicle collision then the premiums will rise to match.

Guess that answers my original question - I need to sort everything out in the way of quotes/contractors, get the money direct from the driver, take time off while the work is done and that's hopefully the end of it...

 

[plasticpigeon]

The wall was deemed not economical to repair and needed to be rebuilt, with several quotes obtained.

So walls over 5 years old get written off too!

 

[steveb]

Upshot was that I was deemed to have claimed on my policy, which then jacked up my renewal costs.

I believe that you could go back and claim the uplift from the vehicle owner, however you may need it in writing what the "before and after" premium would be in order to claim the difference. It may or may not be worth your while in doing so.

 

[noj]

I believe that you could go back and claim the uplift from the vehicle owner, however you may need it in writing what the "before and after" premium would be in order to claim the difference. It may or may not be worth your while in doing so

You'd need an actuary to calculate the uplift value - once there's been a claim for a vehicle hitting the wall then it'll always have an elevated risk factor for it happening again (same as flood risk) - so you'd have to work out what sum would compensate for elevated premiums going forwards, allowing for inflation for whatever period an insurance company may deem the risk remains...

 

[CliffordPope]

Obviously the best solution is that you get a quote asap, tell her, and get her to pay you cash straight away. Then you each forget it and never ever disclose on insurance that you have ever even had an "incident".

But that assumes absolute trust on both sides. In an insurer's eyes you have each now had an incident, which you are obliged to declare in future insurance dealings, quotes and renewals. If you don't, and they find out, perhaps because the other party reneges on the agreement and discovers whiplash, emotional damage, chassis misalignment, further costs of some sort, then you are in big trouble for failure to disclose.
So it's a gamble.
Trust is best, until it isn't

 

[GPHouse]

Great find!

I'm willing to bet the insurance company dispute it to begin with... claiming the fence jumped out in front of the poor white car in the snow!

 

[MatthewC]

Thanks all.
There's no question of liability - ultimately she'll pay (either from her own pocket or via her insurance). I was just wondering if I should do all the legwork of getting quotes etc myself or pass the buck to her/an insurance company and get them to handle the entire process?

I would get the quotes myself - otherwise you might end up with some cheapo job done by some cowboy...

 

[Flyfisher]

Agreed.

Another potential issue is betterment. I understand this is often an issue in wind-damaged fence claims, where the insurance company may claim the fence was only blown down because it was in poor condition and therefore a brand new fence would be 'better' then the original one. Insurance is basically intended to return things to the pre-incident condition and not pay for such 'betterment'.

OK, wind damage is not the issue here, but if the fence was, say, five years old and its expected life is 10 years then an insurance company might only offer to pay 50% of the cost of a new one. :evil:

 

[worms]

Forget the fence, keep the jag!

Seriously, though, the house is stunning and probably looks better without the fence blocking the view!

 

[noj]

Final(ish) outcome. Got some quotes for a like-for-like replacement, including a new gate post for the 5-bar gate across the drive, and picked the chap I liked, relayed to the driver and she's promised me a cheque - fencing guy comissioned.

Now decided we're actually going to swap the close board for white picket to match the section that's already there, which does mean it'll be down to me to paint it, but a small price to pay!

All assuming she does actually deliver the cheque!

 

[noj]

Fence now re-instated (and laboriously painted)



That's about half the frontage, not sure I can face replacing the close boarding to the right of the gate, but it does make the garden a lot lighter...