Arrgg car dinged and I think it was a friend of the neighbour's..

Raider

Raider

Raider

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
4,576
Location
Leamington Spa / Oxford
New neighbour moved in a couple of weeks back, and yesterday there was a white van parked next to my car, which the friend of the neighbour I assumed rented or owned. I think he was helping her move some more stuff in.

Anyway this afternoon when I left to go see my GF, I notice paintwork damage to my wing mirror and door, where clearly the van door has gone into the side of my car. It's not a huge amount of damage, but probably £200 odd to repspray the affected panels.

The neighbour hasn't been in during today so I put this note through the door:

Hello,

My name is James, I’m your neighbour across the hall (no. 70). Sorry that I haven’t introduced myself until now!

This is kind of awkward but I was wondering whether you had the contact details of the man who was using the white van yesterday (Saturday 24th). Was he the gentleman helping you move some of your furniture upstairs? He was parked next to my car (the grey Porsche convertible), and I think he might have accidentally opened his door into the passenger side of my car. The damage isn’t extensive, but the paintwork has been scratched and dented in a number of places and it’s especially noticeable on the wing mirror. It’s something I’d like to get repaired before winter before the weather gets worse.

Do you know whether he owned the van or was renting it? If so I was hoping he might have suitable insurance that could cover the cost of the minor repair work to the paintwork.

If you can help me in anyway, I can be contacted on my mobile no. of **************.


Kind regards,
James
Click to expand...

I'm not expecting much to come of it, but I thought I had to try.. I don't want to **** off my new neighbour. The neighbour seems nice enough (50 year old woman living on her own I think), but the van driver I have no idea about..

Think I've done the right thing?
 
go and knock on the door at first opportunity as well, so that she doesnt feel too threatened by it (old women can be scared easily!)
 
Well she left a message on my voicemail this morning, so hopefully I can speak to her today, either in person or over the phone. She sounded very apologetic, but that doesn't necessarily translate into getting any money towards the repair I guess.

Talking of which I got a quote from the local bodyshop. £250-£300 is their quote to respray the wing mirror, door and joining front wing (to match the paint well).
 
Well I just had a phone call from the guy that owns the van.. and the result wasn't that surprising really. He basically said he didn't remember doing anything of the sort, and would have left a note if he had. He then said any other vehicle could have done it, so how could I be so sure..

I never really expected a white van man to ring up, confess and give me the £250 repair cost, but nevermind..
 
Sounds like you've had a mare then, good luck with it, its hard enough to get their insurance to pay out even if a witness is involved!
 
I know this goes totally against the whole "An OcUK'er is always in the right" ethos - but what if the van driver is telling the truth and he really didn't do anything?
 
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