Damage to property through car accident

[Kaylee136]

Hi I have recently had a small car accident in which my car stalled forward into the front wall of a hairdressers causing 2 broken tiles and a couple of dents in the wall behind where the tiles were. After the owner of the hairdressers had an estimate for £600 to fix she agreed for my husband to fix it as he is a registered builder and said it wouldnt cost nearly as much as the quote due to it being minimal damage. The owner was happy for this to go ahead. Since then we have recieved non stop calls from her and an estate agents that own next door stating that the property next to hairdressers has also been damaged and the tenants door is bent and wont open. I have pictures of the damage when it happend and the day after. We went to look at it on sunday and someone has caused extensive damage knocking in the whole wall and pulling off extra tiles and wood. The door next door has no damage to it at all. My question is im sure these people are trying to have me over. Is there anything i can do due to me having pictures to prove further damage has been caused. Also my car hasnt 1 scratch on it as it only tapped the wall at no speed and no distance so it would be impossible for my car to be undamaged when looking at the state of the wall.What can i do about this. Im happy to pay for the initial damage i caused but no way will i pay for further damage caused by by other parties trying to extort money from me

 

[Zigner]

Sorry - this forum is for US law matters only.

 

[adjusterjack]

My question is im sure these people are trying to have me over.

I'm sure they are. That's generally what happens when you try to avoid getting your insurance involved. No matter which side of the pond you are on.

Is there anything i can do

Yes. Report the claim to your auto insurance company. It's a requirement of your policy. You might lose your insurance if fail to report the claim and later prejudice your insurance company's right to investigate.

 

[Just Blue]

How does a stalled (stopped) car end up hitting a wall? Do the laws of Physics change somewhere over the Atlantic?

 

[adjusterjack]

How does a stalled (stopped) car end up hitting a wall? Do the laws of Physics change somewhere over the Atlantic?

In the Bermuda Triangle.

When a car stalls and the motor stops running, things like power brakes stop working and it takes longer to stop the car even at low speed. That's what might have happened.

You can try it for yourself. Drive about 5 mph, shut off the ignition, and apply the brakes. You'll feel the difference. By the way, power steering will also stop so make sure you aren't heading for somebody's wall.

 

[xylene]

In a manual transmission car (much more common in UK) if you dump the clutch with the engine still silghtly running at shutdown the car will buck forward and stall.

 

[Just Blue]

Cool! Just of wealth of automotive education on here today!!

 

[Zigner]

You can try it for yourself. Drive about 5 mph, shut off the ignition, and apply the brakes. You'll feel the difference. By the way, power steering will also stop so make sure you aren't heading for somebody's wall.

In a properly maintained vehicle, power assisted brakes have a reserve of two or three applications, each with decreasing amounts of assist. Generally, the first application will supply almost full assist.