Milking a fender bender

[slheier6125]

A week ago I pulled into a parking space at my daughters elementary school and bumped fenders with a parked car. I left a note for the cars owner and was called the next day. I went to talk with the gentlemen and he presented me with an estimate for damages to repair a 1/2" scuff on the left side of bumper and a 1/4" paint chip in center of bumper. The estimate came to 400.00 and he told me I was free to shop around for a better price. I took pictures of the damage to an auto repair chain who gave me a rough estimate of 200.00 but that they needed to see the car to give a definite estimate. Today the gentleman followed me over to my auto repair place and two repair men took a look at the damage. One went inside and came back out with a cloth with something on it and cleaned the scuff off (apparently it was only plastic from my bumper. With only the 1/4' paint chip remaining as an issue the repair place reduced their estimate to 96.00. The gentleman whose car I damaged refused to accept this and said I had to use his auto repair place. I dont feel I have to do anymore than what is needed to repair his bumper, but he insists on my doing and paying extra in order to make this repair. If I stand firm what options do I have?

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face=" Arial, Verdana, Helvetica">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by slheier6125:
A week ago I pulled into a parking space at my daughters elementary school and bumped fenders with a parked car. I left a note for the cars owner and was called the next day. I went to talk with the gentlemen and he presented me with an estimate for damages to repair a 1/2" scuff on the left side of bumper and a 1/4" paint chip in center of bumper. The estimate came to 400.00 and he told me I was free to shop around for a better price. I took pictures of the damage to an auto repair chain who gave me a rough estimate of 200.00 but that they needed to see the car to give a definite estimate. Today the gentleman followed me over to my auto repair place and two repair men took a look at the damage. One went inside and came back out with a cloth with something on it and cleaned the scuff off (apparently it was only plastic from my bumper. With only the 1/4' paint chip remaining as an issue the repair place reduced their estimate to 96.00. The gentleman whose car I damaged refused to accept this and said I had to use his auto repair place. I dont feel I have to do anymore than what is needed to repair his bumper, but he insists on my doing and paying extra in order to make this repair. If I stand firm what options do I have?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

My response:

Either turn the matter over to your insurance company, or let him sue you. He'll be wasting his time though. You see, he'll have to bring 3 estimates to court with him, and you'll subpoena your repair guy to testify about the damages and costs. He'll win, but no more than which was already estimated by your repair guy. Bottom line - - he's wasting his time.

IAAL



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