Any legal types on ?

[upsidedown]

My mom's car's been hit by next door's builder's mini-digger. Reckon there's about £2-300 pounds of damage plus the cost of a courtesy car for a few days while it's in the bodyshop.
The builder said that he will put it through his insurance and for the bodyshop to send the bill direct.
I feel a bit uneasy about this and my first instinct is to tell her to ring her insurer and let them sort it out between them in case there's a dispute or it turns out he's not insured at all.

Any advice much appreciated.

 

[Theseus]

No legal or insurance knowledge here, but I would agree with your instinct. Leave it up to the insurance companies to battle it out. You never know what other damage has been done to the car.

 

[ttcycle]

Make sure it goes through the insurance companies- if anything goes wrong or there are changes of heart- they can sort it out. These things can get nasty. Better to be safe.

 

[upsidedown]

Cheers guys, thought i was over-reacting but you're right, when the bill arrives it might get complicated.

 

[Archie_tect]

The mini-digger may not need to be insured for the road so it could be his public liability insurance that covers it rather than a vehicle policy which is possibly what the builder's referring to, but your mum is right to report it to her insurer even if it doesn't result in a claim being submitted through her insurance.

 

[siadwell]

From my experience of insurance companies, there's not much chance of your insurer "doing battle" on your behalf. All they are interested in is a quick, cheap settlement and if that means shafting their "customer" in the process, they're happy to do so.

However, it may be a condition of your mum's insurance that all accidents and damage are reported to them, irrespective of blame. It will also be something that would need to be declared when getting a quote. Downside of reporting it is that some insurers will increase your premium, even if it's not your fault.