QuoteReplyTopic: Car Crash - Repair Query Posted: 26/June/2009 at 19:02
Hi, About 6 weeks ago I had my first car accident. I went through a slow point in the road and instead of slowing i accelerated a little, I hit the wet grass, went through 3massive palm trees and a rock in the garden stopped my carjust as it hit the side of another. I got done for DUI,I hadn't drunk for about 4 hours although forgot I'd hardly eaten all day, didn't drink that much and was still over. If I was drunk my partner & myself would never have let me drive but I thought I was ok. We went to the guys place to sort out repairs and he said it only had panel damage and his parents were looking after it. Well I now have a $6780 bill that RACQ have sent me. What rights do I have to get 3 quotes and pay for it myself? Obviously I've got no insurance and can't afford this and quite frankly I know I'm getting screwed because there wasn't that much damage. I don't mind paying but it should honestly be half the price, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
THANK YOU IN ADVANCE
Unfortunately, by law the other party isn't required to get more than one quote, as unfair as it sounds. It is common practice though, because if they take you to court about it it works in their favour to show that they sought more than one quote in order to prove they were mitigating their losses.
So technically, they don't have to get more than one quote. You have no rights in respect of this - the only thing you can do is make sure that the repairer isn't overquoting (that is, charging for work unrelated to the damage you caused ie. past damage, unnecessary repairs).
You can dispute the quote if it is "unreasonable" - however this is hard to prove. You'd can try to organise your own quotes and if those repairers quote around $2000 then you may have legal grounds to refuse higher payment.
I'm only a law student, not a lawyer, so the above is not legal advice but I was in a similar situation myself recently and got a very important legal lesson.
Thanks for that, it's very frustrating. I've been charged nearly $7000 in damage costs and all I did was hit the side of the car and the owner told me there was only panel damage,it seems the repairer is trying to screw me over!
Personally, I would go to the repairer and request a total break down of what they are doing, why they are doing it, and how much they are charging to do it.
For all you know, there may have been existent damage to the car and the person you hit is taking advantage of the fact that someone else is also liable for damage to their car. Unfortunately, if the cost is legitimate, you're stuck footing the bill.
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