A third party damaged our car and has offered to pay for the repair or go through insurance - what is the better method?

My daughter's car was scraped in a supermarket car park. The driver of the guilty car has given her his insurance details and has said that she can put the repair through insurance or he will pay for it. What are the pros and cons of either method?

Asked on 5 August 2019 by gray2015

Answered by Honest John
Have your daughter get a quote for repairs at a reputable bodyshop and provide it to the other party. If he is happy to pay for the repairs, then all parties are happy as no insurers are involved (this is a Civil claim outside of the road traffic act). If he advises it is more than he can afford, it is a conflict of interest for your daughter to deal directly with the at-fault insurer, Having the "paymaster" of the repair dictate what they want to pay you is a never a good idea, you also have no entitlement to complain to the FOS should things go wrong. Use a "reputable" claims management company or her own insurer, or as a last resort, the at-fault insurer directly.
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