What are our rights? Repairing damage to car

[Nosha123]

Hi All
My husband is a builder. and one of the recent jobs he was working on - had a delivery of materials to the site. The chaps that work for him needed to move a vehicle that was in the way to allow the delivery of the materials from a crane onto the plot.
They picked up a car and moved it out of the way (using their muscle!)
The car is a small peugeot and old.. probably only worth about £500-£1000.
Anyhow - someone somehow made a small dent in the rear wing with their hand as the car was being moved.
We have no issue with blame - and are happy to repair it. But the owner is being a bit difficult (as she is obviously peed off!).
She wants ONLY peugeot to repair it and wants the whole rear wing and bumper replaced. Now I know a really good 'chips away' spray paint man who does all our fleet cars (BMWs and Audis etc) and he will do it for a lot less than a garage will.
Does she have the right to demand WHO repairs it - or can we get it done by anyone as long as they are good quality? A freelance individual is obviously gonna be cheaper than a garage - he has already seen the damage and agreed its a really small amount of work required...
We accept the blame - but dont want to then be ripped off trying to put it right!
THANKS

[Khandro]

You could of course be a rotter and do nothing and see what unfolds.

[joko]

as i said before, i think you had some nerve to move her car that way, and although she probably is just being awkward, you really will just have to do what she wants

she is understandably pissd off and so would most people be... awkward or not she has every right to ask questions and see credentials...as from what you said, on first impressions it sounded like your mate in his shed with a hammer and spray can.

i would also be being awkward with you, just to cause you the headache you have caused me.
whatever you felt 'needed' to happen, it didnt need to and it shouldnt have...
you had no rights to do what you did, regardless of the inconvenience to you.
and frankly a load of blokes picking it up is asking for trouble.
you cannot just say 'but it was in the way!' as though this makes it acceptable.

get some quotes and offer her an average amount in cash.

[Nosha123]

Yes Yogi.. all good feedback ;-)
I am going to get the insurance certificate out this weekend to check if there is an excess payable.. then if she chooses NOT to use our repair man (from in his shed with a bucket of Dulux paint) then I will ask if she can please provide at least 2 quotes and we can then agree a price.

[THECORBYLOON]

To be fair to Andyvon, in the original post you talk aboua yir husband and say about the man you want to repair the car saying "Now I know a really good 'chips away' spray paint man who does all our fleet cars (BMWs and Audis etc) and he will do it for a lot less than a garage will." I read that to mean that was about you and yir husband and not about another employer.

I wonder how much time it would have taken to chap on the neighbours' doors to let them know about the forthcoming delivery so that cars could have been driven away rather than manhandled and damaged?

[flip_flop]

Boxtops's knowledge on PL insurance is a bit out of date - there is no excess for third party bodily injury, but there is always an excess for third party property damage.

Also, and contrary to what a previous poster said, you are under absolutely no obligation to provide details of you PL insurance.

Other than for nuclear plant operators and horseriding schools, there is no legal requirement to have public liability insurance.

[Andyvon]

Thankyou Corbyloon. I didn't read it incorrectly then - it does say "all our fleet cars (BMWs and Audis etc)......." There's no mention of a third party employer or the building business being small.

Agreeing a middle-ranged price with the woman is the best idea I think Nosha. I know it's what I would do in the same situation. You described paying for the repair out your pocket as "throwing money about". Of course it isn't - you would be spending money in a manner which is in the best long-term interest of the company. Although your employees damaged property belonging to a member of the public, your paying for the repair would show how effectively and professionally you resolved the problem as well as preserving your insurance record.

As I mentioned, any half-decent accountant would make sure most, if not all, the repair costs were written off to tax anyway provided you got a receipt. So it wouldn't really cost you anything to repair her car anyway.

However, I'm starting to suspect you don't have an accountant, otherwise you wouldn't still be arguing this point. Do you do your own book-keeping on the kitchen table Nosha? If you do, accountants are worth their weight in gold and one would have sorted this for you.

[Skyline D]

The cost of the reapir would of course be tax deductible. It's absolute nonsense to suggest it therefore "wouldn't really cost you anything" though.

Even if Nosha's husband is a 40% taxpayer and it is a sole trader (not a company, though it is most likely a company) it's still going to cost in effect 60% of the total. As it probably is a small company it's going to cost 80% of the total (corporation tax being 20%).

And no accountant in the world is going to "sort this for you". It's got absolutely nothing to do with your accountant.

[Nosha123]

Well update for anyone still not bored enough by this thread ;-)
I have sent her the Public Liability certificate and have asked a second time to see a copy of the Peugeot quote she has - but still not been supplied it.
Our PL excess is £300 and so twice the price of the quote from the Chips Away repair man... so unlikely we will be putting this through our insurance as its not cost effective... If she fails to provide me with her quotes then I will request our man to go in and repair it and if she refuses I will make her a cash offer!