DS Backed Up His Kiddie ATV...

[MommyLiberty5013]

Into the neighbor's new car. And dented the driver's side door. It was totally an accident. DH was nearby when it occurred and immediately told them to let us know how much it would cost to fix. DH then walked DS back over to say a face-to-face apology.

 

DS is 7. He's pretty upset by this and feels clumsy. He prides himself in being a good operator. We've explained mistakes happen (even to mommy who has backed into a fence). The neighbors accepted his apology and are peaceful about the whole thing because they know we will make it right. And we will.

 

DH asked them to get an estimate for the work. What are we looking at here? $500? More? Less? Neighbor didn't want to file an insurance claim. I have no knowledge on body work.

[Catwoman]

What kind of car is it?

[theelfqueen]

I hit a neighbor's car with my bike when I was a kid... I was speeding downhill on the sidewalk and they were parked across the sidewalk (in their driveway). And that their house was the last one before the big dip in the sidewalk- which was the point of speeding down the hill - to fly through the dip) I do not remember at all what my parents did about it... I remember telling my dad and taking him down to the house but not what came of it.

 

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[MommyLiberty5013]

What kind of car is it?

Some sort of mid sized SUV American made, I think.

[littlebug42]

Was the paint disturbed?  If it is just a dent with no scratching etc, it could be a matter of just pushing the dent back out which is not very expensive.  If the paint was disrupted, the repair will be more costly. 

[MommyLiberty5013]

Was the paint disturbed? If it is just a dent with no scratching etc, it could be a matter of just pushing the dent back out which is not very expensive. If the paint was disrupted, the repair will be more costly.

I'm not sure. DH saw it. I didn't (yet). That's good to know though. Thanks.

[kiwik]

Depends a lot on whether the paint is damaged and if it is what kind of paint it is. Some finishes are costlier than others. But really you shouldn't be paying more than their excess.

[momacacia]

There's a good Angies list article on this with price per inch estimations.

[school17777]

But really you shouldn't be paying more than their excess.

What does this mean? They should be paying what it costs to have the damage repaired, which they plan to.

[JFSinIL]

When someone dented - and scraped paint off - the side door of my mini-van years ago (and fled the parking lot :-( no note left behind) an estimate was about $2,000 to remove dent and repaint door.  Since door still worked fine I did NOT bother.  It was an older van anyway.  

 

I hope this dent is far less $.  Whatever the amount, don't let your little guy know, he'd just feel worse.

[catz]

Body work can really add up fast. We got a $2000 estimate on a simple scrape and minor dent. Heck, someone just hit us from behind and we could drive our car away. It was bad but I definitely didn't think my 2 year old mini van would be totaled but it was. It really depends on the vehicle, if painting is involving, and the size of the dent. Hope you have better luck.

 

Those battery operated cars stress me out. My kids were given one and I could only take it for a month before we got rid of it.

[Scarlett]

Your home owners insurance should cover that....maybe. Worth a phone call to find out. Although I would just pay cash unless it is really expensive.

[Okra]

Our DD backed into put car. She managed to hit 3 different pieces of our car with the paint damaged on all three. Cost was $2200.

 

So, I think it matters how many "parts" of the car were damaged. And, also, if the paint was damaged.

 

Hopefully, it was just one part and the paint is fine. I mean how much damage can those little battery powered cars do? Hopefully, not too much, right?

[Okra]

Also, they can repaint the whole door (costlier) or touch paint and feather it out. ( Which we have done and looked great, and is much less expensive)

[ThisIsTheDay]

We had to replaced a nice gouge in a door 10+ years ago. Even then, it was over $800.

 

Your poor kid. An unfortunate experience but a great lesson. He'll never forget it.

[teachermom2834]

Can someone explain why the neighbor would not want to file an insurance claim? Wouldn't this fall under comprehensive and they would not be at fault and their rates should not go up?

 

In my brain that is how it should work, but it seems insurance companies are using every reason to raise rates these days. Would insurance count a neighbor kid damaging a car against the owner?

 

If the only reason the owner does not want to file insurance is because it is a pain, that is not very neighborly! I would think he could file his insurance and you could cover any deductible.Is that not how this works?

[wintermom]

Try asking at a local dealership if they know of a person who can take out dents. I just heard about our "local" guy, originally from Belgium, who is the go-to person to take out dents at all the dealerships and car rental places in town. He has a ton of various tools, and can pop out dents to make the vehicle look perfect again.  Worth a try.

[school17777]

Can someone explain why the neighbor would not want to file an insurance claim? Wouldn't this fall under comprehensive and they would not be at fault and their rates should not go up?

 

In my brain that is how it should work, but it seems insurance companies are using every reason to raise rates these days. Would insurance count a neighbor kid damaging a car against the owner?

 

If the only reason the owner does not want to file insurance is because it is a pain, that is not very neighborly! I would think he could file his insurance and you could cover any deductible.Is that not how this works?

Even if the neighbor does file with his own company, the insurance company could still go after the neighbor to pay.

[ebrindam]

Insurance rates go up for just about everything. I would not use my insurance for this either. 

[teachermom2834]

Even if the neighbor does file with his own company, the insurance company could still go after the neighbor to pay.

That makes sense.

[cera2]

Can someone explain why the neighbor would not want to file an insurance claim? Wouldn't this fall under comprehensive and they would not be at fault and their rates should not go up?

 

In my brain that is how it should work, but it seems insurance companies are using every reason to raise rates these days. Would insurance count a neighbor kid damaging a car against the owner?

 

If the only reason the owner does not want to file insurance is because it is a pain, that is not very neighborly! I would think he could file his insurance and you could cover any deductible.Is that not how this works?

 

I wouldn't want to file with my insurance company in this situation because of the risk of my rates going up.  There is also the very real possibility of a company dropping you after two or three claims.

[teachermom2834]

I wouldn't want to file with my insurance company in this situation because of the risk of my rates going up. There is also the very real possibility of a company dropping you after two or three claims.

I can see this. When my ds had a major incident with a deer our agent said that wouldn't count against us but I really don't necessarily trust that to stay true, particularly, of there were multiple claims.

 

I hate insurance.

[Elizabeth86]

Insurance rates go up for just about everything. I would not use my insurance for this either.

Exactly.

[StephanieZ]

If it's done at an official body shop place that does insurance work, IME, NOTHING is under 1500 or so. NOTHING. If it goes to a local "dent and scrape guy" it might be under $500. 

 

If I were in your shoes, I'd see what estimate he gives you, and either pay the full bill from wherever he chooses to go . . . and/or offer him $500 if he doesn't want to get it fixed (or wants to go to a cheap "guy") . . . 

 

If it's a new car, and the owners are "car people", then they'll want it fixed right, and may only feel comfortable going to a normal body shop where you're probably looking at 1500-2000. (Insane, yes.) I wouldn't hold it against them at all. It's really just a matter of comfort and personal preference, and if they're folks who get new cars and keep them just so, then, well, that's the price you have to pay. 

 

Personally, I wouldn't allow my young kid to drive a vehicle of any sort near other people's valuable property (or living creatures). My kids just rode bikes, but we always taught them to have a WIDE berth (10 feet or so) between them and any vehicle, person, or animal. Accidents just happen . . . especially when you're a little kid!

[MommyLiberty5013]

Someone asked about using our homeowners, we could but our deductible is $4k (by choice).

 

This is making me cringe how much this may cost. I'm seriously hoping they can be reasonable. It's a bad time too. We leave for vacation tomorrow. Expenses expenses expenses.

[school17777]

Someone asked about using our homeowners, we could but our deductible is $4k (by choice).

 

This is making me cringe how much this may cost. I'm seriously hoping they can be reasonable. It's a bad time too. We leave for vacation tomorrow. Expenses expenses expenses.

You may want to offer to drive them around while their car is being fixed so they don't need to rent a rental.

[Alessandra]

Since the car is new, neighbor may want it restored to new condition. I've had estimates of $500 for dealer-fixed small scratch.

 

Consider your own insurance policies. If a claim is made against yours, the amount company pays after deductible may be small (or nothing), but your rates could be substantially higher for a number of years. In your insurance company's mind, the next victim of your ATV could be a small child. Was there a place on your homeowners to list vehicles like the ATV?

 

If the car owner makes a claim to his insurance, his insurance may claim against your insurance. But if ATV is not on your policy, could you be liable? (Probably a moot point, given your deductible.)

Also, the claim might count against him. Insurance is so complicated.

 

I agree with you about having a high deductible. But it does mean you have to be prepared to pay for amounts less than your deductible, right? Jmho.

 

ETA

What exactly is a kiddie ATV?

Edited September 2, 2017 by Alessandra

[Tammi K]

Wait, if your kid did the damage, wouldn't it be covered under your homeowner's insurance?  

 

I think if you car hit his it would be auto but if you kid did it, it falls under homeowner's.

 

 

eta: disregard, I just saw you post addressing this. Sorry, I didn't read all the other replies before I posted.

 

Edited September 2, 2017 by Tammi K

[Ali in OR]

I dented the side back door of our old minivan trying to park in an underground parking lot with skinny spaces and hitting a support column at about 2 mph. It would have cost $1600 to fix it at a body shop place (and they assume that you will use your insurance for such bills). We chose not to repair it as it was just cosmetic and an older car. We were worried about our insurance rate going up but I think I learned later that you can have 1 of those claims every 7 years or so without it going up. Now if I had damaged someone else's car I would have had our insurance pay to make it right.

[KungFuPanda]

My 6-year-old nephew just damaged a neighbors car. It ended up costing $2500.

[mom2scouts]

Last year my dad backed slowly out of his garage and hit the front side panel on my minivan that was parked in the driveway. It didn't look like a lot of damage, but it cost over $1800 to fix. Sorry, I don't think it's going to be inexpensive to fix the car.

[Barb_]

I'm glad you're making it right. When I was 18 or 19, my neighbor's teenaged son with Down's syndrome threw a huge cement chunk up in the air and dented the roof of my car. It was used when I bought it, but I'd paid for it out of my own pocket. I didn't even get an "oops, sorry" which sort of damaged my faith in humanity for a few years.

[kiwik]

What does this mean? They should be paying what it costs to have the damage repaired, which they plan to.

I have insurance so I can get stuff fixed when it is damaged. If I choose not to use that insurance it is a bit unfair to ask the other party to wear the consequences of my choice. It is trickier when it is a presumably uninsured party (the kid) I guess but I wouldn't ask someone to pay 1000's because I didn't want to claim.

[regentrude]

I have insurance so I can get stuff fixed when it is damaged. If I choose not to use that insurance it is a bit unfair to ask the other party to wear the consequences of my choice. It is trickier when it is a presumably uninsured party (the kid) I guess but I wouldn't ask someone to pay 1000's because I didn't want to claim.

 

They also have insurance. Homeowner's insurance should cover any damage the kid does; there should be a personal liability insurance in the homeowner's insurance package.

 

Why should the injured party pay? My deductible is higher than the cost of this repair, so I'd essentially pay out of pocket, and my insurance rate would go up if I filed a claim.

Of course the person causing the damage, or his legal guardians if it is a minor, are responsible. It is not "unfair" to expect them to shoulder any cost - why should the person whose car was damaged without their fault?

 

 

 

Edited September 5, 2017 by regentrude

[ikslo]

My coworker dented my door opening hers - I was able to get it fixed in our work parking lot for $75 by the guy who does it for the dealers, who then charge a whole lot more to the car owner. Can you find out who the dealers use and try contacting them directly?

[Daria]

I'm glad you're making it right. When I was 18 or 19, my neighbor's teenaged son with Down's syndrome threw a huge cement chunk up in the air and dented the roof of my car. It was used when I bought it, but I'd paid for it out of my own pocket. I didn't even get an "oops, sorry" which sort of damaged my faith in humanity for a few years.

 

What does their disability have to do with this?  

[goldberry]

Insurance rates don't automatically increase for all types of claims.  Comprehensive claims *usually* do not increase rates, unless you have several of them during a specified period.  That influences your overall risk tier and can bump you up to the next tier.

[Barb_]

What does their disability have to do with this?

When I expressed upset that his mom didn't offer to take care of it, my dad told me he couldn't be held responsible because of his disability. I didn't feel like that was right at the time and I still don't.

 

ETA my point was that even though he was a teen, it was an accident, not willful. But that his mom should still have tried to make it right the way the OP is doing.

Edited September 5, 2017 by Barb_

[goldberry]

What does their disability have to do with this?  

 

I took that to mean the neighbor didn't think they had to apologize because their son had a disability.

 

(cross-posted!)

Edited September 5, 2017 by goldberry

[Barb_]

I took that to mean the neighbor didn't think they had to apologize because their son had a disability.

 

(cross-posted!)

Thanks, Goldberry. That's exactly what I meant.

[kiwik]

They also have insurance. Homeowner's insurance should cover any damage the kid does; there should be a personal liability insurance in the homeowner's insurance package.

 

Why should the injured party pay? My deductible is higher than the cost of this repair, so I'd essentially pay out of pocket, and my insurance rate would go up if I filed a claim.

Of course the person causing the damage, or his legal guardians if it is a minor, are responsible. It is not "unfair" to expect them to shoulder any cost - why should the person whose car was damaged without their fault?

If your deductible (I assume that is the same as our excess) is higher than than the repair of course you shouldn't. But if the repair is twice the deductible then you should claim and the other party should pay only the deductible. To be honest though my insurance has never been increased because I made a claim so I guess things are different where you are. Of course car accidents usually involve two insured vehicles which makes things simpler. If their insurance covers the kid's ATV hitting the neighbour's car it would help.

 

It sounds from what you said it should. He we don't have liability insurance and I doubt my contents insurance would cover that though I may be wrong.

Edited September 6, 2017 by kiwik

[StephanieZ]

Someone asked about using our homeowners, we could but our deductible is $4k (by choice).

 

This is making me cringe how much this may cost. I'm seriously hoping they can be reasonable. It's a bad time too. We leave for vacation tomorrow. Expenses expenses expenses.

 

Your neighbors are not unreasonable to expect their property to be repaired to exactly the condition it was before your kid damaged it. You are unreasonable if you expect anything less/more. 

 

IMHO, you are legally and ethically responsible to 100% fix their car and cover any related costs (rental vehicle, etc). Whether you achieve this by using your insurance or paying cash, that's totally up to you. Some of us carry (expensive) insurance policies to cover nearly any cost that we are liable for (we spend thousands per year above simple auto & home owners insurance to cover "other" uncovered costs -- i..e, umbrella policies, etc to cover other sorts of liability beyond those covered by the simple policies ) . . . Other folks carry less insurance. Some of us choose high deductibles because we are willing to pay higher OOP costs per incident . . . others choose low deductibles because they don't want exposure to the deductible expenses . . . It's entirely on the individual to choose what insurance they carry . . . But, in the end, whether via insurance or OOP, we are responsible for making those we (or our dependents) injure "whole". 

 

Personally, I'd sell the kiddy ATV to help cover the costs and to reduce my exposure to liability in the future. If he can damage a vehicle with the ATV, he could also run over a toddler or a cat . . . Not wise, IMHO. Get rid of it. Seems like a rotten contraption IMHO. People can be killed by a bicycle . . . I don't even want to imagine the damage to life/limb that could be caused by a kiddy-ATV that is powerful enough to easily damage an automobile. 

 

Bring over some baked goods. Apologize again, profusely, and mention you're getting rid of the ATV (so they don't worry about the "next time"). If I were in the neighbor's shoes, I'd feel a lot more generous about being inconvenienced, etc, if I knew the vehicle-damaging-instrument (ATV) was in the past tense, as I'd feel that your family had realized the danger it presented to both property and life/limb and that my own property was no longer going to be at risk. And bring up that you want to make it right and cover their expenses to repair the vehicle. How they want it done is 100% up to them, and if they want the expensive route, then you need to realize that it NOT unreasonable (and anything less is incredibly generous). 

 

My teen driver bumped a minivan last year . . . causing minor, but as we all know, potentially expensive, cosmetic damage to the minivan he hit. Numbers and names were exchanged (but no law or insurance contacted), and I very soon spoke to the driver/owner, apologized profusely (as had my teen), and made clear we'd cover 100% of expenses for repair, and that we were very grateful they were willing to let us do that directly as opposed to going through insurance . . . After a few weeks, the driver/owner messaged me explaining they weren't going to fix it after all, as it was an older vehicle, and they decided it wasn't worth the hassle. (He had a teen driver of his own, lol.) I thanked him profusely and that was that. If I'd had an address for him or knew him personally, I'd have, at the minimum, sent a substantial (100s, not 10s, of $, as he'd saved us at LEAST $500 if not much more) gift card as thanks. As it was, I had a lot of other things going on, and I didn't take the time to ask for his address . . . I probably should have, but I didn't. 

 

At the end of the day, your expenses and your choices to have a high deductible insurance policy are not the problems of the neighbor and have zero to do with your duties in this situation. If your 4k deductible is hard to come up with on short notice, you should probably have an emergency fund with at least 4k in it at all times, or consider reducing your deductible. (I love high deductibles, but, FWIW, IME, the cost to have a 1k deductible is only marginally more than a higher one. Be sure to ask about rates on various deductibles when you next get quotes. I carry deductibles around 1-2k on most of our policies due to this issue . . . I wouldn't ACTUALLY claim unless the damage was at least 2x the deductible due to both the rates increases and the hassles of using insurance . . . So, I do need to be comfortable paying OOP for 3-4k. But, I can come up with that sort of $ readily.)

Edited September 6, 2017 by StephanieZ

[QueenCat]

Your neighbors are not unreasonable to expect their property to be repaired to exactly the condition it was before your kid damaged it. You are unreasonable if you expect anything less/more. 

 

IMHO, you are legally and ethically responsible to 100% fix their car and cover any related costs (rental vehicle, etc). Whether you achieve this by using your insurance or paying cash, that's totally up to you. Some of us carry (expensive) insurance policies to cover nearly any cost that we are liable for (we spend thousands per year above simple auto & home owners insurance to cover "other" uncovered costs -- i..e, umbrella policies, etc to cover other sorts of liability beyond those covered by the simple policies ) . . . Other folks carry less insurance. Some of us choose high deductibles because we are willing to pay higher OOP costs per incident . . . others choose low deductibles because they don't want exposure to the deductible expenses . . . It's entirely on the individual to choose what insurance they carry . . . But, in the end, whether via insurance or OOP, we are responsible for making those we (or our dependents) injure "whole". 

 

Personally, I'd sell the kiddy ATV to help cover the costs and to reduce my exposure to liability in the future. If he can damage a vehicle with the ATV, he could also run over a toddler or a cat . . . Not wise, IMHO. Get rid of it. Seems like a rotten contraption IMHO. People can be killed by a bicycle . . . I don't even want to imagine the damage to life/limb that could be caused by a kiddy-ATV that is powerful enough to easily damage an automobile. 

 

 

:iagree: Yes, if someone hits my car, I expect to have it repaired fully at a reputable body shop. I don't want short cuts, especially if the car is less than 5 years old as I likely keep it to 10. Now an older car, with a little ding, I won't repair UNLESS it is likely to rust. Then I expect it to be professionally fixed. And I would absolutely sell the ATV to help with expenses. It's not a punishment. You just explain that you didn't realize he wasn't ready for it and you now know that one should be much older.

[Guest]

I don't think I know many people that could cough up over a thousand dollars on the spot for anything, no matter how much they wanted make it right.

[TravelingChris]

Well okbud, many of us can cough up a thousand dollars or even more.  As Stephanie said, if you have a deductible on your insurance, it is wise to have that deductible in savings.

[JustEm]

I don't think I know many people that could cough up over a thousand dollars on the spot for anything, no matter how much they wanted make it right.

One would expect if you have a $4000 deductible by choice you have that much in savings for when issues come up.

[Guest]

Well okbud, many of us can cough up a thousand dollars or even more. As Stephanie said, if you have a deductible on your insurance, it is wise to have that deductible in savings.

Indeed. Many ppl I know wouldn't be able to carry that deductable, obviously.

[QueenCat]

I don't think I know many people that could cough up over a thousand dollars on the spot for anything, no matter how much they wanted make it right.

 

There are times in life when one simply must use a credit card. Even if you don't do credit. This is one of them. These people have a legal right to have their car fixed back to the condition it was in before it was hit. They could take the parents of the child who damaged it to court. Depending on the state, it might not be small claims court. That would end up costing more than the damage to the car as court costs are often assigned to whoever "loses" the case.