Had a great weekend drive with my car through the English countryside last weekend. Life is Great woke up to go to my car and I was shocked to see that the car that usually parks next to mine a G 63 Merc decided to play bumper cars with my car. the issue lies here, the driver left a note apologising and with her details. when I called her she asked me is she can pay for it in cash and not go through the insurance reason being and wait for this, she is a 21 year old paying £25,000 per year insurance premium on her car and if it goes through the insurance she is worried that her insurance will go up even further. My Dilemma is if I do go through the insurance they will give me a replacement car usually something similar and I have no headache they take care of everything, if I don't I lose the use of a curtesy car and I have to deal with everything. I actually feel sorry for her as I am a father and have a daughter her age what should I do, just inform my insurance and be done with it or try and accommodate her wish. I actually put her in touch with my insurance company to see if they can give her a better rate than she is paying to try and help her to reduce her premium for the future. Any advice
Someone who can afford to pay the equivalent of average annual salary in insurance plus run a G63 is not worried about an increase in insurance cost Get it done as well as possible and with as little inconvenience to your self as possible Ask your maintainer for a written estimate and then ask her if she still wants to do it for cash
does going through insurance put a public stain on the car for the future? ie it might be better to stay way from insurance, have it fixed and documented it in your file.
hi and yes it does but to be honest I am not planning to sell this car anytime soon love it too much, the main problem is if I go through insurance I get a nice car as a replacement last time they gave me a Lambo and when it broke down they gave me a 488 so I was curious to see what they give me this time lol But as a father I feel sorry for the girl if that makes sense and trying to do what is right for both and not just look at what I get as a car etc I really appreciate the replies
Makes sense. In the usa insurance can often slow down the process. Maybe that is the right way to go.
I really think you should go through the insurance. If something happens during the repair, you could end up in a bind, having to fight her for that. If a 21 old girl has a G63 which in itself is very expensive, and also can afford to pay insurance, she can afford to pay the premium. I think there's more to it. I may be wrong, but I think there's someone paying for her who will be pissed if she has to pay more, namely her parents. Frankly I don't think she should be driving a G63 if she cannot be responsible about it. The car is obviously not easy for her to handle, and this might put her in a situation where she gets something more manageble. Lastly there's the question of whether she's insured at all. Is this something she does because she is not insured? Wouldn't be the first time one hears of that. All in all, cover your back. Go through proper channels. Seems like it would be a valuable lesso. For her as well. You can't always buy an easy way out. Sent from my SM-G930F using FerrariChat.com mobile app
just trying to do the correct moral thing and try and help someone along who obviously does not need help but as a father I feel obliged to do what I can to support them or am I just being too nice?
thank you for that, I did check and she has insurance in place, maybe she does not want to upset her father but like you said its a lesson for her to learn in life and deal with it.
I think it's an important lesson. It might be what makes her a more cautious driver. If she has an easy way out, she learns nothing. Remember that this also matters if something happens to others in the future. If she does something way more serious, there's a difference in how the matter is treated legally depending on her insurance status. The only one winning short term by avoiding insurance is her, and in the long run everybody loses. Finally I cannot stress enough what could happen if something goes wrong during the repair. Sure she or her father might write you a check for the initial estimate, but will they cover it if there's a surprise or something unforseen happens? You don't know her or her family, so you are putting a great deal of financial trust in someone you don't know. Quite sure that a girl like that has access to some kind of decent legal aid. Why take such a chance? Look, I get it. It's a drag for her. But honestly, I lose my sympathy with her when she tries to find an easy way. No 21 year old NEEDS a G63, so what's there to lose? Her pride and prestige accessory? It's nkt like she can't get another car after this. If it's not a G63? Well too bad. Maybe she should get something more to her abilities, and this is exactly why. The Rolling Stones said it best. "You can't always get what you want." Sent from my SM-G930F using FerrariChat.com mobile app
Thank you very much really appreciate it and point taken Insurance it is. and again thank you all for your time much appreciated
Go through insurance. You don't know how much this could end up costing and if she will eventually compensate you. No good deed goes unpunished!
I scraped my front valance a couple of years ago, very similar to your scrape. It was a $25,000 repair by one of the best Ferrari body shops on the east coast. I would not take the chance of not using the insurance company. Make sure you go to the best shop you can find that knows the 599. It looks like your quarter panel is damaged, they are going to want to replace that panel. This is going to be VERY expensive.
There is no dilemma. That is why she has insurance.Perhaps the crazy premium is deserved. Being a nice guy is fine but your focus should be on making your car right. She probably has no idea how expensive it is to fix these cars.Her paying cash is going to be way more than any bump in her premium. I would not open this can of worms. Mike
If it had just been a bumper scuff, I would probably have let her just pay in advance for a top notch body shop to get it repainted. This is a fair bit worse than a bumper scuff though, and as much as it’s going to hit her insurance, it’ll be less than what it costs to fix this properly. As long as the car isn’t written off (which doesn’t seem at all credible), then it’s not going to count against the car in a future HPI search. Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
Thank you all for your comments and really appreciate the feed back. I will be going through insurance following the solid advice from all thank you again
But what if the lesson will be next time she doesn't leave a note? Nevertheless, going through insurance seams reasonable.
In that case, she's just a bad person, and not much can be done. But things tend to catch up with you. Sent from my SM-G930F using FerrariChat.com mobile app
To understand: your ethical dilemma is whether to go through insurance, cause this young lady who did the right thing by leaving a note and owning up to her mistake to potentially have a significantly increased insurance premium or worse be dropped with the benefit of you getting cool car as a rental? I’m really not sure what to say here so I just won’t….
Hi PPW, the comment about the replacement car was more of a Humorous comment. Going through insurance is less hassle and they take care of everything with zero worries and any fall backs. For her to pay there maybe issues in the future as very kindly suggested by others. I did take everyone advice and go through the insurance but rejected the curtsey car, I also informed her my reason why and she understood. Also I did put her in contact with my insurance company to get her a lower rate which they did by some margin. Again I would like to thank everyone input