Because it will screw the other guy even worse if he does and he doesn't want that to happen. Is it too hard to understand that being litigious about everything isn't always the best solution?
I'm not being litigious, but its stupid to pay for something you're not going to use.
Not only that, but being the nice guy, youll get taken advantage of. Seen it happen so many times, "Dont worry mate ill pay for it, no need to go through insurance"
Gets a quote, then suddenly the guy is impossible to contact and dodges all calls...and because you didn't make a claim when it happened, you have to jump through ten thousand ****ing loops to get the money off him to get the car fixed...and thats IF you manage to get the money off him
Honestly mate, he may be the nicest guy in the world, but peoples personalities do complete 180's when people have to cough up lots of $$$ for something.
You have WAY too much faith in people, and thats going to cause a lot of headaches for you.
Because I'm not sure how it works elsewhere, but in the UK if you make a claim your insurance goes up as well (even if it wasn't your fault).
I.E. when my wingmirror was damaged, I could of gone through my insurance - he'd of paid a lot more through increased premiums and lost no claims, the approved body shop would of charged a million pounds for a tiny job, I'd of been without my car for several days and my insurance would of increased as well.
Instead, I got a second hand mirror on eBay for £25, swapped over the covers and glass in 10 minutes, he drops me the cash and were sorted...
So, you got your mirror ripped off, and you had to then go and find a replacement for a part you didn't break? and then fit it yourself. did you charge him for your time? seems you were shafted bud. why couldn't the guy find the part himself? after all, he broke the original. you have to remember, not everyone is mechanic (or have much knowledge on car repairs).
Klutch is right though, why have insurance if you do not use it? that's why it's there. that's why you pay a premium.
Here in Croatia you can't drive at all 'till you are 18, but once you get a licence, you are not allowed to drive a car that has more than 110HP until you are 24 years old... It's kinda fued up, 'cos if you get your licence with 24, you can immediately drive any car, but if you get your licence at the age of 18, then that law is fine...
Here in Croatia you get 5% of discount (I guess you all figured out I'm talking about insurance.) each year you don't have an accident. The minimum price you can get is 50% of the total price, but if you crash it goes back to 100%. I'm not sure what happens if it's not your fault.
You make a good point about my time, but I'm happy with the way things turned out.
He could of sourced the part, but to be honest I'll be far far better at sourcing spares from my car than some random guy who can't drive very well - plus, I'm not a very trusting person so I'd much rather do it myself and know it's done right (i.e. right part sourced etc), than let him do it (potentially getting the wrong part etc). LUCKILY getting the covers were easy (previous took me 3 months to find them, the replacements took 30 minutes on eBay!)
I deliberately didn't want to shaft the guy as I knew if it got too expensive (the covers are £100 from MGR, plus painting, plus £50 for the mirror glass itself) he'd put it through insurance and then I'd be screwed* (through no fault of my own).
Having said that, after I told him how much it cost I did expect him to put a few more £ in to say thankyou, but he didn't. But the point is, my car is back to how it used to be, and I'm happy.
Insurance is there because I have to have it, not because I want it.
Another example - someone recently drove into my car, and did a fair bit of damage (bumper destroyed, slam panel bent, headlight mounts have been broken etc). I could claim on my insurance - but I have a £1,000 excess (my fault, I know). Plus, an insurance body shop job is not going to be cheap (I'd say £6-£700 as a very very very minimum), and I'm going to lose my no claims bonus, and all my premiums will go up for the next few years.
Because of this, rather than having the insurance company pay, I'm going to have to foot the bill myself. £65 for a bumper, probably going to have to get it painted so another £100-£150, take the slam panel off the Rover and then maybe a day of my time and it'll be back to how it was before. It sucks that *I* have to put the effort in to fix my car because some dick can't park, but I'd rather that than end up spending £hundreds more (in the long run) getting it done via the insurance.
*In the UK insurance has "no claims bonus" like most countries, but insurance companies also load for non-fault claims - i.e. someone who has been in an accident, while it might not of been their fault, may be more of a risk, and may be more likely to have an accident even though it's not their fault. This logic works for some people, but in some situations it sucks (my friend parked his car, and a bus drove into it - obviously nothing you can do about that. My wing mirror RIP'ed when a guy drifted into my lane, I was up against the kerb already, there was nothing I could do).
EDIT - What I meant to say is that some people aren't causing accidents, but aren't very good at avoiding them. Often when driving you'll get a "sixth sense" someone is about to do something stupid, and make allowances, and this makes you less likely to have an accident than someone who doesn't pay attention etc.
Also - yes I appreciate not everyone can do their own repairs, which is why I'm not suggesting everybody should. But I'm just explaining why in some situations it can be the "easier" option (financially).
the fact that he didn't give you a few dolla over your price would be enough to show you that you were done. you made some good point and i agree. insurance in the uk is a tricky thing. you are required to have it to drive on the roads. but you get penalised for claiming from it. the thing that always got me was is that surely insurance should be to cover the driver and not the car. insurance is one of the reasons i choose not to drive. i'd much rather spend my money on titty bars.
you should see the state of the insurance companies over here in NI. the whole country is an insurance blackspot. :/
Nope. I knew by the lack of "of" in my posts that you were not talking about me. I was just pointing out that although you might have been correct in your observation, your post was also a horrible read. Using "of" instead of "have" is actually an accent thing.
i go to school with this kid, and see him every day....if it was a 'nice guy' i diddnt know so well i would 100% not be so lenient. i could track him down very easily if i really wanted to. my parents also have something in writing from his that he will pay even though they are not going through insurance (left out from previous details).
I have insurance because i have to, but i have to disagree on the point 'if you have it you might as well use it, because that is what its for.'
Sure it is what it is for, and sure it will take care of it:
you will pay FAR more than what it cost them in the long run when your premiums shoot up for the next 7 years.
you will have the potential for them to dis-continue the coverage you have because they see you as an unfit driver (these are directed towards his insurance)
they always try to give out the minimum possible amount of money, and take the maximum amount of money (past the understandable point) i.e. you have to haggle them alot to get the amount that you will really need for some things (maybe not this claim, but for bigger ones), and they will continue to charge you far past the amount they paid.
a few basic points, there are probably more.
also, if they inspect my car and see the glorified scratch that my dad says is worth $5000 in damage, see that the car itself is worth about $6500, with my luck they will wanna total it out, which is a HUGE headache.
i may be incorrect with all of this, but i have never had to deal with insurance...this is just what i have heard.
and as for the insurance argument shut the **** up.
if the car is only lightly damaged, eg a bumper, there and then, offer to take the person who hit you to a cash point and arrange an amount and they hand it there and then. if they don't give you cash there and then you can either
1) escort the person back to their house, have them show you ID that prooves they live there and arrange for it to be done later or;
2) use insurance.
normally it would only be a bumper and £250 would cover a replacement bumper (ebay bought + respray) or a repair and respray of your current one.
if someone crashed into me and only dinged my bumper that's what i'd do (after i'd chopped their balls and or boobs off)
considering most people's excess is say £250 then it would be completely stupid not to.. you'd still have to pay and both of your insurance will go up next year.
We're not just talking about a scuffed/bent bumper... $5k worth of damage is not something i would leave to someone else to pay up for...especially someone under 18...