[Neeky]

hi!
Wondering if someone could give some advice on what to do.
My car was parked in it's usual place in my driveway when we had huge storms last week.
During the night, my neighbours meter box door was flapping. It is located at the front of his house and wasn't locked (not sure if he didn't lock it or meter reader didn't).
The door flew off and landed on my car causing 3 dints and paint chips.
My car is a 2 year old Ford Focus in (was in?) virtually perfect condition.
I had a quote from the local Ford dealership for £350 to fix the damage.

I believe my neighbour should claim on his house insurance, but he is saying I have to claim on my car insurance. If I do this, I will have an excess of £150 to pay and my no claims bonus will be affected to the tune of an extra £100 a year (I called and checked with them).

I am under the impression that if I make a claim through my car insurance, they will turn around to his house insurer and claim for damages anyway, meaning we both end up with claims on our insurance, rather than just him.

I have offered to split the excess on his house insurance with him, but I have yet to hear from him in regards to what he will do.

Anyone know where I stand on this? Any suggestions on how to resolve this if my neighbour is not co-operative?

Thanks!

Neeky

[Veccy77]

Whos Fault?

Hope this will be useful. One of the main principles of insurance is proximate cause where the claim is taken back to the cause of the damage (ie the meter box door). You could claim off your insurance. It is then their responsibilty to claim off your neighbours and also retrieve excess too as long as you haven't already claimed off him.

All this does depend on your insurer.

[306OWNER]

Meter Box

Why not try and see in the company that operates the meter will fork out for it.. after all it could have been their agent that didn't secure the box door in the first instance.:)