NSW Car Insurance - Repair Costs Too Excessive?

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Anthony1122

Member
4 December 2016
1
0
1
Hello everyone,

I did an incredibly stupid thing and caused a car accident. I was in a three-laned road and from the middle lane I had merged to the right, and without checking my blindspot, the other car was already speeding up, so I had hit his left side and my right side. The worst part is I am not insured. This was an idiotic move on my part. I am asking for help on what to do now because my family is not in a great financial position and I am still a student.

The other party has contacted their car insurance and estimated damages for this accident to be about $3000. My dad said this is hard to believe because my car had paint scratches on the right side (we have photo evidence on the night of the accident) and there was one small dent on our Toyota Corolla (2010). The other party's Subaru Impreza (2003) was supposedly damaged pretty badly with large dents, paint scratches and rim damage.

At the time of the accident, I was overwhelmed with emotion and did not think rationally about the situation. Is it possible for me to cause this much damage to another person's car? I know I am at fault so I will accept responsibility in paying my damages, but I don't think the cost of repairs add up.

With this information my questions are:

1. How do I argue about the cost of repairs I have to pay which I believe may be incorrect or excessive?

2. Is it possible that a Toyota Corolla can cause a lot of damage to a larger car while I have close to no damage? If it matters I was driving at 60 when I merged lanes.

3. Is there anything else I should consider to help me reduce the penalty I have to pay off?

Any answer would be much appreciated because I don't know where else I can go to find support for car accident related matters.

Thank you for reading.
 

SamanthaJay

Well-Known Member
4 July 2016
335
55
794
The following are your options but just be warned that $3000 does not go far when it comes to panel beating and spray painting of cars. The Subaru could possibly need a new panel/rim (imported so pricey?), then there is labour on top.

  • ask the driver for another quote
  • ask the driver if you can have your own repairer look at the car
  • take the quote to your own repairer for their opinion
  • contact the other driver to negotiate the amount.