Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Georgia

I had a fender bender and poked a hole in the rear bumper of another driver. I committed to pay the repair bill and a three day car rental. The body shop had the car 5-31 to 6-2. On 6-1 the shop called me and said the car would be ready for pick up and I could pay the bill. On 6-2 I paid the bill. Unbeknownst to me the body shop had further repairs to do and the rental was held for ten days. The shop paid for four days and I was sent a bill for the balance of the six days. Since I paid for what I thought was a completed job and due to the body shop error am I still on the hook for the entire bill or am I only responsible for my original three day commitment? Thanks! I did mail a check for my three day commitment to the car owner. Not sure if I entered right area of law.


Asked on 7/28/16, 5:00 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Rachel Hunter

No, you did not enter the right area of law. You really need an auto accident attorney. I am perplexed as to how you committed to pay a repair bill. Was this for your car? Or the other driver's car?

You leave out too many details. Why would the repair shop ask you to pay a bill if the car needed more work, Were the other repairs related to the accident? Why did you not get a written estimate? If any added repairs needed to be done, these should have been written down.

I don't know from your description whether the added repairs are related to the accident or not. You are liable not for the number of days but for all damage which you caused and reasonable loss of use of the vehicle while the damaged vehicle was being repaired. So if it takes 3 days or 5 days or 10 days you are liable for that if you were at fault.

This was just handled very poorly. You never should have committed to anything. If you did want to handle this on your own, you should have committed to pay a certain sum of money and got a signed release and let t he other driver get the car repaired or not.

I suggest you go and see and an attorney who handles auto accidents and pay for a consult with him or her. I am afraid that if you do not pay, the other driver is all of a sudden going to decide he/she was hurt and now needs to see a doctor. Before you pay though, I would (a) get that consult and (b) more importantly, get a release signed by the person you injured stating that you paid x dollars (add up the cost you paid for the first a nd second set of car repairs and what you paid for the rental of the original and 6 plus days) and get t hem to state that they are waiving all claims, known or unknown , arising out of the accident. Then you pay.

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Answered on 7/28/16, 6:52 pm


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