So I had a bottle of drain cleaner which I forgot to put the lid on my washing machine - on my balcony - I live on a top floor condo

 

Well the wind blew it over - overnight - and two cars below, are now covered in stains which cannot be removed...........both will have to be repainted.........I am guessing a full repaint for both............If they just repained the patches......it will make the car the look weird

 

I'm guessing.....This could cost me in the region of 30,000-100,000 Baht+..........but no price quote yet

 

What are my options here............I am guessing have to pay..........unless I talk to owners and see if insurance can pay for the damage?

Small chance their cars will be covered for that but it is you who should have a liability insurance, they aren't expensive either...

Uhhh, what a bad luck. If the owners are foreigners they most likely will have a full covering insurance. Maybe they will accept to report the damage to their companies.

Depending to the cars but I don't think it will cost you a 100k if you have to pay for it.

 

Three or four years ago I had to repaint one whole side including the bonnet of a CRV after an accident. I think I payed around 12k or something and it was done perfectly.

You mention you live in a condo. Do you have insurance covering your unit and contents? If you do, check to see if it provides third party liability coverage. The third party liability section may cover your liability for these damages.

 

Even if the cars are insured, the insurers may demand that you reimburse them for the claims that they pay to the owners.

9 minutes ago, Etaoin Shrdlu said:

Even if the cars are insured, the insurers may demand that you reimburse them for the claims that they pay to the owners.

IF the company knows who's responsable for the damage

How unfortunate.

I assume your condo is not on the 42nd floor

Do the car owners know where the drain cleaner that attacked their cars originated from?

"Extremely expensive accident"

Just relax and be happy that you didn't ruin a Ferrari or something like that. 

 

 

Go Thai style. Come up with a new realisation that it was neither you, nor your drain cleaner, that caused the stains.

You need to see what the paint technicians say, but as you know drain cleaners are extremely corrosive.

 

For starters the drain cleaner could have corroded the paint down to the metal. If this has happened then the affected areas of the vehicle will need to be taken back to metal.

 

Next, an isolating product will need to be applied to neutralise the drain cleaner. If this is not done perfectly then the paint will bubble when it is sprayed on, and the work needs to start again.

 

If you have covered most of the panels on the car then it will probably be a full respray.

 

On top of that you need to consider that any affected rubber seals might have perished, as well as any affected plastic parts being melted. It will depend on just how much drain cleaner, if any, landed on these types of parts.

 

Don't be surprised if the car owner doesn't want to claim on their insurance; chances are a claim of this significance will increase their premium next year, putting them out of pocket.

Lucky it didn't fall on a person

1 hour ago, blackcab said:

You need to see what the paint technicians say, but as you know drain cleaners are extremely corrosive.

...

There are various formulations of drain cleaners.  But sodium hydroxide (AKA lye or caustic soda) is common.  Can be used as a paint stripper.  Heated up in a glass container, it will dissolve the glass!  And it can blind you in a heartbeat if you get it in your eyes.  It's very nasty and useful stuff. 

Nothing to do with you the wind blow it off a balony their insurance will fix the damage not you. If the insurance companies want to sue you up to them.  You can move in the next six months. Why did you open yotr mouth to begin with or did everbody know you had drain cleaner 

5 hours ago, blackcab said:

You need to see what the paint technicians say, but as you know drain cleaners are extremely corrosive.

 

For starters the drain cleaner could have corroded the paint down to the metal. If this has happened then the affected areas of the vehicle will need to be taken back to metal.

 

Next, an isolating product will need to be applied to neutralise the drain cleaner. If this is not done perfectly then the paint will bubble when it is sprayed on, and the work needs to start again.

 

If you have covered most of the panels on the car then it will probably be a full respray.

 

On top of that you need to consider that any affected rubber seals might have perished, as well as any affected plastic parts being melted. It will depend on just how much drain cleaner, if any, landed on these types of parts.

 

Don't be surprised if the car owner doesn't want to claim on their insurance; chances are a claim of this significance will increase their premium next year, putting them out of pocket.

Insurance claim won't go up you will loose 10% maybe which is a couple hundred baht. No significant increase! 

A pretty stupid accident, could have easily been avoided, you just need to pay up, check quotes are reasonable, think of it as a life lesson 

just keep your head down and say nothing

7 hours ago, underthesky said:

Go Thai style. Come up with a new realisation that it was neither you, nor your drain cleaner, that caused the stains.

you mean do a runner....

A crappy shoot over the top respray is about 40k these days.. 

A full car bare metal seals and everything quality job as per insurance needs could run over 80k per car.. If metallic and any issues ++ 

 

 

9 hours ago, G Rex said:

How unfortunate.

I assume your condo is not on the 42nd floor

Do the car owners know where the drain cleaner that attacked their cars originated from?

Yeah they have all the photo evidence , can see where its spilled from

There are a number of things that can happen depending on insurance, extent of the damage, owners , etc.  So difficult to give an answer. 
I commend you for taking responsibility for what happened.  I see by some of the responses , some would have acted they knew nothing about it.  And shed responsibility .  Nice to see we have some quality expats living in Thailand. 

 
 

 

10 hours ago, JustAnotherHun said:

Uhhh, what a bad luck. If the owners are foreigners they most likely will have a full covering insurance. Maybe they will accept to report the damage to their companies.

Depending to the cars but I don't think it will cost you a 100k if you have to pay for it.

 

Three or four years ago I had to repaint one whole side including the bonnet of a CRV after an accident. I think I payed around 12k or something and it was done perfectly.

You'll be surprised at how inexpensive painting a car can be here in Thailand.

 

This won't be the case if the car is painted at a dealership.

 

 

Needed a full respray of my 1995 Mighty X. Mrs obtained a quote of 17,000 baht. Finally got it done via a second hand car dealer who is also a friend for 11,000. Time to call in a favour, if the vehicles aren't new or cherished and you go about it the right way you could reduce your outlay considerably.

12 minutes ago, The Fugitive said:

Needed a full respray of my 1995 Mighty X. Mrs obtained a quote of 17,000 baht. Finally got it done via a second hand car dealer who is also a friend for 11,000. Time to call in a favour, if the vehicles aren't new or cherished and you go about it the right way you could reduce your outlay considerably.

One of them looks pretty old (Probably worth 100k baht if sold second hand as an estimate), the other one looks like a fairly expensive SUV....which is really unfortunate but most of the damage is just on the roof so lets see what happens

51 minutes ago, ESLTeacher1989 said:

Yeah they have all the photo evidence , can see where its spilled from

Really? Surely their photos only show the aftermath. How could they prove the origin of the drain cleaner? Fair play for doing the right thing but genuinely confused how they would know its your fault as opposed to any of the units under you, or your direct neighbours. 

3 hours ago, arick said:

Nothing to do with you the wind blow it off a balony their insurance will fix the damage not you. If the insurance companies want to sue you up to them.  You can move in the next six months. Why did you open yotr mouth to begin with or did everbody know you had drain cleaner 

That`s typical reply from a dishonest person who denies responsibility for any wrongdoing. 

The condo owner made a silly mistake and should have third party liability insurance for his unit. Its not e xpensive. 

31 minutes ago, ESLTeacher1989 said:

One of them looks pretty old (Probably worth 100k baht if sold second hand as an estimate), the other one looks like a fairly expensive SUV....which is really unfortunate but most of the damage is just on the roof so lets see what happens

Keep cool, it won't be a big deal.

3 hours ago, arick said:

Insurance claim won't go up you will loose 10% maybe which is a couple hundred baht.

You mean that you can get car insurance for Bht 2000?

That sucks op. Keep cool head and try to get a Thai friend of good standing to negotiate with you. Think yourself lucky it didn’t hit someone. 

Do you not have property and contents insurance which includes liabilities if yes you should be covered on saying that I am amazed how many people in Thailand don’t take out insurance policies I pay 16,000 baht a year for 10 million baht cover and as I live on the beach it includes cover should the sea decide to come and visit me it’s the same with car insurance so many people pay the government tax but never go that extra mile to take out additional car or bike insurance to make sure they are well and truly fully covered for all emergencies . I’ve just had a quote for a complete ground up re spray for my Mitsubishi in pearl black it will take 4 weeks total cost 70,000 baht I live on the islands where everything is more expensive so I would imagine if on the mainland it would be less money but remember you will also have to pay for rental vehicles while the cars are being resprayed . Sorry to hear of your bad luck 

If they're uninsured just pay them, you cause the damage, they shouldn't have to suffer because of your mistake.

 

If they're insured, then negotiate with their insurer for a lower settlement.