Reversed into parked car (yes Im a fool!). Pay myself or claim? (£800)

KatanaDV20

Hallo everyone,

Ashamed to say my flawless driving record is now smudged. Was reversing out of the driveway. Looked carefully left and right to watch for people or approaching cars and endged out slowly.

**Clunk**

You know what they say - the one that gets you comes from behind. Didnt look straight behind. Bumped it at like 0.4mph or so. No huge damage, my car not a scratch..other car wing mirror came off and some dents.

Left a note, the owners are SO nice and kind I felt even worse. They said not to worry and that it could happen to anyone etc. Anyways left my details and they emailed me a scanned copy of a quote: £800 to fix.

Im with the AA paying £280/yr with 9 years no claims. I can afford to pay £800 right now. Should I pay myself or go through my insurance. Ive heard horror stories of how once this is done the premiums skyrocket to silly levels. Right now Im leaning towards just paying this myself as I feel car insurance isnt REALLY there for small dings and bumps.

Would like to hear your thoughts guys & gals. Thanks a lot

dacouch

Do you have protected no claims

KatanaDV20

dacouch wrote: »

Do you have protected no claims

Good question, I dont

dacouch

Try running quotes through showing a fault accident and your no claims bonus at 3 years (I assume you currently have 5 years).

This will give you an rough idea of what your renewal premium will be, if you want a rough idea of next years, run it through with 4 years ncd and an accident dated a year ago.

I would make sure you put down a made up phone number eg 01234 567890 to avoid being plagued by marketing calls.

Note you do not pay your excess unless you're claiming for damage to your own vehicle

KatanaDV20

dacouch wrote: »

Try running quotes through showing a fault accident and your no claims bonus at 3 years (I assume you currently have 5 years).

This will give you an rough idea of what your renewal premium will be, if you want a rough idea of next years, run it through with 4 years ncd and an accident dated a year ago.

I would make sure you put down a made up phone number eg 01234 567890 to avoid being plagued by marketing calls.

Note you do not pay your excess unless you're claiming for damage to your own vehicle

Good idea, thanks I will do that and see what it spits back!

dacouch

Rough guess is will be about £600ish.

You will need to be careful as a further fault claim will send it sky high

Barneysmom

If you do pay, make sure you get a full and final settlement receipt signed (and witnessed!)

ROY47

KatanaDV20 wrote: »

Bumped it at like 0.4mph or so. No huge damage, my car not a scratch..other car wing mirror came off and some dents.

Left a note, the owners are SO nice and kind I felt even worse. They said not to worry and that it could happen to anyone etc. Anyways left my details and they emailed me a scanned copy of a quote: £800 to fix.

I

Would like to hear your thoughts guys & gals. Thanks a lot

If they are the nice type of people

small bump repaired by dentmaster / dentwise type people £100 max PROVIDING they can fix it

new wing mirror £400 ?? IF it's electric and heated and sprayed the correct colour

IF youre willing to pay yourself that's £500

I would personally have a damn good look at the damage and get some quotes myself from the likes of dentmaster etc. then price up the wing mirror etc.

BUT that's my own views on it

KatanaDV20

Barneysmom wrote: »

If you do pay, make sure you get a full and final settlement receipt signed (and witnessed!)

Oh! thanks for this information! How do I do this? Theres a form I download and send off or something?

KatanaDV20

ROY47 wrote: »

If they are the nice type of people

small bump repaired by dentmaster / dentwise type people £100 max PROVIDING they can fix it

new wing mirror £400 ?? IF it's electric and heated and sprayed the correct colour

IF youre willing to pay yourself that's £500

I would personally have a damn good look at the damage and get some quotes myself from the likes of dentmaster etc. then price up the wing mirror etc.

BUT that's my own views on it

I will anonymize the PDF they sent me of the quote and put it on here. I said they need to replace a panel as well. Labour = £480, rest of it is parts. They live 2hrs away from me so not as easy to deal with. But yes they are easy going and asked if they should get another quote, I will say yes to that.

Quentin

They have only let you know the cost of repairs.

You are also liable for all other costs (eg car hire whilst theirs is in for repairs).

If you let your insurer sort it you can reimburse them if cost effective to get your ncd reinstated and the insurer will ensure there is no possible comeback at a later date.