Damaged my car - need help

Den

Hi folks, I damaged my car this morning by hitting one of barrier poles when was turning to the road from parking. The damage is very bad (two doors and rear wing). When I was going to the road with two lines on of cars started changing to my lane so I hesitated and shifted to the left and continued driving as it become clear.
And as soon I continued I hit the pole quite badly. It all happened within seconds. I don't know what to do with repair. I haven't checked doors but they do open. We have 5 years NCB and full cover and excess is £500. The car is 2.5 years old and we own if from new. The repair will be way more than cost of my excess.
What should I be aware of when I claim from my insurance, because I didn't do it on purpose. Any advice please! I cannot think about anything else. Thank you.

colino

Take it to your local, busy, bodyshop for them to assess and make clear you are considering paying directly without insurance involvement. If the panels are stretched and there is underlying additional damage, it may still be better to put it through your insurance. Depending on what make of car, at 30 months, it could add up to a pretty penny to make as good as new.

Den

Thank, this is a good starting point. I'm not an expert, but without a hidden damage I can quote close to 2k. The surface of both doors is bend inside. It's not just a dent, it like something drove into me

fivetide

You might need to claim anyway. Is the pole damaged? If anyone saw that then they might report you as beign the one that damaged it.

Of course that will entirely depend on the state of the thing to begin with but if it does need fixing you'll need to claim so may as well get the car done with it.

James_Lahey

Ouch I feel for you I hope your no-claims is protected. As previous posters have said it could be more than cosmetic damage that make the car unsafe and put it beyond economic repair.

Horrible situation to be in, but at least nobody was hurt. Best of luck getting it sorted.

hethmar

Best to claim as I had only a couple of dents over rear wheel arch on a 2 year old car but of course, they had to repair that and then respray the whole side of the car I was hoping Id get away with just Dent Devil - no way. Mine was parked when someone must have hit it and drove off. Surprisingly, my insurance was no more this year despite the claim

slyracoon

fivetide wrote: »

You might need to claim anyway. Is the pole damaged? If anyone saw that then they might report you as beign the one that damaged it.

Of course that will entirely depend on the state of the thing to begin with but if it does need fixing you'll need to claim so may as well get the car done with it.

I agree with this. How much damage to the poles? As you have damaged someone elses property it is best to inform your insurance company of the accident (it'll be in your T+Cs) that you must inform them even if you don't plan on claiming otherwise you could have issues if you need to claim later.

The owner of the poles may persue you for the cost of repair if somebody noted your reg or if there is CCTV (or if you're honest and contact them like you should do).

McKneff

Whether you claim on your insurance or not, it is in your terms and conditions of your policy that you must inform them of any incident.

If you dont inform them, you are breaking the terms of your policy and risk cancellation of your policy or non payment of any future claim. This will have far reaching effects into the future.

Best to go through your insurance.

Den

The pole looked solid when I left it. The problem that my insurance company will not be able to recover anything from the pole owner so my premiums will go quite high next and subsequent years. Also, is there is a chance will they think that I did it on purpose, so many stories when people do it. I agree that have to report to them in any case which will may put premium up. Do they usually cover this this sort of things? Thank you for all replies. It's hard to work, my office windows just facing my car on the car park.

Den

And yes, there was a witness who saw me pulling my car over the pole.

fivetide

Den wrote: »

And yes, there was a witness who saw me pulling my car over the pole.

It isn't about whether they look solid. It is about whether or not they had a blooming great scrape on them until you came along.

Of course this is a fault claim and will put your premium up. Totally up to you if you make one but as said, if you don't tell the insurance and the landowner puts a claim in against you for the damage to their property, you may well find yourself on a sticky wicket.