(Fairly heavy) car park bump - insurance not involved yet!

JohnnyMc3000

First time poster - long time lurker.

My old Civic banger's been clobbered by a colleague in our work office car park.

It's a granny spec 2003 Civic that I'm using as my turbo charged MX5 is too pricey to do 100 miles a day in. Book value is probably well less than £1,000 but is has <45,000 miles, new Pirelli verdes, new brakes all round and does almost 50mpg.

Fortunately, my colleague has already written off a 67 plate Mini AND done a big claim on her new E class coupe cab this year (!) and is keen to avoid another insurance claim.

I suspect my car would just be written off by her insurance company and I'd get a check for about £500 and see my own insurance hit a bit too. That's not an option, I think.

I've been to a few bodyshops:
- dealer approved initial guess: £1,500+ (lol)
- private bodyshop, does classics: £700 + VAT
- local small garage to do a "good enough job, make it a bit more presentable" - min £400

I'm inclined to just say to my colleague "give me £250, it's not worth me repairing it - and we'll leave it at that".

Am I missing anything?!

Muscle750

If its still drivable? Id take her money and keep going. However as it happened on private ground i dunno if you have to notify your insurance tell her specsavers eye test is a tenner as well

DUTR

Muscle750 wrote: »

If its still drivable? Id take her money and keep going. However as it happened on private ground i dunno if you have to notify your insurance tell her specsavers eye test is a tenner as well

The colleague hasn't offered any money yet.

wgl2014

What's the damage? Could be cheaper to get a spare door etc from a breakers.

You should inform your insurance but if neither you nor your colleague is going to mention it then they will never know.

JohnnyMc3000

Thanks for your thoughts!

It's across a couple of panels unfortunately...

As for informing insurance, that seems unlikely since:
a) there's no legal requirement to do that
b) I have three cars on my insurance policy and don't want even a non-fault mark on my policy
c) I'd be worse off financially with my car being written off than if I just kept the car as it now is

Aylesbury_Duck

JohnnyMc3000 wrote: »

Thanks for your thoughts!

It's across a couple of panels unfortunately...

As for informing insurance, that seems unlikely since:
a) there's no legal requirement to do that
b) I have three cars on my insurance policy and don't want even a non-fault mark on my policy
c) I'd be worse off financially with my car being written off than if I just kept the car as it now is

Totally understand, but are you sure about (a)? Should your insurer belatedly find out, you might end up in a difficult situation, specifically your policy being cancelled, which would lead to much more expense than a non-fault claim on your policy.

Car_54

JohnnyMc3000 wrote: »

..

As for informing insurance, that seems unlikely since:
a) there's no legal requirement to do that

Are you sure? I'd be surprised if your policy conditions don't require you to inform them.

JohnnyMc3000

Thanks for raising the possibility that I might be technically REQUIRED to report this - had presumed this was the wasn't the case and "presumption is the mother of all **** ups!"

Surely there is a minimum amount of damage - a 5p scrape? A tennis ball sized ding? If not, everyone would be informing their insurance of every minor kerb scratch / swirl mark many times a year?!

For the avoidance of doubt this case is about two foot of a scratch a ripple...

n217970

JohnnyMc3000 wrote: »

Fortunately, my colleague has already written off a 67 plate Mini AND done a big claim on her new E class coupe cab this year (!) and is keen to avoid another insurance claim.

Sounds like insurance should be involved as she needs pricing off the road....

Aylesbury_Duck

JohnnyMc3000 wrote: »

Surely there is a minimum amount of damage - a 5p scrape? A tennis ball sized ding? If not, everyone would be informing their insurance of every minor kerb scratch / swirl mark many times a year?!

No, because all of us on here are perfect drivers who've never had so much as a bump

I suggest that if there's been a collision between your car and another party's property that's resulted in damage to the other party's property, it's safer to inform your insurer than to risk it. That would apply whether it's a crash, a bump in a car park or just reversing into an inanimate object such as a wall. You never know how the other party will act so best to pre-empt it. I suppose the question to ask yourself is that if you were on the receiving end of a bump that left the other driver's car unblemished but put a tennis ball sized ding in your car, would you be happy to ignore it entirely, get it done privately (with all the dealings with the third party that would involve) or just claim on their insurance and not have to worry about negotiating quotes, payment, etc.

BeenThroughItAll

JohnnyMc3000 wrote: »

Thanks for raising the possibility that I meant be technically REQUIRED to report this - had presumed this was the wasn't the case and "presumption is the mother of all **** ups!"

Surely there is a minimum amount of damage - a 5p scrape? A tennis ball sized ding? If not, everyone would be informing their insurance of every minor kerb scratch / swirl mark many times a year?!

For the avoidance of doubt this case is about two foot of a scratch a ripple...

No, you said there was no legal requirement to, but the legally-binding contract you entered says you have to inform your insurer.


A stone chip is not the same as a car park accident, and I don't know about you, but I've not got any minor kerb scratches on my wheels, because I can park properly.