Scraped Wife's Car in Multistorey CP

ariddell1984

I managed to scrape the passenger side rear wheel arch end of my wife's car in a multistorey last week, leaving a dent plus some scraped paintwork. As it is my fault I have offered to pay for the repairs.

I've just had a quote come back either to replace the damaged body part at £2,500, or to repair at £750, Both figures are exclusive of VAT. Obviously my preference is repair given the 'replace' cost is about the same as the car's value. First things first, does this sound a reasonable quote?

Given the cost, in an ideal world I'd do this on insurance however here we come across some issues!
1. I'm not a named driver on my wife's insurance but even if I was there would still be an problem because...
2. My wife has not protected her NCB so if we claim on her insurance then she loses the 8 years she has built up.
3. My insurance allows me to drive other vehicles but only covers me for 3rd party damage, so I can't claim against my policy.

Just to add to the complication my wife is due to renew at the end of this week. I will be getting her to add me to her policy and I have told her to protect her NCB! I come to the second question I have:

If my wife renews, adds me to the policy and protects her NCB - could we then claim for the damage repair on the new policy? It feels a bit dodgy so I want someone to confirm this is not the path to go down.

warby68

A 'bit' dodgy?

ariddell1984

Cheers, that's exactly the confirmation I needed not to go down that route!

Carrot007

Dont try fraud. Pay the money.


I also hope you are paying for the repairs to the Multi-Storey car park that you are liable for.

Tammykitty

Have you got other quotes?

bigisi

Need more details to decide if it's a "reasonable quote". What car, what panel, what repair?

ariddell1984

bigisi wrote: »

Need more details to decide if it's a "reasonable quote". What car, what panel, what repair?

It's the rear passenger side wheel arch that's dented, plus scratches on the rear passenger door and around the wheel arch.

I've been told the high replace cost is because in order to remove the damaged panel it involves some work on the interior and removal of the rear windscreen; replace is cheaper but still involves a fair bit of labour to get in behind the wheel arch.

neilmcl

Post a pic of the damage and we'll be able to see if it's a reasonable quote or not. TBH, it is sounding a tad high. I'd shop around a few more bodyshops for a better quote.

neilmcl

ariddell1984 wrote: »

It's the rear passenger side wheel arch that's dented, plus scratches on the rear passenger door and around the wheel arch.

I've been told the high replace cost is because in order to remove the damaged panel it involves some work on the interior and removal of the rear windscreen; replace is cheaper but still involves a fair bit of labour to get in behind the wheel arch.

Again, depending on the location and severity of the dent it may be able to be taken out by paintless dent removal (PDR) which shouldn't cost you more than £100 then all you need to do is get the paintwork sorted, which may only be £200 at most. Do you have a local Dent Devils guy near you?

Aylesbury_Duck

Firstly, as others have said, don't get involved with anything dodgy. It's not impossible that the car park owner might look at the damage to their property, view CCTV and put in a claim. Not likely, but not impossible. You don't want to compound the problem with a fraudulent claim.

Secondly, is leaving the damage an option? I did something similar a few years ago to a similarly valued car and after t-cutting out the worst of it, left it alone. It wasn't dangerous or structurally unsound and has passed many MOTs since without comment. I drive cars until they are uneconomical to repair, so cosmetic damage doesn't bother me. On a £2,500 car, is it worth going to the expense you're suggesting?

ariddell1984

Aylesbury_Duck wrote: »

Firstly, as others have said, don't get involved with anything dodgy. It's not impossible that the car park owner might look at the damage to their property, view CCTV and put in a claim. Not likely, but not impossible. You don't want to compound the problem with a fraudulent claim.

As I was typing that question out it sounded very dodgy to me but wanted to get confirmation that it was.

Secondly, is leaving the damage an option? I did something similar a few years ago to a similarly valued car and after t-cutting out the worst of it, left it alone. It wasn't dangerous or structurally unsound and has passed many MOTs since without comment. I drive cars until they are uneconomical to repair, so cosmetic damage doesn't bother me. On a £2,500 car, is it worth going to the expense you're suggesting?

If it was my car then I would just live with the damage, unfortunately my wife has a thing about things being broken, damaged or lost regardless of whether the item in question is worth £2 or £2,000 so for a quiet life I'm just going to get it fixed.