Scraped Wife's Car in Multistorey CP

Deanston

ariddell1984 wrote: »

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.

Including ones owned by your wife?


If you need to ask it's probably dodgy.

Browntoa

You've obviously not watched recent insurance fraud programs , they run software randomly to check you are telling the truth

ariddell1984

Deanston wrote: »

Including ones owned by your wife?

Now you have me worried - just checked my policy and it says I am able to "drive a motorcar not belonging to the policyholder and not hired to the policyholder under a hire-purchase agreement or leased to the policyholder under a lease agreement, provided that: The policyholder has the owner's permission to do so"

Given that my wife gives me her permission (in fact actively insists I drive, particular on longer journeys), pretty sure I am OK to do so? Otherwise I've been illegally driving her car for a number of years...:shocked:

If you need to ask it's probably dodgy.

Is a fine mantra to live by!

foxy-stoat

Pay for the repairs out of your own pocket £750 to repair whatever is damaged isnt too bad - it will be cheaper in the long run if you are found out - not sure how they would find you out but adding you to the policy at renewal and adding protected NCD then a £2.5K claim coming in a few weeks/months after may cause them to investigate and ask questions and depending on your answers they may or may not believe you.

Good luck in whatever you choose to do.

foxy-stoat

ariddell1984 wrote: »

Now you have me worried - just checked my policy and it says I am able to "drive a motorcar not belonging to the policyholder and not hired to the policyholder under a hire-purchase agreement or leased to the policyholder under a lease agreement, provided that: The policyholder has the owner's permission to do so"

Given that my wife gives me her permission (in fact actively insists I drive, particular on longer journeys), pretty sure I am OK to do so? Otherwise I've been illegally driving her car for a number of years...:shocked:


Is a fine mantra to live by!

You are probably ok to drive it Third Party Only - however you need to read through the policy booklet to see if there are any exclusions, family vehicles is one they exclude sometimes. It may raise questions as to why you are not named on the policy anyway, usually cheaper to add a spouse unless they have convictions or lots of previous accidents.

Who is your insurer?

PDC

Was that quote at a large repair centre or main dealer?

Impossible to say without seeing the damage but those prices sound quite high for a wheel arch scrape in a car park.

ariddell1984

foxy-stoat wrote: »

You are probably ok to drive it Third Party Only - however you need to read through the policy booklet to see if there are any exclusions, family vehicles is one they exclude sometimes. It may raise questions as to why you are not named on the policy anyway, usually cheaper to add a spouse unless they have convictions or lots of previous accidents.

Who is your insurer?

I'm with Tesco. As to why I'm not named on her policy, up to now she has just automatically renewed with Direct Line for the past 8 years and only changed the important stuff like address, vehicle covered etc and we've not thought to add me (she is on mine because I change provider most years, and found that adding her to my policy actually reduced the cost of my cover). This year is different though as Direct Line have quoted £700 whereas comparison sites are showing quotes of nearer £400.

AdrianC

ariddell1984 wrote: »

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?

Entirely feasible, yes.

Apart from straightening/filling the damage to the metalwork, the repaired area will need to be painted. To avoid a colour contrast, they'll paint a wider area, fading the new paint out - "blending". If it's metallic, the colour match is even harder, plus it'll need to then have a clear coat as well (this may apply to some non-metallics, too). And then there's the dismantling/reassembly to do a decent job, as well as the cost of materials - paint is FAR from cheap.

To replace a welded rear wing involves a lot of disassembly, plus quite invasive work. If it's repairable, that's preferable.

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.

Yep, it's on your wallet... And don't forget you'll need to tell insurers about the incident for the next five years, even though it's not claiming.

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.

You mean lie about the date of the incident...?

foxy-stoat

Looks like you are OK TPO - doesnt help you in this instance though.

Without lying to the motor insurance company, your options are to repair it to leave it.

ariddell1984

foxy-stoat wrote: »

Looks like you are OK TPO - doesnt help you in this instance though.

Without lying to the motor insurance company, your options are to repair it to leave it.

Thanks Foxy. Will see if I can persuade my wife to live with the damage. It's not too bad on the face of it and in an ideal world the car gets replaced next year anyway.

Lying to the insurance company was never going to be an option once someone had confirmed that was effectively what my second question amounted to.