My parked car got hit... how much would it cost to fix

Saeed

Hi,

My car has been hit whilst parked on the rear:-


They have accepted responsibility and I'm wondering (1) how much it would cost to repair something like this. Some of the paint has been totally scraped off and the black plastic underneath can been seen.

(2) Is it worth going through insurance or should I deal with it privately?


Thanks

couriervanman

so contact and go through their insurance

Saeed

couriervanman wrote: »

so contact and go through their insurance

I would like to know roughly how much something like this costs to fix. If they give me money then we can leave insurance company out of it as even though it was a parked car, my insurance will probably go up and I'll have to declare it for the next 3-5 years.

DUTR

Saeed wrote: »

I would like to know roughly how much something like this costs to fix. If they give me money then we can leave insurance company out of it as even though it was a parked car, my insurance will probably go up and I'll have to declare it for the next 3-5 years.

PROBABLY and probably not, however you are to still report it to the insurance as if the underwriters find out...….the consequences will make any premium increase seem miniscule.

Most of that looks like it will polish out, depending on the age of the car, after a polish up it maybe worth living with the blemish.

sevenhills

Are you just wanting to take the money and not fix it?
I would guess, if its just a repaint, maybe £200/£300, if you are getting it fixed, go through the insurance.

foxy-stoat

Take it to a local car repairer and get a quote.

spadoosh

The person who hit you will only be willing to give you a few hundred quid, essentially what would make up their insurance excess. Getting it repaired properly will cost more than that, so if you want it repairing properly just go through insurance.

If you want to take a few hundred quid and try to repair it yourself or not repair it, that choice is yours, keep the numbers low though or the other person is just going to ask to go through insurance. Which will probably make things a bit uncomfortable for you when both insurers are asking why none of you declared it at the time.


Its extremely rare its worth avoiding insurers. You/they might save a few quid but you/they open up to having your insurance cancelled, massively increased premiums, being made un insurable, having people not do what they say they would (ie pay you), substandard work etc etc. Whilst those instances can be extreme and rare the consequence sof them make them a real threat so to speak.

AdrianC

At the cheapest? A tenner for a rattlecan from Halfords.
At the most expensive? A brand new bumper from a Toyota dealer, prepped and painted and fitted in their bodyshop, paint blended up the wings. Well into four figures.
Somewhere in between...? Well, it might be easiest to just get a bumper the right colour and swap it over. Sub £100. Or get the bumper painted whole, and accept a mismatch to the wings (looks like you've been happy with that in the past). Probably a couple of hundred quid.

Saeed

Quick update: I got 3 quotes all around £300. The guy that hit the car didn't want to pay up as spadoosh mentioned and just started messing me around. So I have decided to go through the insurance. The other guy has admitted responsibility so it is a non-fault claim for me. My questions now are:-


1) I'm just thinking of dealing directly with the 3rd party insurance and leave my insurance compnay out of it (I will inform them of the incident, of course) as I don't want to lose my NCD and pay an excess and then have to claim it back. What do you guys think of this?

2) Is it worth employing an accident management firm to deal and get the most money possible or is it fairly simple dealing with the 3rd party insurance company?

3) How to I maximise my claim as I will not be getting it fixed (car is 10 years old) and want to just have a cash settlement (there is no personal injury component),
(a) I am thinking of taking it to main dealer so the quote reflects the real cost of repair
(b) Claim for loss of value of the car due to the accident which will be recorded/disclosed when I sell it in the future.
(c) Claim for hire car from a car rental place for the ~3 days it will take to repair car (I don't want the "free" courtesy car as it is not the same size as my car and has a high excess.)
(d) Losses such as driving to garage to get quote/then fix/mileage/time.

What do you guys think of this approach?

Thanks.

onomatopoeia99

Saeed wrote: »

3) How to I maximise my claim as I will not be getting it fixed (car is 10 years old) and want to just have a cash settlement (there is no personal injury component),
(a) I am thinking of taking it to main dealer so the quote reflects the real cost of repair
(b) Claim for loss of value of the car due to the accident which will be recorded/disclosed when I sell it in the future.
(c) Claim for hire car from a car rental place for the ~3 days it will take to repair car (I don't want the "free" courtesy car as it is not the same size as my car and has a high excess.)
(d) Losses such as driving to garage to get quote/then fix/mileage/time.

What do you guys think of this approach?

You may wish to look up "fraud" in the dictionary.

Saeed

onomatopoeia99 wrote: »

You may wish to look up "fraud" in the dictionary.

I'm not sure any of those things are fraud. My car is damaged, my premiums may go up for the nest few years and I will have to declare the accident for up to 5 years.

I want to make sure I get a decent payout as I have spent close to 20 hours on this already as the third party gave me the run around. I am not going to exaggerate anything, just want to get a decent settlement that fully takes into account my losses and a bit for the time it has taken. If I really wanted to stuff them I could go through these no-win no-fee solicitors and bump up the claim. I'm NOT doing this, I handling it myself to minimise costs to third party/insurance company and hopefully they may give me a better settlement. I just want the maximum I am due.