Car Scratched... what to do?!

AdrianC

george9071 said:

AdrianC said:

What car? Cheapest would be a used door from a scrappy, may even find one the right colour.

I’m not sure, I don’t really know much about cars and this is a Vauxhall crossland x 

Ah. So new enough that there's not going to be many being broken, unless they're badly bent.

george9071 said:

Thanks for all your help everyone! This has p***ed me off no end, So does anyone know approx what I’m looking at price wise? I’m dreading this 😟 

This may be an insurance job, depending on your excess and history. It's unlikely to be cheap. New door skin.

Top money-saving tip: Stop driving into walls.

McKneff

It should only cost you your excess.
You should inform your insurace company. 
They will pay for it. Its what you are paying them for.

george9071

AdrianC said:

george9071 said:

AdrianC said:

What car? Cheapest would be a used door from a scrappy, may even find one the right colour.

I’m not sure, I don’t really know much about cars and this is a Vauxhall crossland x 

Ah. So new enough that there's not going to be many being broken, unless they're badly bent.

george9071 said:

Thanks for all your help everyone! This has p***ed me off no end, So does anyone know approx what I’m looking at price wise? I’m dreading this 😟 

This may be an insurance job, depending on your excess and history. It's unlikely to be cheap. New door skin.

Top money-saving tip: Stop driving into walls.

McKneff said:

It should only cost you your excess.
You should inform your insurace company. 
They will pay for it. Its what you are paying them for.

I am contacting the insurance tomorrow, got 10 years no claims so that’s probably down the drain 😢 but yes I will contact them tomorrow and see what they say hopefully they will get it sorted soon! Never been in this position before with a scratched car, hopefully never again thanks again!

Petriix

Before you contact the insurers, get a couple of quotes for the repair. It might be relatively cheap for someone to fill and spray it to look as good as new - maybe around £200?

greyteam1959

DON'T contact your insurance company.
Get a couple of quotes first.
Around £350 -£400 would be my guess.
I personally would not be claiming on my insurance for that amount.

EssexExile

You shouldn't lose 10 years NCB for one claim, just a year or two.

Clive_Woody

AdrianC said:

Top money-saving tip: Stop driving into walls.

I just snorted when I read that  

daveyjp

EssexExile said:

You shouldn't lose 10 years NCB for one claim, just a year or two.

Usual situation is only the first 5 years are considered and once there is a claim you will lose two years, so next year you will have three.  Policy documents will give info.

I agree find a local bodyshop that will repair the existing panel.  A few years ago a parking graze on the bumper was charged to me at less than £400.  Full rub down, fill dint on wheel arch and respray.  I actually saw the car a couple of weeks ago, its now 14 years old and it still looks OK.

Once insurance get involved it will be a new door skin.  

WaywardDriver

Do you own the car or is it on a PCP/lease where you hand it back when the term ends? If latter then better to do job properly now rather than have to pay twice.

Laurence_Harvey

greyteam1959 said:

DON'T contact your insurance company.
Get a couple of quotes first.
Around £350 -£400 would be my guess.
I personally would not be claiming on my insurance for that amount.

Could not agree more!

Get some repair quotes first, ___it may be prudent to pay the bill yourself. For relatively minor bumps/scrapes you need to consider your financial options very carefully before involving your insurance company.

Even if you don’t intend to make a claim simply advising your insurance that your vehicle has had an ‘incident’ (no matter how trivial!) with no cost to them, may be enough to ‘flag’ you as an additional risk,___ and it may be reflected in your renewal Premium. Some insurance companies are worse than others in this respect.

If you do make a claim and you have ‘protected no-claims bonus’, again, there is no guarantee that your  annual renewal premium won’t be adversely affected.
 
You may still get your ‘protected’ 60% NCD(for example) but they can, and often do, boost your Premium because of a claim. Again, some insurance companies are worse than others in this respect.

It may transpire that the repair is so expensive that making an insurance claim is a no-brainer; ___however, as the old saying goes “you pays yer money and you takes yer choice”.