My insurance paid out £1400 for a small scratch. Does a small scratch cost this ?

bengalknights

If you think that is quite a low write off value, the vehicle on below link got wrote for what is apparently a £1k scratch on a £70k  motor
https://m.facebook.com/groups/500628090105429?view=permalink&id=1660739224094304 

AdrianC

bengalknights said:

If you think that is quite a low write off value, the vehicle on below link got wrote for what is apparently a £1k scratch on a £70k  motor
https://m.facebook.com/groups/500628090105429?view=permalink&id=1660739224094304 

Read the comments on that thread.

It was actually written off due to flood damage causing "blocked air filters"... Quite why it was Cat N instead of B, I have no idea - probably human error.

It was also written off when it was "a month old", which would have been last July... Makes you wonder what's taking so long, doesn't it...?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2019-19-Mercedes-Benz-GLC-Class-4-0-GLC63-V8-BiTurbo-AMG-S-Premium-Cat-N-Salvage/324221231597

motorguy

Tiexen said:

erudders said:

Hello, direct line paid out £1400 for this small scratch. Is this scratch a £1400 scratch ? I should have taken a better picture when I rubbed my cars paint of their car. It was in a car park, I was half way out of a space when the driver went around me and scraped my car. 

If you'd gone direct to a car respray company it would probably have cost around £300

Going via insurance you have a lot of people in ths chain from the person on the phone, the one who books the repair, dealing with the other insurer paperwork, each step will add  more to the cost - then they probably put 50% markup on top + VAT

An insurance company cant just put a drop of fillers in a panel, rub it down and blend it in.  They'll have to replace the panel itself, hence why it invariably costs more.

Likewise some garage down the road might be able to save someone money sticking on a second hand bumper or door if they have an accident, but through the insurance they'll have to use all new parts, prep'd accordinly and rustproofed / sprayed to manufacturers standards.

motorguy

fred246 said:

Not been to car bodywork place for years but when I used to they always did 2 types of quote. One was for if an insurance company was paying. The other was cheaper if you were paying yourself. Scratches don't affect the ability of a car to function as a car so I often just leave them. If you are having them fixed you have to have it done intelligently. I'd rather have a less than perfect job than have my car ripped apart.

Of course - because one likely involved repairing a panel and the other involved replacing it, using a second hand panel instead of a new one, using motor factor parts instead of genuine panels or parts, or perhaps not repairing an unseen or hidden panel.  Likewise with the insurance company quote the garage likely has to factor in a hire car for the duration and waiting on the payment from the insurance company.

Also a small garage may chose to take a "cash in hand" payment thus "saving" the VAT.

motorguy

bengalknights said:

If you think that is quite a low write off value, the vehicle on below link got wrote for what is apparently a £1k scratch on a £70k  motor
https://m.facebook.com/groups/500628090105429?view=permalink&id=1660739224094304 

Flood damage not body damage.

Imagine what the electrics are going to be like over time....

Robisere

Double-skinned, no easy inner access, appears to have penetrated all paint, primer and possibly the dented metal body panel. The answer to your question is yes, it is a £1400 repair.