Good news and bad news
Discussion
The good news is I picked up my brand spanking new Starlight black Elise S a week last Saturday.
The bad news is last Saturday an idiot reversed into it while I was waiting to leave a supermarket car park.
As luck (?) would have it the worst of the mark has polished out leaving a few scratches in an area the size of my thumb. I has hoping the guy would cough a few quid to put it right without having to go through the insurers, but no luck.
Here's the question:
Given the relatively slight remaining mark, should I ....
let it go, as going through the insurance could prejudice my next premium even though it's not my fault (the tw&ts took the opportunity to stiff me for £150 on the change over) and it's going to pain to have the car off the road while it's assessed and eventually fixed ?
or
Call my insurance right now and get it sorted ?
The bad news is last Saturday an idiot reversed into it while I was waiting to leave a supermarket car park.
As luck (?) would have it the worst of the mark has polished out leaving a few scratches in an area the size of my thumb. I has hoping the guy would cough a few quid to put it right without having to go through the insurers, but no luck.
Here's the question:
Given the relatively slight remaining mark, should I ....
let it go, as going through the insurance could prejudice my next premium even though it's not my fault (the tw&ts took the opportunity to stiff me for £150 on the change over) and it's going to pain to have the car off the road while it's assessed and eventually fixed ?
or
Call my insurance right now and get it sorted ?
Nail this tw@t. He was idiot enough to reverse into you, you were gentleman enough to try and sort it amicably. He doesnt want to then take it to the best body shop and get the car sorted as new. Starlight black would be a sod to match so get the whole clam done.
You have tried being nice, so get you P&J right.
You have tried being nice, so get you P&J right.
I know how you feel.
I had a cyclist undertake me when I was turning right (about 5mph, indicator etc) and ploughed into the rear quarter of my car.. Didn't appear to be any significant damage uintil the next time I washed the car and then discovered that his pedal had gouged out a 3" groove near the real wheel arch.
Obviously didn't have his details as he rode off probably too embarrassed to stick around and worried that he had probably damaged my car.. which of course he had.
What do you do ? Get on with life. My fault or not, there's worse that can happen at sea and in your case a few stone chips may soon make these marks insignificant.
I had a cyclist undertake me when I was turning right (about 5mph, indicator etc) and ploughed into the rear quarter of my car.. Didn't appear to be any significant damage uintil the next time I washed the car and then discovered that his pedal had gouged out a 3" groove near the real wheel arch.
Obviously didn't have his details as he rode off probably too embarrassed to stick around and worried that he had probably damaged my car.. which of course he had.
What do you do ? Get on with life. My fault or not, there's worse that can happen at sea and in your case a few stone chips may soon make these marks insignificant.
S Works said:
Beware of small knocks that appear to polish out first of all. Gelcoat has a nasty habit of revealing 'spiderweb' cracks a while after a bump. If you have his details, claim for a proper repair via his insurance or ask him to pay cash. Don't prejudice your own.
what he said, have it done properly otherwise it will niggle you forever I can appreciate your extra annoyance...after all, this was a brand new car and there is quite a massive difference psychologically, looking at your own ( unavoidable ) stone chips as against the ( should be avoidable ) markings of an idiot.
Claming on your insurance may be an automatic no-go because of an excess. Have you checked?
If you have no excess, then you will only retain your NCD if they ( your insurers )get their money back. If they do not, the loss of NCD and hiked premiums will cost you, on average, 1000 pounds - quite easily more.
You will also have a record and need to quote this 'accident or claim' for ages. ( It shouldn't cause worry, but some insurers will not quote people with 3 accidents, as they deem you accident prone or a liar/whinger/money maker ).
I'd try to get him to pay some cash. Make it sound like you are doing a deal ( or better still, make him feel he is doing the deal ) by pretending the cost is 300 quid, but 100 will do to end it....otherwise you will have to go to court.
Small claims courts used to charge 50 quid and you will win...so long as you have a witness!!!
Otherwise all you can do is as above...go easy, play to his thickness and ego, and try to get the money back.
Do not use your insurers unless you are 100% they will get all monies back.
Claming on your insurance may be an automatic no-go because of an excess. Have you checked?
If you have no excess, then you will only retain your NCD if they ( your insurers )get their money back. If they do not, the loss of NCD and hiked premiums will cost you, on average, 1000 pounds - quite easily more.
You will also have a record and need to quote this 'accident or claim' for ages. ( It shouldn't cause worry, but some insurers will not quote people with 3 accidents, as they deem you accident prone or a liar/whinger/money maker ).
I'd try to get him to pay some cash. Make it sound like you are doing a deal ( or better still, make him feel he is doing the deal ) by pretending the cost is 300 quid, but 100 will do to end it....otherwise you will have to go to court.
Small claims courts used to charge 50 quid and you will win...so long as you have a witness!!!
Otherwise all you can do is as above...go easy, play to his thickness and ego, and try to get the money back.
Do not use your insurers unless you are 100% they will get all monies back.
Cheers Guys. All much appreciated.
The guy suggested that he might sort it out with cash but after checking with a couple of painters (franchised / indy,) the cost was looking at around £180 which seemed fair for a phone estimate.
Anyway, he balked at this but he then suggested I get it fixed and he would pay up afterwards. Obviously this is a no go so I took his insurance details.
The way this is going I'm concerned that if I do claim he'll contest it and I'll be stuck with a load of hassle with the insurers. This is the second 'no fault' parking incident in a couple of years and I'm concerned that because they all have to be declared future premiums will suffer
I'll check the clam shell over at we weekend to ensure there are no cracks and I expect I'll put it down to experience.
Oddly, my previous new Elise suffered a similar thing within a week. But it was a girl who was driving
The guy suggested that he might sort it out with cash but after checking with a couple of painters (franchised / indy,) the cost was looking at around £180 which seemed fair for a phone estimate.
Anyway, he balked at this but he then suggested I get it fixed and he would pay up afterwards. Obviously this is a no go so I took his insurance details.
The way this is going I'm concerned that if I do claim he'll contest it and I'll be stuck with a load of hassle with the insurers. This is the second 'no fault' parking incident in a couple of years and I'm concerned that because they all have to be declared future premiums will suffer
I'll check the clam shell over at we weekend to ensure there are no cracks and I expect I'll put it down to experience.
Oddly, my previous new Elise suffered a similar thing within a week. But it was a girl who was driving
david@mediacopy" Target="_blank">class="forumQuoter">david@mediacopy said:
The way this is going I'm concerned that if I do claim he'll contest it and I'll be stuck with a load of hassle with the insurers. This is the second 'no fault' parking incident in a couple of years and I'm concerned that because they all have to be declared future premiums will suffer
I'll check the clam shell over at we weekend to ensure there are no cracks and I expect I'll put it down to experience.
It can take a few frosts for the gel coat to suffer and show the full damage. Go to the body shop and get it sorted properly.I'll check the clam shell over at we weekend to ensure there are no cracks and I expect I'll put it down to experience.
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