Minor Accident - No Damage To My Car - What To Do?

[Hioncc]

Hello,

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Basically I have had a minor car accident, of which I was at fault, it happened at about 5mph where I was changing from a left lane to a right lane; I checked mirror but didnt correctly check my blind spot. Pulled out a bit, and my wingmirror hit the side of the car coming up on my right, scraping along the side of there larger 4x4! It was dark and couldn't see much damage, exchanged details and everything.

Anyhow, can't see any damage to my car this morning (wing mirrors are plastic and a tiny mark on there, barely visible) so obviously I won't be claiming on insurance, however this has scraped the side of their car. I offered to settle out of insurance at the time and they're going to get back to me with a cost of this. Also damage is a scuff on the footwell and something to do with a mud guard.

Anyhow, any ideas of a ball park figure, the scrape on the side is about the length of the back door but as it was at such a low speed it is most likely only top paint damage.

So yeah just looking at what sort of price any of you more knowledgeable people would estimate as damage costs.

Regards

[carmonk]

Depends on the other party and the actual damage. If they're OK with a machine polish then maybe £150. A door respray may be double that to blend it in, or they could decide the whole thing needs respraying. See what they say. Let's hope they don't jump on the claims bandwagon or your insurance will end up paying for five cases of whiplash and car hire for six months.

[Adam205]

Why do you want to settle outside of the insurance company? Its a big risk and can be a lot of hassle for very little gain. You still have to declare the accident to your insurance company even if you dont use them, and your premium will increase to reflect anyway. It's much much easier just to pass the details to your insurance company and let them deal with it all, that is after all what you pay them for.

[Hioncc]

Thanks for the replies.

Another question, if they claim against me but I make no claim then what happens in terms of NCB? We are both ironically, with the same insurer.

Regards

[carmonk]

If it's not protected you'll lose some or all of it, which could be very costly depending on your circumstance.

[davepoth]

It'll be two years NCB lost per claim.

[Classic Grad 98]

If it needs strip, paint and re-fit in two panels, which is what I'm assuming, the cost could be as much as £600. You've done the same thing I would've done in trying to settle up without involving insurance, but I think if paint is required it'll be too much.

[Hioncc]

Yeah,

I'm only young myself, having only 1 years NCB at the moment (would've been 2 in March) so will lose that. We shall see when the quote comes back, but i'm almost certain no paint was taken off (as it would be on my wingmirror which it isn't) and don't think there's any dents as such as it was at such a low speed. More probable just a small amount of plastic from the wingmirror has made a mark on the side of the car (it's black by the way if that changes anything).

£600 does seem quite a lot, not sure in what circumstances panels would need to be replaced etc.

Regards

[carmonk]

I think he means taking the panels off to spray them? I guess it depends on the car and the paint. Sometimes you can't just respray a single panel because you can't get the match so it's best to blend the colour in or respray the entire side (which is what happened to mine once).

[Classic Grad 98]

My dad owns a fairly large bodyshop which does about 95% insurance work. The quality of the work in it's every aspect has to be top notch and they are bound by a hoarde of quality standards and procedures and approvals, so the overheads are massive. It is expensive to the point that you're looking at £300 minimum to respray and blend a door for example...

[Classic Grad 98]

Kind of forgot to make a point there! Basically a shop that does mostly retail work and doesn't have to jump through so many hoops could do it a fair bit cheaper. Insurance approved repair is pricy...

[Hioncc]

Thanks again for the replies.

I am more than happy to pay an amount as long as it's not excessive for the repairs. Was just trying to get a ball park figure in mind so I know if it sounds about right or not.

Regards