accident... small gouges etc, what to do?
Discussion
Yesterday we pulled over to let a tractor and baler go past us. The baler being wider than the tractor the very elderly driver didnt realise that and it caught the rear door, put a good dent into the wheel arch just below the rear door handle where the door shuts, then carried on with deep scratches along from the rear door, thru the wheel arch into the plastic bumper.
The dilemma! The car is our workhorse, we use and abuse it big time. Its a civic worth £500 on a good day.
Claim. We will probably get £500 maybe £750 if the assessor is blind. It will be a write off as it will need a new bumper for a start and the dent is 3 inches wide and 1 1/2 deep right into the main subframe. Man hours to sand. fill, etc wont be worth it.
BUT ....the other party has accepted fault. When we claim. I have heard of insurances going "Knock for knock". Whats the chances of that coz, that means OUR insurance will go up as we made a claim....or does it these days??
Buy back, still happen?? Car is perfectly driveable, just looks nasty. Nothing a rattle can cant hide, and it will still be MOTable imho.
We are looking to replace it....is this the opportunity??
The dilemma! The car is our workhorse, we use and abuse it big time. Its a civic worth £500 on a good day.
Claim. We will probably get £500 maybe £750 if the assessor is blind. It will be a write off as it will need a new bumper for a start and the dent is 3 inches wide and 1 1/2 deep right into the main subframe. Man hours to sand. fill, etc wont be worth it.
BUT ....the other party has accepted fault. When we claim. I have heard of insurances going "Knock for knock". Whats the chances of that coz, that means OUR insurance will go up as we made a claim....or does it these days??
Buy back, still happen?? Car is perfectly driveable, just looks nasty. Nothing a rattle can cant hide, and it will still be MOTable imho.
We are looking to replace it....is this the opportunity??
well, if you claim, it'll definitely be written off. you'll get a pittance back for it.
so, if you want to keep the car, i definitely wouldn't claim.
as for an opportunity to buy a newer car... well, if you claim, the insurance people will come and take the old car away for you, which will save you having to drive it to a scrap heap... and you'll have £300 in your bank account to put towards a new car.
so, if you want to keep the car, i definitely wouldn't claim.
as for an opportunity to buy a newer car... well, if you claim, the insurance people will come and take the old car away for you, which will save you having to drive it to a scrap heap... and you'll have £300 in your bank account to put towards a new car.
brillomaster said:
well, if you claim, it'll definitely be written off. you'll get a pittance back for it.
so, if you want to keep the car, i definitely wouldn't claim.
as for an opportunity to buy a newer car... well, if you claim, the insurance people will come and take the old car away for you, which will save you having to drive it to a scrap heap... and you'll have £300 in your bank account to put towards a new car.
how does the process of trying to buy it back work?so, if you want to keep the car, i definitely wouldn't claim.
as for an opportunity to buy a newer car... well, if you claim, the insurance people will come and take the old car away for you, which will save you having to drive it to a scrap heap... and you'll have £300 in your bank account to put towards a new car.
Even a non-fault claim on your insurance is a claim, and will increase your insurance premiums for years to come.
So I wouldn't go through the insurance for the low sums involved. Anything you get will be cancelled out in future insurance hikes.
You're 'supposed' to contact your insurance company if you've been involved in an accident -but we know folk don't, and you'll only lose doing so.
The other party will not want the insurance record either. I think they would bite your hand off if you said you would take £200 cash and call it a day.
That's probably your best outcome IMHO.
So I wouldn't go through the insurance for the low sums involved. Anything you get will be cancelled out in future insurance hikes.
You're 'supposed' to contact your insurance company if you've been involved in an accident -but we know folk don't, and you'll only lose doing so.
The other party will not want the insurance record either. I think they would bite your hand off if you said you would take £200 cash and call it a day.
That's probably your best outcome IMHO.
Hoofy said:
Post a pic?
If you aren't really bothered about it and don't mind it looking like a state (I know some people like even their sheds to be decent looking) then I'd probably ask the farmer to chuck you a few quid for some used parts or a spray can.
Thats the problem we have. I can rub the scratches down easy and rattle can away and ask the farmer to cough up some money. BUT he might get assy and say NO make a claim.If you aren't really bothered about it and don't mind it looking like a state (I know some people like even their sheds to be decent looking) then I'd probably ask the farmer to chuck you a few quid for some used parts or a spray can.
Guess I maybe should just call my ins and ask???
romft123 said:
Yesterday we pulled over to let a tractor and baler go past us. The baler being wider than the tractor the very elderly driver didnt realise that and it caught the rear door, put a good dent into the wheel arch just below the rear door handle where the door shuts, then carried on with deep scratches along from the rear door, thru the wheel arch into the plastic bumper.
The dilemma! The car is our workhorse, we use and abuse it big time. Its a civic worth £500 on a good day.
Claim. We will probably get £500 maybe £750 if the assessor is blind. It will be a write off as it will need a new bumper for a start and the dent is 3 inches wide and 1 1/2 deep right into the main subframe. Man hours to sand. fill, etc wont be worth it.
BUT ....the other party has accepted fault. When we claim. I have heard of insurances going "Knock for knock". Whats the chances of that coz, that means OUR insurance will go up as we made a claim....or does it these days??
Knock for knock hasn't been a thing in insurance for over 30 years, and when it was, ncb was unaffected for the innocent party.The dilemma! The car is our workhorse, we use and abuse it big time. Its a civic worth £500 on a good day.
Claim. We will probably get £500 maybe £750 if the assessor is blind. It will be a write off as it will need a new bumper for a start and the dent is 3 inches wide and 1 1/2 deep right into the main subframe. Man hours to sand. fill, etc wont be worth it.
BUT ....the other party has accepted fault. When we claim. I have heard of insurances going "Knock for knock". Whats the chances of that coz, that means OUR insurance will go up as we made a claim....or does it these days??
Alex@POD said:
romft123 said:
I can rub the scratches down easy and rattle can away
On a £500 car that you use and abuse every day (your words)? I'd just paint over so any exposed metal doesn't rust and chalk it up to one of those things that happen on country lanes...If you claim I promise you that over the next five years you'll end up paying multiples of whatever pittance you get off the insurance company in renewed premiums, insurance on a £500 car is only for damage you do to something else, not for damage done to your shed.
The most I'd do is call the chap and say chuck me £100 for paint and filler and we'll call it quits but I doubt I'd even bother with that.
bus_ter said:
Even a non-fault claim on your insurance is a claim, and will increase your insurance premiums for years to come.
So I wouldn't go through the insurance for the low sums involved. Anything you get will be cancelled out in future insurance hikes.
You're 'supposed' to contact your insurance company if you've been involved in an accident -but we know folk don't, and you'll only lose doing so.
The other party will not want the insurance record either. I think they would bite your hand off if you said you would take £200 cash and call it a day.
That's probably your best outcome IMHO.
We are going to email some pix of the damage to the old guy this aft as he is going to call us later on for a chat.....So I wouldn't go through the insurance for the low sums involved. Anything you get will be cancelled out in future insurance hikes.
You're 'supposed' to contact your insurance company if you've been involved in an accident -but we know folk don't, and you'll only lose doing so.
The other party will not want the insurance record either. I think they would bite your hand off if you said you would take £200 cash and call it a day.
That's probably your best outcome IMHO.
Aren't you supposed to notify them anyway?
As for the farmer, I'd ask him, first, and say that you were considering going through insurance but the insurance companies would roger the both of you so you thought you could save you both the hassle and money by doing it yourself if he's happy to stump up the money for spray paint. You can even link to the relevant paint on ebay/Halfords so he knows you're not taking the piss.
TBH he should be relieved he didn't do this on a brand new RR because it sounds like it would have cost £1000s to deal with plus car hire.
As for the farmer, I'd ask him, first, and say that you were considering going through insurance but the insurance companies would roger the both of you so you thought you could save you both the hassle and money by doing it yourself if he's happy to stump up the money for spray paint. You can even link to the relevant paint on ebay/Halfords so he knows you're not taking the piss.
TBH he should be relieved he didn't do this on a brand new RR because it sounds like it would have cost £1000s to deal with plus car hire.
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