Youngsters first car damage - worth claiming on insurance?
Discussion
Hi, looking for advice from anyone with experience of a youngster claiming on car insurance and the impact on next renewals.
Eldest stepdaughter, age 20, hit a deer earlier this evening at about 55mph so a good clout. All reported etc and was able to drive home. No car warning lights and tyres/wheels all OK but lower front corner has taken a right smack cosmetically.
Having got under the car she will need a new (body coloured) bumper (one big piece all across front) new undertray, new wheel arch liner, new fog light housing along with clips etc etc.
Car is a 2017 Qashqai worth about 9k bought last year. Her second car having started with a Fiesta at age 17 and did 30k miles in that due to driving for work. Car needed daily for work.
This was only this evening, and tomorrow I'm manic with work from early so going to try and get our local garage to take a look on Tuesday up on their ramp but from my crawling underneath with a torch earlier it looks like no damage to any mechanicals.
However, with the big plastic body coloured bumper I'm wondering how much this will cost to replace and if worth getting the insurer involved or if that will really knacker her for future renewals.
Basically I'm asking if anyone has any experience of a 20 year old or similar claiming on their insurance for what would be classed as a a fault claim and the impact of this?
Cheers for any help or suggestions. Having had a quick look online I know you can get second hand bumpers etc on the 'bay of E' but most seem damaged and need spraying anyway and also the option of pattern parts but that's not something I would deal with myself. Want to maintain value of the car but also don't want to spend what a main dealer would likely charge to just replace everything on a 9k total value car. Also need fixed quickly to keep her mobile. Cars - grr!
Eldest stepdaughter, age 20, hit a deer earlier this evening at about 55mph so a good clout. All reported etc and was able to drive home. No car warning lights and tyres/wheels all OK but lower front corner has taken a right smack cosmetically.
Having got under the car she will need a new (body coloured) bumper (one big piece all across front) new undertray, new wheel arch liner, new fog light housing along with clips etc etc.
Car is a 2017 Qashqai worth about 9k bought last year. Her second car having started with a Fiesta at age 17 and did 30k miles in that due to driving for work. Car needed daily for work.
This was only this evening, and tomorrow I'm manic with work from early so going to try and get our local garage to take a look on Tuesday up on their ramp but from my crawling underneath with a torch earlier it looks like no damage to any mechanicals.
However, with the big plastic body coloured bumper I'm wondering how much this will cost to replace and if worth getting the insurer involved or if that will really knacker her for future renewals.
Basically I'm asking if anyone has any experience of a 20 year old or similar claiming on their insurance for what would be classed as a a fault claim and the impact of this?
Cheers for any help or suggestions. Having had a quick look online I know you can get second hand bumpers etc on the 'bay of E' but most seem damaged and need spraying anyway and also the option of pattern parts but that's not something I would deal with myself. Want to maintain value of the car but also don't want to spend what a main dealer would likely charge to just replace everything on a 9k total value car. Also need fixed quickly to keep her mobile. Cars - grr!
Silvanus said:
I hit a deer last year, very similar sounding incident with similar damage. I was initially looking at fixing myself but I started noticing more problems. Got a trusted garage to do a quote and was going to cost thousands so in the end I reluctantly went through my insurance.
Thanks for the reply. I'm thinking the same that until it's up on a ramp I'm only guessing.Worth having a look on a ramp, but very likely one for insurance. Costs mount up very quickly. If you could get a matching bumper off a breakers yard and fit it yourself, possibly. Future premiums, it’s hard to say with any certainty. and will also depend on how much no claims bonus etc.
Had a sofa play with dummy quotes from a comparison site and doesn't seem to make a huge difference from initial results (she has 2 years NCD currently and wouldn't be 3 until November), with me trying with a claim and zero NCD versus current no claim and 2 years NCD which is surprising. Will see what my friendly local garage owner suggests when I can get him to put it up on his ramp and take a look.
ncjones said:
Worth having a look on a ramp, but very likely one for insurance. Costs mount up very quickly. If you could get a matching bumper off a breakers yard and fit it yourself, possibly. Future premiums, it’s hard to say with any certainty. and will also depend on how much no claims bonus etc.
For me it was an insurance job as it caused a lot more damage than I thought. As well as bumpers and linings it damaged Lighting, electrics, cooling and fuel system. When I priced up parts alone, it was thousands.I'll stick my neck out and suggest it needs properly assessed to ascertain exactly how much damage has bene done and then decide how far you want to take it... ie, will broken bits of plastic glue back together and hide stuff underneath thus who'll be any the wiser? Or do you want to repair it to factory standards, in which case it may get dear. Parts availability may cause delays too, so can it be made usable until the parts are sourced then get it sorted in a couple of days?
There's a slight chance, maybe... that the insurers may end up declaring a total loss if there's more damage found / parts are dear / back order etc plus factor in replacement car costs etc etc so whilst it's maybe still an £8k car, repair cost at pro level can rapidly start to reach the tipping point. Hence my suggestion would be a proper appraisal outwith any insurance involvement first then decide how you want to proceed.
There's a slight chance, maybe... that the insurers may end up declaring a total loss if there's more damage found / parts are dear / back order etc plus factor in replacement car costs etc etc so whilst it's maybe still an £8k car, repair cost at pro level can rapidly start to reach the tipping point. Hence my suggestion would be a proper appraisal outwith any insurance involvement first then decide how you want to proceed.
Davie said:
in which case it may get dear.
ISWYDTI've had two deer strikes, one on the Isle of Skye when in a Volvo and one in a 306, near the Cluanie Dam.
I repaired the Volvo one with s/h wing and bonnet, the Peugeot was repaired by a garage in Inverness as I needed a car quickly, Looked OK from a distace but the paint finish never quite matched an eventually I bought a s/h bonnet in the right colour and replaced the one the garage had done.
IIWY, I'd be looking for s/h panels on ebay etc. Cheaper repair and as someone earlier said, you'll be paying (lots) more for at least 5 years.
We have had to get two looks for damage.
Once when someone drive into my wife’s 208 GTI and dented and scraped the real passenger panel. To fix was quoted ~£2k. Other driver was a complete nutter waffling about his mum dying and mental distress we causing him, so he changed his story and was going 50/50 so we didn’t claim. At the time we were waiting on her new car so just took the hit trading in.
Last year randomly hit a sea gull that punched clean through the bumper. My wife claimed under her name and id says it doubled her insurance at 27. Quoted privately were nuts again.
I’d advise getting a few quotes and taking it from there. I’d only claim on the insurance as a last resort.
Once when someone drive into my wife’s 208 GTI and dented and scraped the real passenger panel. To fix was quoted ~£2k. Other driver was a complete nutter waffling about his mum dying and mental distress we causing him, so he changed his story and was going 50/50 so we didn’t claim. At the time we were waiting on her new car so just took the hit trading in.
Last year randomly hit a sea gull that punched clean through the bumper. My wife claimed under her name and id says it doubled her insurance at 27. Quoted privately were nuts again.
I’d advise getting a few quotes and taking it from there. I’d only claim on the insurance as a last resort.
I'm contemplating hitting anything at 55mph, that's a lot of kinetic energy. Of course it might be a glancing blow, but I'd definitely make sure you have a really good idea of what needs fixing before deciding.
For me it feels really like an insurance claim. You should be telling them anyway, so any increased premium from being a greater risk than before will be due. Then there is the NCB and excess of a claim to consider. I bet the repairs are a lot more than that.
Obviously if you are DIY'ing with used parts and rattle cans, then the sums are different.
For me it feels really like an insurance claim. You should be telling them anyway, so any increased premium from being a greater risk than before will be due. Then there is the NCB and excess of a claim to consider. I bet the repairs are a lot more than that.
Obviously if you are DIY'ing with used parts and rattle cans, then the sums are different.
Mate of my son - first car (2018 VW Polo) and only been driving around 12 months - arse ended another car that was waiting to turn right.
His VW was a write off but I’m not sure on the other car.
His next renewal (on a Mini he bought with the payout) was only around £200 more expensive than the previous year on the Polo.
Possible the Mini would have been cheaper to insure anyway, but I’d have expected a massive loading on his policy.
His VW was a write off but I’m not sure on the other car.
His next renewal (on a Mini he bought with the payout) was only around £200 more expensive than the previous year on the Polo.
Possible the Mini would have been cheaper to insure anyway, but I’d have expected a massive loading on his policy.
BertBert said:
I'm contemplating hitting anything at 55mph, that's a lot of kinetic energy. Of course it might be a glancing blow, but I'd definitely make sure you have a really good idea of what needs fixing before deciding.
For me it feels really like an insurance claim. You should be telling them anyway, so any increased premium from being a greater risk than before will be due. Then there is the NCB and excess of a claim to consider. I bet the repairs are a lot more than that.
Obviously if you are DIY'ing with used parts and rattle cans, then the sums are different.
Why should you be telling them anyway? If all repaired DIY and no possibility of a TP claim then it is none of the insurance company’s business. For me it feels really like an insurance claim. You should be telling them anyway, so any increased premium from being a greater risk than before will be due. Then there is the NCB and excess of a claim to consider. I bet the repairs are a lot more than that.
Obviously if you are DIY'ing with used parts and rattle cans, then the sums are different.
I’m always baffled by the idea that some people out there report absolutely everything to their insurers. In fact I don’t really believe it. Supermarket trolley dint on new car? get dent devils round and then ‘own up’ to the insurers? Scrape old car on garage door, phone the insurers before getting the colour pen out? Broken pane in greenhouse, replace it then ring the house insurers?
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