Looking for side hustle advice

[BTCC_racer]

Hello,

I work as a vehicle damage assessor for an engineering company, I have around 15 years experience in the industry.
I do enjoy my job mostly, i mainly work from home most days. I'm looking to start a side business in using my skills to provide services to solicitors/ forensic, along the lines of, vehicle damage assessment, repair versus total loss analysis, pre-accident valuation, estimate validation and technical commentary, on a remote basis as this is hows its mainly done.

I've sent in 1000's of professional signed reports to insurance companies which go to there legal team/ solicitors and never had an issue. Ive also been court in the past on behalf of the insurance company, i wont say ultra experienced but I can handle and deal with most things you throw at me. Anyone here work with solicitors, insurers, forensic companies? Open to ideas on how to get this off the ground.

Thanks

[Mr Squarekins]

Not 100% sure, but isn't this along the lines of an Expert Forensic Witness? Maybe a line of enquiry/research?

[BTCC_racer]

Mr Squarekins said:

Not 100% sure, but isn't this along the lines of an Expert Forensic Witness? Maybe a line of enquiry/research?

Yes can be, on lesser claims, its more just reviewing repair estimates
/ values and raising disputes.

[andrew-6xade]

My old man used to do this and ran his own consultancy

From memory, he had the most success with NFU but also specialized in Farm Machinery (obviously) and worked closely with Caravan and mobile home insurers.

Good luck

[StevieBee]

Two things to keep in mind:

You will need to arrange your own business insurance, particularly professional indemnity. It's unlikely that you will win any business without this and even if you do, it is not advisable to operate without it.

And secondly, check your contract of employment to see if there exists any restriction on carrying out business outside of your employment.

[Gary29]

Not what you're looking for, but how does a vehicle damage assessor work mainly from home? Do you not have to be stood in front of said damaged vehicle?

[EastMidsEng]

BTCC_racer said:

Hello,

I work as a vehicle damage assessor for an engineering company, I have around 15 years experience in the industry.
I do enjoy my job mostly, i mainly work from home most days. I'm looking to start a side business in using my skills to provide services to solicitors/ forensic, along the lines of, vehicle damage assessment, repair versus total loss analysis, pre-accident valuation, estimate validation and technical commentary, on a remote basis as this is hows its mainly done.

I've sent in 1000's of professional signed reports to insurance companies which go to there legal team/ solicitors and never had an issue. Ive also been court in the past on behalf of the insurance company, i wont say ultra experienced but I can handle and deal with most things you throw at me. Anyone here work with solicitors, insurers, forensic companies? Open to ideas on how to get this off the ground.

Thanks

Are you offering the same services you get paid for by your employer or something different? Its seem's there will be atleast some over lap. I would be surprised if your employment contract doesn't allow for this. That doesn't stop you progressing with the idea but be prepared if you get called into the office.

[trickywoo]

EastMidsEng said:

Are you offering the same services you get paid for by your employer or something different? Its seem's there will be atleast some over lap. I would be surprised if your employment contract doesn't allow for this. That doesn't stop you progressing with the idea but be prepared if you get called into the office.

That was my first thought too.

The way it’s written I can’t see op’s employer being too happy if they find out.

[DSLiverpool]

Get a Wordpress site up and a Calendly then promote it

[FD1338]

[ Anyone here work with solicitors, insurers, forensic companies? Open to ideas on how to get this off the ground.]

Hi, yes, yes and yes. If you want to DM me I’ll send you my work email address and I’m happy to have a chat to see if I can offer you anything useful to get you going.

[ExBoringVolvoDriver]

trickywoo said:

EastMidsEng said:

Are you offering the same services you get paid for by your employer or something different? Its seem's there will be atleast some over lap. I would be surprised if your employment contract doesn't allow for this. That doesn't stop you progressing with the idea but be prepared if you get called into the office.

That was my first thought too.

The way it s written I can t see op s employer being too happy if they find out.

I would concur with the above. The OP should definitely check his employment contract to make doubly sure that they will not be in breach.

If not allowed for and the current employer for wind of what was happening, the OP would potentially be faced with a lot of issues which could be expensive.

[ExBoringVolvoDriver]

Gary29 said:

Not what you're looking for, but how does a vehicle damage assessor work mainly from home? Do you not have to be stood in front of said damaged vehicle?

I don’t think that is necessary these days. When my car was written off, all the assessments were undertaken remotely without a visit. The body shop who had the car prepared a very comprehensive review, with photos and iirc videos which was sufficient.

When My neighbours car was hit from behind, he didn’t even have to take it to a body shop, he had to provide a load of pictures and the assessment was made from those. MIght have been different if it had been a newer car perhaps?

[Voodoo_999]

BTCC_racer said:

Hello,

I work as a vehicle damage assessor for an engineering company, I have around 15 years experience in the industry.
I do enjoy my job mostly, i mainly work from home most days. I'm looking to start a side business in using my skills to provide services to solicitors/ forensic, along the lines of, vehicle damage assessment, repair versus total loss analysis, pre-accident valuation, estimate validation and technical commentary, on a remote basis as this is hows its mainly done.

I've sent in 1000's of professional signed reports to insurance companies which go to there legal team/ solicitors and never had an issue. Ive also been court in the past on behalf of the insurance company, i wont say ultra experienced but I can handle and deal with most things you throw at me. Anyone here work with solicitors, insurers, forensic companies? Open to ideas on how to get this off the ground.

Can't I'm afraid offer any real advice about your idea, but have you thought about Police forces too? They will have collision investigation teams that investigate serious & fatal accidents for the coroners court and that would almost certainly include your sort of work.

As an aside and without wishing to de-rail your thread, I would be interested in talking to you about your current job. I am looking at new caeer options and that crossed my mind as a possible.

If you would be willing to give me some of your time to talk about your work, that would be great

[DSLiverpool]

Again - you need a basic Wordpress site to describe and advise plus it might start to rank with good enough content. You can’t verbally explain to every interested party what you offer plus it gives depth to the venture.

[BTCC_racer]

FD1338 said:

[ Anyone here work with solicitors, insurers, forensic companies? Open to ideas on how to get this off the ground.]

Hi, yes, yes and yes. If you want to DM me I ll send you my work email address and I m happy to have a chat to see if I can offer you anything useful to get you going.

Sent you a PM.

[BTCC_racer]

StevieBee said:

Two things to keep in mind:

You will need to arrange your own business insurance, particularly professional indemnity. It's unlikely that you will win any business without this and even if you do, it is not advisable to operate without it.

And secondly, check your contract of employment to see if there exists any restriction on carrying out business outside of your employment.

Yes, i did get a quote for indemnity cover something i'll take once I get this of the ground. The employment contract does not have specific clause just a general one, as i work currently on the repair/ right off side of things hence why I want to work solicitors, forensic firms, maybe a different insurer to a point, but my experience is quite broad, my current role really involves around one insurance company so I can avoid them if push comes to shove, there is plenty of work out there. The norm in the industry is full time PAYE work, its something I want to break free from one day hence starting small.

[BTCC_racer]

ExBoringVolvoDriver said:

Gary29 said:

Not what you're looking for, but how does a vehicle damage assessor work mainly from home? Do you not have to be stood in front of said damaged vehicle?

I don t think that is necessary these days. When my car was written off, all the assessments were undertaken remotely without a visit. The body shop who had the car prepared a very comprehensive review, with photos and iirc videos which was sufficient.

When My neighbours car was hit from behind, he didn t even have to take it to a body shop, he had to provide a load of pictures and the assessment was made from those. MIght have been different if it had been a newer car perhaps?

I used to cover physical assessments, physically assessments are still carried out and viable but in certain circumstances and pay models hard to explain as i'll be here all night, essentially a good qualified assessor/ frame work we work to promotes remote assessing. Vehicle cost / margin of value against repairs / salvage value.

[BTCC_racer]

Voodoo_999 said:

Can't I'm afraid offer any real advice about your idea, but have you thought about Police forces too? They will have collision investigation teams that investigate serious & fatal accidents for the coroners court and that would almost certainly include your sort of work.

As an aside and without wishing to de-rail your thread, I would be interested in talking to you about your current job. I am looking at new caeer options and that crossed my mind as a possible.

If you would be willing to give me some of your time to talk about your work, that would be great

If your willing start of, build your experience, get your Accreditation and AQP its worth it. Id say two years minimum maybe up to 3, your best off working with a insurer as they will put you through the qualifications - plus they offer plenty of associated training, send me a message i can point you in the right direction.

[Voodoo_999]

BTCC_racer said:

If your willing start of, build your experience, get your Accreditation and AQP its worth it. Id say two years minimum maybe up to 3, your best off working with a insurer as they will put you through the qualifications - plus they offer plenty of associated training, send me a message i can point you in the right direction.

Thanks for the reply. It doesn't look like I can message you directly, as it's restricted for new members.
Don't know if you can message me first and I can then respond to your message?