Discussion
Been an expensive week so far. Monday was monies and quotes concerning day one of buying a house, plus it peed down with rain all day.
Yesterday was a lovely sunny day so in order to save money and take the little 4 month old Mazda for a spin, I decided to return my wrong prescription glasses to the factory in Amersham by hand.
Oh how I now regret that
Funny thing is I'm normally naughty in the 2 seater but I didn't go crazy on that bit of the M3 from Sunbury to the M25 junction.
Enjoyed sitting at the limit and then the 60mph limits, followed by the 40mph limits.
A mile from the turning west on the M4 junction there were queues of almost static traffic, and I dutifully joined.
Normally I would keep going and try to nip in, but today I was being good.
At one point I went to change lanes and indicated until some one actually stopped to let me out.
I waved thanks, turned the wheel and Bang!! WTF.
My passenger side front collided with the driver side rear of an old Golf that had suddenly stopped just as I moved.
(I know I'm at fault)
We pulled over and exchanged details. His plastic bumper was cracked, but the rest of it was so blistered through sun damage, it may have been already like that.
But as the little Mazda is so low the damage was pretty mega to mine. Unbelievable for such a low speed shunt.
My first car accident in over 30 years
Headlight glass smashed and gone, bonnet crumpled, left wing in a bad state and moved back a few millimetres so that the passenger door won't open, and the bumper hanging off and cracked badly.
I continued my journey thinking about having to travel to Holland this weekend to look after my old mum, who's had a few falls.
I'll cover the headlight area in clear plastic as the actual DRL and headlamp are still working, I thought, and hope I don't get pulled either here or in Holland.
But once off the motorway there was a scraping noise whenever I had to turn right.
I stopped to get a better look and the wheel arch liner was detached and touching the tyre.
I then called Mazda Assistance.
They were great, had a truck with me within an hour, and the driver dropped me off at Taplow station so I could get home.
Car will be taken to an Approved Mazda body shop near me today.
But I guess it'll take time to repair and have been warned about global lack of parts.
My excess is £1100 and as I've opted for Mazda to sort, I have to pay my insurer another £500 excess on top. Bugger.
So much for saving the £10 postage for sending my glasses to the factory
And I can't get a refund for the ferry crossing this weekend. I could have reverted to being a foot passenger but then there's getting a train from SW London to Harwich early enough to be on the day ferry. Plus the cost of the train
So I've stumped up for a flight. More cash but a damn sight more convenient.
Not sure how the next few weeks will turn out as the new house is a 160 mile round trip. An hour and a half each way but 4 hours each way on public transport.
Plus my insurance will rocket and stay high for 5 years
Decades of no claims gone and as I've gone with Mazda for the repairs and not to have any warranty problems, my insurer, Aviva, won't give me a hire car despite dumping another £500 on top of my already high excess.
Ho hum....
Yesterday was a lovely sunny day so in order to save money and take the little 4 month old Mazda for a spin, I decided to return my wrong prescription glasses to the factory in Amersham by hand.
Oh how I now regret that
Funny thing is I'm normally naughty in the 2 seater but I didn't go crazy on that bit of the M3 from Sunbury to the M25 junction.
Enjoyed sitting at the limit and then the 60mph limits, followed by the 40mph limits.
A mile from the turning west on the M4 junction there were queues of almost static traffic, and I dutifully joined.
Normally I would keep going and try to nip in, but today I was being good.
At one point I went to change lanes and indicated until some one actually stopped to let me out.
I waved thanks, turned the wheel and Bang!! WTF.
My passenger side front collided with the driver side rear of an old Golf that had suddenly stopped just as I moved.
(I know I'm at fault)
We pulled over and exchanged details. His plastic bumper was cracked, but the rest of it was so blistered through sun damage, it may have been already like that.
But as the little Mazda is so low the damage was pretty mega to mine. Unbelievable for such a low speed shunt.
My first car accident in over 30 years
Headlight glass smashed and gone, bonnet crumpled, left wing in a bad state and moved back a few millimetres so that the passenger door won't open, and the bumper hanging off and cracked badly.
I continued my journey thinking about having to travel to Holland this weekend to look after my old mum, who's had a few falls.
I'll cover the headlight area in clear plastic as the actual DRL and headlamp are still working, I thought, and hope I don't get pulled either here or in Holland.
But once off the motorway there was a scraping noise whenever I had to turn right.
I stopped to get a better look and the wheel arch liner was detached and touching the tyre.
I then called Mazda Assistance.
They were great, had a truck with me within an hour, and the driver dropped me off at Taplow station so I could get home.
Car will be taken to an Approved Mazda body shop near me today.
But I guess it'll take time to repair and have been warned about global lack of parts.
My excess is £1100 and as I've opted for Mazda to sort, I have to pay my insurer another £500 excess on top. Bugger.
So much for saving the £10 postage for sending my glasses to the factory
And I can't get a refund for the ferry crossing this weekend. I could have reverted to being a foot passenger but then there's getting a train from SW London to Harwich early enough to be on the day ferry. Plus the cost of the train
So I've stumped up for a flight. More cash but a damn sight more convenient.
Not sure how the next few weeks will turn out as the new house is a 160 mile round trip. An hour and a half each way but 4 hours each way on public transport.
Plus my insurance will rocket and stay high for 5 years
Decades of no claims gone and as I've gone with Mazda for the repairs and not to have any warranty problems, my insurer, Aviva, won't give me a hire car despite dumping another £500 on top of my already high excess.
Ho hum....
Edited by croyde on Wednesday 28th October 09:09
You won't lose all your NCD. It'll be in your insurance documents somewhere how many years you will revert to, I'm fairly sure it is a requirement.
It's the claim itself that will have a larger effect, having to declare it will raise the premium it starts at before any NCD is applied anyway. I have protected it on one of my cars; I wrote a 2003 Mini Cooper off last year on a separate, unaffected policy, and it still went up about 15%. My commiserations, I have a low mileage MX5 NC (I see yours is ND so will be repaired) and I'd be gutted if it got mashed, in fact they'd more likely write it off for quite a small shunt.
It's the claim itself that will have a larger effect, having to declare it will raise the premium it starts at before any NCD is applied anyway. I have protected it on one of my cars; I wrote a 2003 Mini Cooper off last year on a separate, unaffected policy, and it still went up about 15%. My commiserations, I have a low mileage MX5 NC (I see yours is ND so will be repaired) and I'd be gutted if it got mashed, in fact they'd more likely write it off for quite a small shunt.
Ah, sorry to read this chap.
On the hire car - tbh that's probably for the best? I was incensed at the rates charged for a s
tty little hatchback when my mx5 was involved in a (non fault) accident.
Add those fees to the claim, and the 'how much was the claim for' will go through the roof, compounding any future insurance rises?
On the hire car - tbh that's probably for the best? I was incensed at the rates charged for a s
tty little hatchback when my mx5 was involved in a (non fault) accident.Add those fees to the claim, and the 'how much was the claim for' will go through the roof, compounding any future insurance rises?
Yeah as mentioned. You won't lose no claims. You will however have to pay higher premiums on your insurance for the next 5 years or so disclosing the accident and the total cost of the repairs. This in turn will unfortunately likely inflate your excess too...
Silver lining is that you are not physically hurt, but I along with others feel you pain. Keep your chin up dude.
Silver lining is that you are not physically hurt, but I along with others feel you pain. Keep your chin up dude.
If you'd had the correct glasses, you might have seen the other car 
As usual with threads like these we have several posts that "your insurance WILL go up for several years!!!" posts, which is absolutely not a fact.
It might, it might not. Mine didn't, and plenty of people have commented other similar threads confirming that theirs didn't either.
As usual with threads like these we have several posts that "your insurance WILL go up for several years!!!" posts, which is absolutely not a fact.
It might, it might not. Mine didn't, and plenty of people have commented other similar threads confirming that theirs didn't either.
My sympathies. I too had an accident in my MX5 last year with my 90 year old mum in the passenger seat - a council lorry ran up the back of me at some temporary traffic lights. Wrecked the rear bumper and damaged the wiring loom.
It felt like the end of the world at the time, however it was relatively easily dealt with through the insurance and I didn't lose my £600 excess. My insurance with Admiral did increase, however changing insurer brought it down to the same level as before; this is after telling the new insurer of the accident.
Anyway, don't despair, this too shall pass.
It felt like the end of the world at the time, however it was relatively easily dealt with through the insurance and I didn't lose my £600 excess. My insurance with Admiral did increase, however changing insurer brought it down to the same level as before; this is after telling the new insurer of the accident.
Anyway, don't despair, this too shall pass.
croyde said:
Thanks all 
Good news is that my Tax Free Lump Sum turned up in my bank account last night.
It's all needed for the house purchase but as it's just sitting there for the moment, it's tempting to just go out and buy a Lotus Emira V6
Sorry to hear of your woes. To be honest, buying a cheap second hand car and then re-selling at the same price when you get your car back might not be a bad idea, especially with all the things you have going on! Maybe even a second hand van to help with the move and then sell it when you’re done.Good news is that my Tax Free Lump Sum turned up in my bank account last night.
It's all needed for the house purchase but as it's just sitting there for the moment, it's tempting to just go out and buy a Lotus Emira V6
Just to chirp in re courtesy car, I too have always tended to go to the main dealer bodyshop rather than the insurer's preferred bodyshop and whilst the insurer hasn't given me a courtesy car, the bodyshop always has as they usually maintain a fleet of them and the cost is built into their fees charged back to the insurers.
Worth asking if they'll cover it for you, they're getting the business.
Worth asking if they'll cover it for you, they're getting the business.
Neil-nvaua said:
Just to chirp in re courtesy car, I too have always tended to go to the main dealer bodyshop rather than the insurer's preferred bodyshop and whilst the insurer hasn't given me a courtesy car, the bodyshop always has as they usually maintain a fleet of them and the cost is built into their fees charged back to the insurers.
Worth asking if they'll cover it for you, they're getting the business.
This has been my experience too. It won’t be a like for like car but a base model super-mini, but who cares, it’s get you about. Definitely ask the question. Worth asking if they'll cover it for you, they're getting the business.
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