Big, Bad Door Dent

[mikeg996]

Somebody decided to drive into my car last night, and of course they disappeared without leaving their insurance details.

I'll probably claim on my insurance, I might as well put it to some use. Do I go and get a quote beforehand then call the insurance co., or do I call them first and then go to the place they recommend? I'd rather it went to a place with experience in dealing with Porsches.

[wildoliver]

My advice in this case is depending on the damage take the door to a body shop and get them to do it for you, or keep an eye out for a replacement door on ebay they go fairly cheap assuming the damage is really bad, to lose no claims and the natural increase in premium next year would end up costing more.

[Pickled Piper]

Try and get an idea from a bodyshop how much it would be to repair without going through your insurance. If you decide it is too much and you want to go through your insurance the choose your repairer and make the claim. The insurance Co and body shop will often liase directly. The inurance co may try and imply that you have to use their specified repairer but they can not insist that you do.

Good luck.

pp

[drcarrera]

If you do end up going through insurance I'd get it done at an approved Porsche bodyshop. You can insist that the work is carried out there due to the need to maintain the bodywork warrantee (I've done this twice, despite the insurance company initially saying I had to take it to the bodyshop they chose).
AFAIK all Porsche approved shops are registered to carry out work with most of the insurance companies anyway ...

[mikeg996]

I have protected no-claims bonus, so wouldn't lose that. I suspect the damage is more than the £250 excess. It cost me more than that to get a door mirror replaced on my old BMW, so putting a whole new door on is going to hurt my wallet.

I'll give the insurance co. a shout now.

[zcacogp]

mikeg996 said:

I'll give the insurance co. a shout now.

WHOAH THERE!

Scene 1:

Mikeg996: "Hello Mr Insurance Company, my car is damaged, I'm thinking of claiming, but may not. What are the consequences. No, I don't know how much it will cost to repair, I haven't had a quote."

Scene 2:


FoleyActor: <Makes sound effect something like a toilet being flushed, to signify the loss of any hope of a discount next year, as the insurance company know for sure that you have damaged a car in the last 5 years and assume that it was an RTA.>

--- The End ---


Oli.

[wrn]

mikeg996 said:

I have protected no-claims bonus, so wouldn't lose that. I suspect the damage is more than the £250 excess. It cost me more than that to get a door mirror replaced on my old BMW, so putting a whole new door on is going to hurt my wallet.

I'll give the insurance co. a shout now.

Protected no claims bonus - hhhmmmm, worth the paper its written on? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Insuring insurance sounds like an industry scam to me. I see that some companies now offer 'guaranteed no claims' on top of 'protected no claims' - which means that your premium is (allegedly) protected against unlimited claims. That equates to insuring the insurance on your insurance. Nice little earner.

In any case - if you phone for a quote from a new insurance company and you have already claimed then you quote is likely to be higher, regardless of protection.

That said, I protect mine! But I'm a mug.

[mikeg996]

I had a fiddle about with an online quote generator, to see how much the premium would be affected. Interestingly, if I put myself as the person who "had" the accident, the premium goes up 20%. If I put the wife it doesn't go up at all.

I'm almost certainly going to have to claim, the bodyshop chap says that it will probably need a new door, which means respraying the whole side of the car...probably going to be more than the increase on the insurance, unless the insurance goes up £2k :-)

Will know more after the quote next week. Gutted, though

[koenig999]

Wife had car window smashed a few weeks ago, no problem, protected maximum no-claims dicount we were told.

Come renewal time last week, original insurers declines to quote now - she has an accident record!

Lowest new quote was 17% more.

percentage might stay the same, but the new quotes will go up

Koenig

[jonny996]

I take it, a windscreen replacement wont affect ones premium

[jac-in-a-box]

Protected NCB - bit of a con really.

Yes you'll keep your 65% NCD but that will be applied to a heavily loaded base premium. Go check the repair costs first without speaking to the insurers. Slightest hint that you've had some sort of damage will incur some sort of additional loading at next renewal.

[ballcock]

jonny996 said:

I take it, a windscreen replacement wont affect ones premium

It shouldn't do Jonny .. But check with insurers anyway! .. It's about the only thing you can get done (That I know of..) that neither affects your ncb or goes on your record as a claim if you decide to change insurance companies...