(Fairly heavy) car park bump - insurance not involved yet!
Discussion
First time poster - long time lurker.
My old Civic banger's been clobbered by a colleague in our work office car park.
It's a granny spec 2003 Civic that I'm using as my turbo charged MX5 is too pricey to do 100 miles a day in. Book value is probably well less than £1,000 but is has <45,000 miles, new Pirelli verdes, new brakes all round and does almost 50mpg.
Fortunately, my colleague has already written off a 67 plate Mini AND done a big claim on her new E class coupe cab this year (!) and is keen to avoid another insurance claim.
I suspect my car would just be written off by her insurance company and I'd get a check for about £500 and see my own insurance hit a bit too. That's not an option, I think.
I've been to a few bodyshops:
- dealer approved initial guess: £1,500+ (lol)
- private bodyshop, does classics: £700 + VAT
- local small garage to do a "good enough job, make it a bit more presentable" - min £400
I'm inclined to just say to my colleague "give me £250, it's not worth me repairing it - and we'll leave it at that".
Am I missing anything?!
My old Civic banger's been clobbered by a colleague in our work office car park.
It's a granny spec 2003 Civic that I'm using as my turbo charged MX5 is too pricey to do 100 miles a day in. Book value is probably well less than £1,000 but is has <45,000 miles, new Pirelli verdes, new brakes all round and does almost 50mpg.
Fortunately, my colleague has already written off a 67 plate Mini AND done a big claim on her new E class coupe cab this year (!) and is keen to avoid another insurance claim.
I suspect my car would just be written off by her insurance company and I'd get a check for about £500 and see my own insurance hit a bit too. That's not an option, I think.
I've been to a few bodyshops:
- dealer approved initial guess: £1,500+ (lol)
- private bodyshop, does classics: £700 + VAT
- local small garage to do a "good enough job, make it a bit more presentable" - min £400
I'm inclined to just say to my colleague "give me £250, it's not worth me repairing it - and we'll leave it at that".
Am I missing anything?!
Jag_NE said:
Get the car fixed. Taking any amount of cash and not spending it on the car looks like you are profiteering from the situation.
Good point that I had considered. I have half an eye on my colleague (who already tried to get away with not reporting hitting my car) trying to pull a fast one and giving me nothing at all. Keen to avoid telling her a cost that will make her uncooperative, or even worse, make her decide it IS better to put my car through a car insurance claim, which will leave me much worse off.Zetec-S said:
Why not buy it back from the insurance company?
Also, a quick look online suggests the asking price for a 2003(ish) Civic with less than 50k would be around £1500, so I'd be pushing for more than a £500 settlement fee if you did go down that route.
Thanks for your thoughts - had considered that too. It would then be cat D, and putting a cat D insurance car on my policy is just too painful for me to go through with. Already have three cars on my policy, so I'm much more concerned with avoiding insurance altogether than most, I suspect! Also, as a cat D it'll still be worth much less (probably less than if I just left it as it is!).Also, a quick look online suggests the asking price for a 2003(ish) Civic with less than 50k would be around £1500, so I'd be pushing for more than a £500 settlement fee if you did go down that route.
As for the value, I too had initially thought £1250 but I checked the book values on Glass etc, and they say c600-700.
ElectricPics said:
If your insurance is hit you can claim from her insurer for any rise in premiums caused directly by this incident. Most people don't do this and her insurer will almost certainly wriggle a great deal and try to fob you off but ultimately they'll pay up to avoid becoming liable to satisfy a judgement if you sued her for your future losses. If you have legal protection and/or uninsured loss recovery they can do this for you.
That is really useful - didn't know that! Thanksanothernameitist said:
Ask her what her excess is and then go above that figure and keep the car as is.
i did this with my old car that I bumped into a dwarf wall.
To make it look more presentable get some wet dry paper, can of undercoat, top coat and lacquer
All for less than £50 to " make it look presentable"
Thanks mate - this is what I'm thinking. Need to keep in mind that she now has an E-class coupe with about £1,500 worth of damage too though! i did this with my old car that I bumped into a dwarf wall.
To make it look more presentable get some wet dry paper, can of undercoat, top coat and lacquer
All for less than £50 to " make it look presentable"
Suspect writing off a new Mini and claiming twice on an E-class in less than six months could make her insurance pretty painful next year...
strain said:
I Would expect my bodyshop guy to repair that for £300-400, I would hit her with a £500 bill, get it fixed and have a few quid in my pocket for pain and suffering!
Haha! Where are you based - maybe I should use your guy.I was expecting £250-450 myself, but I'm used to small, privately owned bodyshops where I grew up in Belfast. I now live in Guildford in Surrey where everybody pays triple the going rate for EVERYTHING.
k her?RizzoTheRat said:
There's a pretty good little independent bod in North Camp. Think he charged about £250 for a really good repair, although to less damage than yours, after a dopey woman reversed in to mine a couple of years ago. I decided not to go through the insurance due to being married to the aforementioned dopey woman 
Dunno his name but it's in "Cobbs Yard" just round the corner from North Camp Station. Google "Faz Auto's" which is in the other end of the building to see where.
Actually laughed out loud.Dunno his name but it's in "Cobbs Yard" just round the corner from North Camp Station. Google "Faz Auto's" which is in the other end of the building to see where.
Also, that's really helpful - thanks!
aka_kerrly said:
To be frank why do you need to feel concerned that she has already made multiple claims on her insurance.
I'd go down the route of trying to keep things simple an go for cash but equally if you go through insurance you could benefit from having the car written off and buying it back cheap and not getting the repairs done. Or have it repaired and sell it immediately after for a tidy bit of money.
You're right, I absolutely don't need to be concerned about that. I'm just a conflict avoider!I'd go down the route of trying to keep things simple an go for cash but equally if you go through insurance you could benefit from having the car written off and buying it back cheap and not getting the repairs done. Or have it repaired and sell it immediately after for a tidy bit of money.
SlowAndDull said:
My view is that if your car was parked and she hit it, were you to deal directly with her insurance you have a) not had an accident and b) not had a claim.
This is the logical reasoning I used when my wife's car was written off outside our house, while we were away on holiday. I dealt directly with the other driver's insurance company and got paid out at a total loss - it was her insurance claim and not ours, therefore did not need declaring.
I'd be grateful if anyone can, as a matter of fact, confirm or refute this line of reasoning!
Yeh that's definitely not right. Would be nice if it was this simple though - thanks for commenting anyhow This is the logical reasoning I used when my wife's car was written off outside our house, while we were away on holiday. I dealt directly with the other driver's insurance company and got paid out at a total loss - it was her insurance claim and not ours, therefore did not need declaring.
I'd be grateful if anyone can, as a matter of fact, confirm or refute this line of reasoning!
SlowAndDull said:
Looking at the questions asked by insurance companies, they've definitely changed since our total loss (2002 from memory). I would have to answer yes to Compare the meerkat's question: Have you had any motor accidents, claims or losses in the past 5 years, no matter who was at fault or if a claim was made?
Which is very different to the 'have you had any accidents, claims or convictions' back in the day.
Re the company car, I think your insurance company misadvised you - assuming the car wasn't owned by the company, was insured in the company's name, and wasn't damaged while you were in control of it, it really is nothing to do with you!
I've just checked confused.com and comparethemeerkat and noticed the wording is now subtly different to that in recent years. "Have you been involved ... in the last five years ... even if a claim was not made!"Which is very different to the 'have you had any accidents, claims or convictions' back in the day.
Re the company car, I think your insurance company misadvised you - assuming the car wasn't owned by the company, was insured in the company's name, and wasn't damaged while you were in control of it, it really is nothing to do with you!
Totally agree with you re the other poster's company insurance.
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