Insurance Or Sort Myself

[Gavinb]

Hi

Today I clipped a wall in a multi-storey car park that ripped the passenger side wing off like a sardine tin lid. Obviously this needs replacing as does the bumper since the end next to the wing has been snapped off. I need to decide whether to go through my insurance company or whether to get it done at a bodyshop. Looking on the internet I've seen these parts for less than £50 new. However any one got any ideas how much a body shop would charge?

Also is it safe to drive without the wing which has been completely removed?

Gav

Focus Zetec 2007

[martyntdci]

body shop bill depends on condition of bought items. ive had a full rear bumper, boot and spoiler sprayed for 250 on our old car. that was with no prepping on there be-half and a few light scratches for them deal with.. fitted myself. driving with no front wing a massive no no lol tbh no reason needed

[FOCA]

Its a balance between the exess and the cost of fixing it - you must consider the age/ value/ condition of the car, if its an old banger that looks a bit rough anyway, then stick a S/H wing on it or even run it in a different colour before spraying it yourself - to get it done "properly" might cost more than your insurance exess - you must weigh this up - also if you claim, will the cost of your policy go up? / do you have protected no-claims?

Running without a wing - the tyre must be covered vertically (so this could be the plastic insert) you cannot have sharp edges, and your indicators etc must all work, ive seen crashed cars pass MOTs (perfectly legitimately) because the sharp edges were gaffa-taped up, even if it was safe you are liable to draw attention to the car, and be more likely to be "pulled" - taping the wing up temporarily is more appropriate for the 1- off run down to the bodyshop than day to day use,

sorry to hear about your accident, hope you get it sorted soon

[Gavinb]

Its a balance between the exess and the cost of fixing it - you must consider the age/ value/ condition of the car, if its an old banger that looks a bit rough anyway, then stick a S/H wing on it or even run it in a different colour before spraying it yourself - to get it done "properly" might cost more than your insurance exess - you must weigh this up - also if you claim, will the cost of your policy go up? / do you have protected no-claims?

Running without a wing - the tyre must be covered vertically (so this could be the plastic insert) you cannot have sharp edges, and your indicators etc must all work, ive seen crashed cars pass MOTs (perfectly legitimately) because the sharp edges were gaffa-taped up, even if it was safe you are liable to draw attention to the car, and be more likely to be "pulled" - taping the wing up temporarily is more appropriate for the 1- off run down to the bodyshop than day to day use,

sorry to hear about your accident, hope you get it sorted soon

Thanks for your reply. Had a friend of a friend that does insurance quotes for a repair company tell me it would be around a thousand to fix. Looks like I won't be driving it for a while as the wheel is totally exposed. The recovery man removed the mudguard as well as the wing, so I guess if i flick up a stone and it injures someone I'm liable.

[Phili Smith]

Your problem is not stones but the tyre itself! unguarded tyres are a simple no no due to the damage you can do to pedestrians. However as both wing and bumper are bolt on parts I would be heading for a scrapyard for second hand replacements. Should not take you more than a couple of hours to have it back on the road and legal again.

Phil

[Brigante]

My poor car recieved similar damage when a lorry decided to cut me up ona roudabout then kept going.

Ripped a hole in my bumper n smashed in the wing.

I taped it up best i could n drove it to work fine that night.

Got on eBay, got a used bumper for 40quid and a wing panel for about 60, both already in the right colour and i fitted them myself.

100quid eBay spend was a lot cheaper than going through my insurance.

[Stoney871]

The tread of the tyre must be covered by the arch for it to be classed as safe for road use also as stated indicators etc must be functional.

[Pitmonster]

The cost of going through insurance is not just your excess, it's also the increase in future premiums.

If you don't have protected no-claims this increase could be massive - especially if you have many years of no-claims bonus, which would be wiped out by making a claim.

Even if you do have protected no-claims, your future premiums will still go up.

Not because you lose your no-claims bonus - that's protected - but because when you next renew your insurance you have to declare that you have made a claim, and that makes you "more of a risk", which puts your premium up a bit anyway.

Example:

Earlier this year somebody damaged my rear bumper in a car park. We had the choice of going through insurance or just getting the job done myself and the other person paying the cost in full (which is what we did, and they were very nice about it)

Before we made a decision, I went onto an Internet comparison website and got some normal insurance quotes.

If you've ever used one of these websites you'll note that one of the questions is "have you made a claim in the last 5 years?"

So at first I answered "no", and made a note of the prices

Then I repeated the exercise, but this time I answered "yes" to the "have you made a claim in the last 5 years question".

It then asked if I was at fault or not, so I said "no".

Then it asked the cost of the repair, so I said "£200" - it seemed a fair estimate at the time for a new bumper and painting etc.

This was the only change to all the details I input.

The price of a year's insurance went up by £140

But remember that the question was "made a claim in the last 5 years", so I would have to answer "yes" to this question for the next 5 years.

So the total increase in insurance premiums over that time would be £140 x 5 = £700

That's with protected no-claims, and is on top of any excess I would have paid.

You should try this exercise yourself, and bear this in mind before deciding to claim through insurance or do the job yourself.

[Pitmonster]

Thanks for your reply. Had a friend of a friend that does insurance quotes for a repair company tell me it would be around a thousand to fix. Looks like I won't be driving it for a while as the wheel is totally exposed. The recovery man removed the mudguard as well as the wing, so I guess if i flick up a stone and it injures someone I'm liable.

£1000 to fix is the price for going through insurance, and is always massively inflated.

Ever wondered why insurers want you to use "their own approved workshop"? Because there's massive kick backs and inflated prices.

If you go to a local bodyshop yourself and get a price direct from the guy who owns that bodyshop and is doing the work himself - telling him you'll be paying yourself and not going through insurance - the price would tumble. It would certainly be 1/2 of that "£1000" and may even be 1/4

Example 1 - many years ago I needed a new windscreen. My local garage said it would be £300 if they did the job and went through insurance, or £60 if I paid them myself...

Example 2 - my bumper repair (see above) was £70 at a SMART repair body shop - he used new techniques and materials to repair the damage, it took 4 hours, and it is totally invisible. Insurance would want to pay for a whole new bumper from Ford (not eBay), plus painting at main dealer prices, plus a courtesy car while mine was in... and the cost would have been a LOT more than I paid

Find a local body shop and get a quote direct, it'll be a fraction of the price - especially if you can supply the parts, or if he can get second hand parts for you.

[Gavinb]

The cost of going through insurance is not just your excess, it's also the increase in future premiums.

If you don't have protected no-claims this increase could be massive - especially if you have many years of no-claims bonus, which would be wiped out by making a claim.

Even if you do have protected no-claims, your future premiums will still go up.

Not because you lose your no-claims bonus - that's protected - but because when you next renew your insurance you have to declare that you have made a claim, and that makes you "more of a risk", which puts your premium up a bit anyway.

Example:

Earlier this year somebody damaged my rear bumper in a car park. We had the choice of going through insurance or just getting the job done myself and the other person paying the cost in full (which is what we did, and they were very nice about it)

Before we made a decision, I went onto an Internet comparison website and got some normal insurance quotes.

If you've ever used one of these websites you'll note that one of the questions is "have you made a claim in the last 5 years?"

So at first I answered "no", and made a note of the prices

Then I repeated the exercise, but this time I answered "yes" to the "have you made a claim in the last 5 years question".

It then asked if I was at fault or not, so I said "no".

Then it asked the cost of the repair, so I said "£200" - it seemed a fair estimate at the time for a new bumper and painting etc.

This was the only change to all the details I input.

The price of a year's insurance went up by £140

But remember that the question was "made a claim in the last 5 years", so I would have to answer "yes" to this question for the next 5 years.

So the total increase in insurance premiums over that time would be £140 x 5 = £700

That's with protected no-claims, and is on top of any excess I would have paid.

You should try this exercise yourself, and bear this in mind before deciding to claim through insurance or do the job yourself.

I've checked this, since I only have 3 years NCB after an accident last year, losing 2 more years only puts the premium up by £50, since I only do around 3000 miles anyway. Also it I'm sure it wouldn't be 5*£50 as each extra year of NCB would mean a reduction in premium, as long as I stop hitting things!

The reason I'd rather go through insurance is the courtesy car, as I need to get around and when I had some dents and scrapes done by a body shop a few years ago it cost £700, the price increased from the quoted one by £150 when paying (perhaps they saw me coming) so would rather not go down that avenue again. Plus it's tonic blue which i've been told many times makes matching difficult and puts the price up massively.

[Pitmonster]

All fair points, my own circumstances are different (9 yrs protected NCB, 18k miles a year) so I came out with a different result.

Great that you've done your research so well, so you can be sure you're making an informed decision.

My car is also tonic blue, and there were no problems with colour matching. No idea how he did it, but my repair was perfect.

[STEADS]

Theres a firm on eBay that does new coloured coded bumpers for around 250 i think should be able to pick a mirror up off there cheapish .