Mk7 Bumper Repair Query

[liampatrick]

So yesterday I did a boo-boo and reserved into someone's parked car, doh! - also a Fiesta funnily enough. Anyway, I did the honest thing and left a note with my number. Spoke to the owner today and they were very reasonable indeed; appreciated that I'd left a note, I gave them my full insurance details etc., and also said that I know someone who works at the dealer they bought it from. 

I keep thinking about it and I'm really starting to panic - I think this is going to cost me a fortune if we go through insurance, and is going to have a massive impact on my future insurance. I've included a photo of the damage, which in my opinion is fairly minimal/superficial, and I'm wondering if it might be worthwhile me just offering to pay for the repair and not go through insurers? Anyone experienced something similar/had similar damage? I'm in full anxiety mode now

P.S. The damage to my car is even more minimal and can be easily touched-up/t-cut.

[b1g_dav3]

Get them to take it to a body shop, if it's around your excess price for the quote then just pay for the repair.

[GingerFlame]

I'd just offer to pay for it straight away, even if it's going to cost more than your excess I'd just pay it, as unless you have protected NCB then it'll affect your premium next year

www.yorkshiredetailing.co.uk - approved resellers of the Highest quality detailing & Valeting supplies

[GMo]

I'd pay it even if it is quite a lot bit more than the excess. If you go through insurance you'll pay the excess this year and the higher premiums for the next few years.

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk

[Ian Lanc]

I feel for your worry over this one 

A relation did a similar bump and the other car owner wasn't too pleased to have his fairly new car re-sprayed already, so I hatched a plan and asked the owner if he was willing to get his rear bumper swapped with a bumper from a scrapyard! He said as long as it's a manufacturer original painted bumper with no marks, then he'd be happy for the swap, luckily enough we found a mint blue bumper with no marks at all and the same year too, the owner of the damaged car came to our house and I swapped the bumper over, after that I even washed his car and made him tea, only to butter him up mind you! He went away happy and it only cost me £50 for the replacement bumper.

Have you thought about asking about this and going this route ? If the car is to get resprayed there's no doubt he'll be without a car for a few days 

[liampatrick]

Hi all, thanks for comments. I've left the owner an answerphone message and hopefully I'll hear back soon. I've decided I definitely want to pay for the repair, as I think through insurance it'll cause me more issues in the long run. I have no no protected NCB and my excess is £500! So fingers crossed, I'll keep you posted. Personally if that was my car, I'd happily touch that up and t-cut to as good as new

[Ian Lanc]

13 minutes ago, liampatrick said:

I'd happily touch that up and t-cut to as good as new

Yeh but it's not your car is it! Many years ago my 6 year old Son who is now 25 opened our car door and lightly hit an old crappy green skoda, a bloke was sat in the car and he got out going ballistic at my Son, I told him to back off my So, I then apologised and looked at the mark 95% of it rubbed off, leaving no dint but a very small mark, about 10mm long x 2mm wide, so offered him £10 for a touch up stick from Halford's, that wasn't good enough for him and started to be aggressive towards me and wanted a full respray on the door! I told him to get f**cked as the rest of his car was a right mess, dint's & rust everywhere, he said he doesn't care about the rest of the car but the damage my Son had caused was!!! I said ok lets call the police on this seeing as you are threatening me & my Son, he got in his car and told me to f**ck off and leave it... Never been so angry in my life. Some right knobs out there.

[BP2411]

If he does accept you paying for the damage make sure you get something in writing otherwise he could have your cash and still claim.

[Stuart35]

If you hit the car at speed, the damage could be behind the bumper but it looks like the top line is out of shape ( or it could be the reflection). If the line is off, and the plastic is bent it will be a difficult repair and possibly never look right again. Wort case scenario a new bumper and paint.

[liampatrick]

Haven't heard back from the owner yet, will give her a call tomorrow. She was really lovely to be honest, and was mainly surprised/thankful that I'd left a note and contact number, as people had bumped her in the past and left nothing. The impact must have been at 5mph maximum so I really think that the damage is superficial, and would mostly polish out. In fact, it looks worse on the pic than in reality! I have a friend who works at the dealership she bought the car from originally, and she said she'd prefer the work to be done there as it's very near to where she lives - so fingers crossed that she'll still be interested in me just paying for the repair. I'd hate to think how I'd feel if I ran someone over or something because I still haven't stopped thinking about this since Wednesday need a Valium or something aha