So the net cost to your dad will be £750. It would almost certainly cost him more than that if he let it go through his insurance.
I’d probably just pay for it myself.
Hi, after a little bit of advice if possible please.
Unfortunately my dad recently bumped into my wife's car. My wife got a quote to fix the damage using an approved garage at a cost of £1000. My dad's currently got 9yrs no claims and his excess is £250 and no damage to his car.
Both are asking me whether the best route would be to pay the money and get the car fixed privately or to claim via the insurance. I honestly don't know what the best route would be, if my dad would lose his excess, and what impact it would have on his insurance. Also a consideration would be the future sell on value of my wife's £15000 car in a year or two if an insurance claim is made.
I'm not really clued up on car insurance so would like to be prepared when they ask me again. Thanks.
So the net cost to your dad will be £750. It would almost certainly cost him more than that if he let it go through his insurance.
I’d probably just pay for it myself.
Don't even call insurance companies and pay for the repair. Cheaper and easier for all in the long run. Do you want to be expalining the claim for the next 5 years to all the insurance companies you are getting quotes from and suspicion that premiums are inflated to recover teh claim.
Long term it will be cheaper not to claim.
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As stated before me as well !
As per previous posts just pay for it himself but also get another two quotes from approved repairers that are recommended,should get a cheaper quote.
I'm pretty sure your Dad would only have to pay the excess if he was claiming for damage to his own car. Your wife would have to pay her excess then claim that back from your dad's insurers as it wasn't her fault. As far as I know it wouldn't affect the cars future value as it hasn't been written off. For a grand I would claim on the insurance, that's what we pay it for.
As above 3 years ago a muppet drove into my PARKED car in a huge car park. Claimed on insurance. Three years later my motorcycle insurance has just increased as the underwriter has seen the bump 3 years ago .........
I got my A5 Audi broken into on my drive and claimed on my insurance to repair all the damage caused and it cost them £6K,2 years on my insurance has now gone up another 19% on recent renewal and now £2K.Can’t get any other decent insurance company to beat the quote and those that have want £600 excess.
So my advice would be to just split the cost between you.
Thanks for the replies. I'm airing on the side of paying for the repair as I've got a feeling the insurance will increase enough to surpass the cost within the next few years. Also, paying for it will ensure the car goes to a garage of our choice rather than an insurance approved one.
One further question would be regarding the future value of my wife's car. Would the car not decrease in value to due to an insurance claim/repair and would it show on a hpi check as a category? Thanks again.
Last edited by Roth1; 23rd March 2018 at 23:26. Reason: Spelling
It wouldn't show on a hpi check aslong as it's not a cat d or cat c repair which it sounds likes it's not
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Your insurance will probably increase too as the actuaries reckon that people who have accidents have accidents (as it were).
Your dad won’t pay an excess unless claiming for the damage to his own vehicle.
Are you sure you need to go to an approved repairer? Why not try and get quotes from decent independent local body shops? This could get the cost down to well below £1000 which would make it a bit easier to swallow for your dad.
It may not have been the most tactful way of phrasing it but he was technically correct.
His bike insurers didn’t know about his car accident because he’d failed to disclose it. So whether deliberate or not, he had been driving potentially uninsured for the past three years.
Thanks for advice. I've passed it on to them and left them to sort it out themselves.
Cheers.
I would also remind your Dad that even if that accident doesn’t have a huge effect in the event he claims if he has another he will suddenly look very high risk so this would also make me settle this privately.
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As pointed out both insurance costs would go up fo the next 5 years. The insurance companies state 3 but I reckon that secretly they keep it on record for 5. His will go up for being at fault and yours/your wife’s simple cause insurance is a git.
Another thing to note is that not all dealers have their own body shop, they’ll just sub it out so if you can find out who then it might be cheaper to go direct.
Last edited by IAmATeaf; 24th March 2018 at 11:06.
Don't involve the insurance companies. I had my car damaged when I left it in in a hospital car park about 10 years ago, nothing captured on CCTV so I claimed as it made a mess of the wing and bumper. As expected premiums rose although my NCB stayed the same as it was protected. However the most annoying thing is to this day I still receive a couple of unsolicited calls a week from companies guaranteeing to recover costs from the whiplash I suffered during the accident, despite the fact I was 300 yards away in a waiting room at the time!
There definitely some fiddling going on by garages and insurance companies with inflated repair costs imho. Little cosmetic scrapes and knocks are treated as if cars are precious jewels, most bumpers are coated plastics and even if it’s just a bit of paint or filler the costs are always measured in hundreds and thousands. Ok, have a big prang which affect the mechanicals and I start to understand but I suspect a lot of the companies involved are coining it in!
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As others have said even if the accident is not your fault it will be held against you when you renew, Ask for recommendations for a local body shop from people you know, dont pay until you are happy with the job, cheapest way forward imo .