pompei Posted December 10, 2015 Posted December 10, 2015 I parked up in a services today and then a large removals lorry backed into me. It's a 52 plate Saab 9-5 and the boot lid and spoiler are now borked. He was apologetic and gave me his details etc. Mrs P is frothing saying I must contact insurers immediately. I am worried that the cost of repairs will probably be uneconomic given the age/mileage of the car and I don't want it written off, particularly as I had a new DI unit and crank sensor fitted less than a week ago. I really want to keep this car. I'm taking it to the Saab independent tomorrow - they reckon a second hand boot lid will be about £150 plus painting. I'm wondering whether the lorry firm would rather settle up than go through insurers if we are only talking little money. Any thoughts or similar experiences?
Bobthebeard Posted December 10, 2015 Posted December 10, 2015 Probably the lorry firm will choose the insurance route tbh. Not good for you as the car will possibly be deemed uneconomical to repair and written off. Cat C possibly? If it only really needs a boot lid etc then just take it on the chin and repair it yourself? Not that I am an expert. Just in my experience involving insurance companies in relatively low cost incidents is not worth the hassle! pompei 1
garbaldy Posted December 10, 2015 Posted December 10, 2015 I would think the firm would rather pay out than claim, my mate pays 7k for his insurance and when his driver reversed into a car he paid the body shop direct to save his no claims. Eddie Honda and pompei 2
UltraWomble Posted December 10, 2015 Posted December 10, 2015 Depends on the company involved and whether you are going to go all Jeremy Kyle/Judge Rinder and claim for whiplash and loss of your sense of smell etc. If you speak to them directly and say that youwould like the car repaired and a local body shop has quoted X for a second hand boot and paint then they might just settle up - or they might involve their insurer anyway. Try it, you lose nothing and at least you know how much repairs will be. If it gets written off ( which it probably will) support your claim for market value with your service history / receipts for repairs and then ask how much salvage will be, buy it back and fix it anyway. pompei and eddyramrod 2
CHRIS1980 Posted December 10, 2015 Posted December 10, 2015 Phone up the haulage firm and explain your concern. I bet his excess is more than what I will cost to repair. So he might go for it. trigger, Alexg, oldcars and 3 others 6
The Moog Posted December 10, 2015 Posted December 10, 2015 Also I would put a bit on top. There will always be extra costs associated with repair that you forget about pompei 1
Tickman Posted December 10, 2015 Posted December 10, 2015 As said above, give them a call, it will be a load of hassle for them going through insurance, especially if you are not being a knob and saying you were travelling with the Saudi royal family and they all have whiplash and are in shock........ It might be different if they are a large firm as then there will be 'procedures' in place! Good luck, seems like the time of year pompei 1
pompei Posted December 10, 2015 Author Posted December 10, 2015 Thanks for the comments guys. The driver was one of the owners of the firm so he saw first hand the damage which really only amounts to a boot lid ( I can live without the spoiler ) I would prefer to avoid the insurers - let's hope he sees things the same way and as Chris says, the repair is likely to be less than his excess.
Vin Posted December 10, 2015 Posted December 10, 2015 Last month, I got driven into the back of at a roundabout. It was in the Marea. It borked the tailgate and the bumper... The other driver admitted it was her fault (she wasn't going to argue or owt) and her Skoda Fabia was damaged so it went through her insurers, LV. They rang me offering hire cars and bodywork repairs at no effect to my own insurance...I declined and said I would prefer to sort it myself. They said no problem, get a quote, and we can give you a 'cash in lieu settlement' and you can then sort it out at your leisure... Upshot, 2 weeks ago I received a cheque for £600 to cover the panels, paint and my inconvenience... :-D Craig the Princess, pompei and eddyramrod 3
The Moog Posted December 10, 2015 Posted December 10, 2015 What pisses me off that even though it isnt your fault and haven't gone through insurance it will likely effect your premium. Mine went up after my car was crashed into in a car park by a minibus. pompei 1
omegod Posted December 10, 2015 Posted December 10, 2015 You should be able to find a matching panel easy enough for less than £100 and it 4 bolts to swap, Best case scenario : Through the insurance your car gets written off on paper and you get a decent wedge, £800 ish, and keep the car to fix as you wish Best case scenario : You get them to pay for new panel and you get a dropsy, say £100 for inconvenience Either way your going to win alf892 and pompei 2
fordperv Posted December 10, 2015 Posted December 10, 2015 When a bus bumped the back of my capri it damaged the rear bumper and bracket, i spoke to the company on the phone and offered them outside the insurance, they jumped at the chance sent me a cheque without quibble pompei 1
Lankytim Posted December 10, 2015 Posted December 10, 2015 Iirc hauliers excess is about 800 quid so I'd give them the option to pay for the repair. pompei 1
Hertz Posted December 10, 2015 Posted December 10, 2015 Last month, I got driven into the back of at a roundabout. It was in the Marea. It borked the tailgate and the bumper... The other driver admitted it was her fault (she wasn't going to argue or owt) and her Skoda Fabia was damaged so it went through her insurers, LV. They rang me offering hire cars and bodywork repairs at no effect to my own insurance...I declined and said I would prefer to sort it myself. They said no problem, get a quote, and we can give you a 'cash in lieu settlement' and you can then sort it out at your leisure... Upshot, 2 weeks ago I received a cheque for £600 to cover the panels, paint and my inconvenience... :-D This is what happened to me. Got a quote which I think was £700 plus VAT from a bodyshop and then I said I would do the job myself so got a cheque for £700 (they don't pay the VAT) and got a second hand bumper for £20 from the scrappies, I was fortunate as it was even the right colour. Win Win pompei 1
taxi paul Posted December 10, 2015 Posted December 10, 2015 I would ask them , they can only say no. But if your not claiming silly money then they would probably pay you direct.
Lord Sterling Posted December 10, 2015 Posted December 10, 2015 A Birmingham Bus company did this to my car sometime in 2009: The bus driver admitted liability straight away and the bus company took over proceedings to get my car repaired through thier own company. It wasn't repaired at a bus garage but a proper auto accident repair centre. It took a while for the repair to get it right even though I even left them a note of accident done, my bumper was 2-tone colour and they brought it back fully colour coded, they forgot to paint the mirror etc... When the accident happened I phoned my insurers to log the accident for legal purposes but not to go ahead with the claim until I learnt what the company were going to do. Once liability is confessed, it is down to the other party to make the first step, though you must log in the accident with your insurance company in order to get them ready in case the third party decide to get a bit funny.
gadgetgricey Posted December 10, 2015 Posted December 10, 2015 To be honest, there are that many Saab 9-5's out there for breaking, you might even be able to find one in the correct colour, and swap it yourself.Just remember to ensure the electronic boot release is working...... What colour is it out of curiosity.....
sierraman Posted December 10, 2015 Posted December 10, 2015 I once had a similar situation. A bloke on a motorbike ran into my car, it damaged the bumper and tail lamp. I made the gesture of offering him the option of giving me the cost of the parts and is repair which from memory (it was 12 years ago...) was about £40 in used parts, he turned around and claimed he didn't have £40. I couldn't go through the car insurance as they would write it off and generally fuck me about. So I ended up taking it on the chin and mending it myself. I hate doing that as it wasn't my fault, but it was the lesser of two evils. Thinking back though the guy that hit me bust his arm as a result of the accident (after the £40 debacle, like I gave a shit), in today's litigious society he'd be coming back saying id caused it or whatever. Wherever there's the possibility someone could be injured id say inform insurance and say you don't want to claim.
mercrocker Posted December 10, 2015 Posted December 10, 2015 Plus one on the phone-up-the-haulier route. A friend's Cavalier had its screen smashed by an overtaking (!) aggregate tipper. They booked the car into their screen contractor and did it for nowt. No insurance involved, friend got a good job done and the haulier could be sure my mate wasn't just trousering the money on a scam. pompei 1
Eddie Honda Posted December 10, 2015 Posted December 10, 2015 I would think the firm would rather pay out than claim +1 get onto the transport manager. A couple of companies I've worked for have 2k excesses, so their chequebook has to come out anyway.
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