Page 1 of questions about car insurance after an accident

last night i hit someones open car door (they live across the road from us) they need a new door and i have dents in 3 parts and some paint has been scratched off down to the metal. they will be claiming from my insurance as it was my fault. my questions are: my excess is £400 so if the damage is less then £400 how much do i pay, the full amount (£400) or just the amount it costs? also is it best to get my insurance company to sort out my damage and i get a car from them or take it to a local garage? the reason i ask that is because i was going to take it to the place i got my car from on wednesday because they said they will have a mechanic in then or do i just get the insurance company to take it. i have to phone the insurance company tomorrow anyway but i just wondered if any of you knew.
only had the car and past my test 2 months ago so im gutted i have done something to it already so if anyone has stories that might make me feel better i would apreciate it.

Thanks

This item was edited on Sunday, 26th November 2006, 20:33

The first thing i would do is to get an estimate of the cost of the work, as if it will be less than £400 (or indeed slightly more) it may be worth just stumping up the cash and not claiming, as your premiuims will rocket next year if you have to claim. If you do want to go through the insurers, then they will get both the neigbours and your cars sorted (assuming you have fully comp) and will pay whatever it costs over and above the £400 excess. If it costs less, then you will just pay what it costs, but note my scenario above...



The Bigman Cometh

If you are going through your insurance then you only have to pay the £400 excess. The repair is paid for by your insurance. Obviously if the damage is under or even if it`s slightly over, it may be worth you footing the bill yourself without going through the insurance as this will save your premiums next year and won`t affect your no claims bonus.....get a quote before involving your insurance company.


(LOL....^^^^^^^ what he said while I was typing!!! :D ^^^^^^ )

This item was edited on Sunday, 26th November 2006, 21:05

but the other woman will be going through my insurance anyway so wont that still effect my premium for next year whether i make a claim with them or not?

Yes it will, and if you have damaged the door and it needs a new one it will be way over £400 to repair.

New door, blend colour into panels either side, stripping all the parts off and putting them back on again afterwards, £50 plus an hour for labour = big bucks.

Rarely cheaper to pay yourself unless it`s just a scratch.

It will put your insurance up a lot next year though I`m sure.



why take life so seriously..its not like you are going to make it out alive

Are you sure it was your fault??

Did they open the door without looking?? Had they left it open in the pitch dark making it an invisible hazard??

As an aside, NEVER admit liability for damage or say `sorry - it was my fault`

Once you have said that (especially with witnesses) then thats pretty much it in regards to a counter claim.


why take life so seriously..its not like you are going to make it out alive

Why is she going through your insurance? They can if they want to but you could offer to get it sorted etc. But they will want a good job doing and probably want to put it in a main dealer. It will be over £400 there... Probably will be more than £400 anywhere by the time they`ve stripped the door down, reskinned it and sprayed it. May as well get yours sorted too... :(
EDIT- lol - I was sloow typing there..

Ste

This item was edited on Sunday, 26th November 2006, 22:10

1) as someone said is it definately your fault??

2) I dont think she has any right to automatically go through your insurance - is it not your choice how you deal with it in the event of it being your fault???

3) Get a couple of quotes and then consider them in comparison to how much you have to pay on your excess + how much you lose over the next few years in lost no claims bonus. (Ie if before discount its £1,000 to insure and you will lose 20% in 1st year and 10% saving in second year then your total expense would be £400 + £200 + £100 = £700)
You could probably add a little extra to the premium before discount too I would think

SJ - "they will probably want it put through a main dealer" if she goes through the insurance company that wont necessarily happen though will it?



Chris

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This item was edited on Monday, 27th November 2006, 11:23

Surely it is up to the insurance companies to decide who was at fault and who is paying for what. Your job is to exchange details and tell your insurance company what happened, they do the rest. Or that is my experience with not too few accidents under my belt. :-)

This item was edited on Monday, 27th November 2006, 16:26

Well no because you dont have to claim through the insurance company if you dont want. If you chose to pay without using insurance cover then I dont think you need to inform them of said issue

Chris

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YNWA