make a claim or not?

[Davidhee58]

Monday Bank holiday was ended up with a bad day for me, this morning I drove to a local retail park and parked my car there for about 30 minutes, when I came back from the B&Q, I found my car was hit by someone, the left back wing panel (just front of the wheel) was serious damage and the passenger door had shallow dent as well.  as the car park was very busy today, it's impossible to find who did it. Does any one know how much it will cost to repair the panel?  my insurance excess is £250, if it is far more than £250, I have to make a claim to my insurance company. my car is a 4 years Auris Hybrid car, my NCD is protected but I made a claim last year for the Cat converter. 

[Rosgoe]

Ask B&Q if you can have a look at there cctv recordings might show something.

that damage will be more than £250 I would guess nearer to £1000

[Mooly]

Sorry to see this happened...

I would just get a few estimates, one from a main dealer, one from an independent body shop and perhaps an outsider from the classifieds.

I have no idea on costs but would have guessed at £600 to £800 for a main dealer and perhaps half that for a back street outfit. 

 

[Catlover]

Your damage appears twice as bad as I had tail end of 2019. My insurance company, LV, chose the repairer and they did a fantastic job, but round the £1000 mark,  it it was metallic paint. I had NCD protection, current premium went up approx £100 this year.

[Oisin]

I'd definitely be getting a few quotes from independents.  If you can't afford to pay for it you could go down the insurance route, but just know they might screw you come renewal time.  You could involve the police and they will review any CCTV.  B&Q will most likely not let you view CCTV yourself for data protection reasons.

[FROSTYBALLS]

If you do go down the insurance route, bear in mind that most insurers will want you to use their approved repairer, and some charge an additional excess if you choose to go via another repairer. Check your policy.

Also bear in mind that all the NCD does to is protect the percentage discount you have on your policy - it doesn't mean that your premium won't increase. 

[Davidhee58]

11 minutes ago, Oisin said:

I'd definitely be getting a few quotes from independents.  If you can't afford to pay for it you could go down the insurance route, but just know they might screw you come renewal time.  You could involve the police and they will review any CCTV.  B&Q will most likely not let you view CCTV yourself for data protection reasons.

 

 

18 minutes ago, Oisin said:

I'd definitely be getting a few quotes from independents.  If you can't afford to pay for it you could go down the insurance route, but just know they might screw you come renewal time.  You could involve the police and they will review any CCTV.  B&Q will most likely not let you view CCTV yourself for data protection reasons.

thank you for your advice, today the retail park was very busy, and was crowded with people and cars, I did ask a B&Q staff, he said there is a CCTV in their front entry area, my car was parked far away, so it's out of the camera range. If I report to the police, I don't think they will do anything for me. 

[Davidhee58]

9 minutes ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

If you do go down the insurance route, bear in mind that most insurers will want you to use their approved repairer, and some charge an additional excess if you choose to go via another repairer. Check your policy.

My Insurer is LV, yes, your are right, i have to pay additional excess if I go to another repairer.

[Davidhee58]

1 hour ago, Catlover said:

Your damage appears twice as bad as I had tail end of 2019. My insurance company, LV, chose the repairer and they did a fantastic job, but round the £1000 mark,  it it was metallic paint. I had NCD protection, current premium went up approx £100 this year.

wow never thought it's a so expensive,  I thought the cost could be £500 or so, had a quick chat with a lady in IV afternoon, and she said their approved repairer is Rye Street Group, and can ask them to give me an estimate for the cost, did you use the same repairer? 
 

[Catlover]

11 minutes ago, Davidhee58 said:

wow never thought it's a so expensive,  I thought the cost could be £500 or so, had a quick chat with a lady in IV afternoon, and she said their approved repairer is Rye Street Group, and can ask them to give me an estimate for the cost, did you use the same repairer? 
 

No, LV sent me to Vella Group.

I was reverse parking into a space, my driver side rear panel rubbed against the matching panel of a white BMW. So my red was on her car, her white on mine. I left my number under her wiper arm. Total cost was £2800, I got a hire car for a day and no doubt she did too. I was glad I was sat down when they told me 2800.

[furtula]

Hard to tell from the pictures, is the white color the base coat, or is it from paint transfer?

Once you remove the plastic thing, it does not look that bad, except the dent.

If it's from pain transfer, i think it can be pulled out without damaging the paint, and  then buffed not to look that bad. 

 

[catnash]

Like furtula said once you remove the plastic foil you may find a PDR (paintless dent repair) specialist in your area who'll get any dent out.  If the paint is scratched though you could look at reviews for body shops.  I've found the best ones are either who the top marques recommend.

[mrpj]

Of no help to you David, but there seems to be an increase in persons who do something like that and drive off.

Daughter and Son-in-Law bought a new to them car three weeks ago, absolutely pristine and 12 months old. In a parking spot, a week ago, and someone reversed out and scraped the car's front bumper. They got out, checked their car for damage and drove off.

Fortunately a taxi driver witnessed it, has the incident on his Dashcam and he's made a statement and will provide the video to the perpetrator's insurance. They have denied all knowledge and "weren't there"!

Some charming people around.