Urgent Help Needed For A Newbie. Accident.

[mkidd]

Hi guys and gals

This is my first post on the forum and unfortunately its about an accident that my g/f had.

Basically she reversed into a Yaris yesterday and damaged the panel below the rear bumper strip (if that makes sense). The owner of the car seems to think it is going to cost alot to replace but i thought it would be a simple bolt on part wouldnt it?

Just wondering how much you guys think this panel will cost to replace as we would rather pay cash than go through the insurance companies and we dont want to be ripped off.

Cheers

Mark

[breezer]

well you can get a sportier rear lip for 130 + about 110 to paint it!

so a standard rear lip should be cheap because theres less to paint and its standard! although my back lip was damaged, so would cost 150 tops me thinx!

[breezer]

oh btw! how bads the damage? just on one side?

[mkidd]

Yeah the damage is just on the drivers side corner.

It hasnt damage the paint at all but because the shape of it is bizarre it looks worse than it is.

Think the guy was going to try and rip us off as he wants to go to a "mates" garage. At that point i whipped out the camera phone and got snaps of the accident so if he does try and rip us off i can proce how small the damage was...we were only travelling at about 2mph or less at the time.

Thanks for the quick response its much appreciated and the price of repair has put my mind at ease! :)

[breezer]

sounds the same as what happened to my dad! if its just the drivers side at the bottom (rear lip), it cost around 90 to repair the damage and respray! so by the sounds of it 80-120 quid!

[mkidd]

Cheers mate...Much appreciated! :)

Ill move the pics off my phone and onto the computer tonight if i have time.

[jaxx]

i think the lower bit is about 40 quid ish and spraying shouldnt set you back more than 50

a ton should sort you no end!

[Kenno]

Will that guarantee a quality finish though? How much would Toyota charge for it? If it was your car (and not your money) you'd be less inclined to find a bargain - you'd only be bothered about it being a good job, so you'll have to take that into consideration. Hope it gets sorted cheaply though! My mate reversed into a brand new Golf, caused a tiny scratch on the paint just under the wheel arch, and it somehow cost him £750!!!!!

[jaxx]

id rather take mine to a proper body shop not toyotas half hearted rubbish

[mkidd]

The guy said he is going to take it to the place where he gets all his work done. Hopefully it wont be anywhere near £750!

[Kenno]

The guy said he is going to take it to the place where he gets all his work done. Hopefully it wont be anywhere near £750!

Make sure he lets you know how much it's going to cost first - loads of people get totally ripped off when the other person knows they're trying to avoid going through the insurance, so it might end up being cheaper to just let your insurance company sort it.

[mkidd]

So what happens if he just gets the work done without saying how much it is going to cost beforehand?

Surely we can just refuse to pay if its a rediculous amount and with photographic evidence i am sure the insurance company wont pay out alot will they?

[Kenno]

So what happens if he just gets the work done without saying how much it is going to cost beforehand?

Surely we can just refuse to pay if its a rediculous amount and with photographic evidence i am sure the insurance company wont pay out alot will they?

Not sure to be honest. If he comes back with a stupid amount, then I'd have thought you could refuse to pay, and because he's already got it done, the insurance company probably won't pay out, cos they won't have authorised it - and definitely won't want to pay too much. Could get a bit messy.

Hopefully we're just being really pessimistic here, and he'll find somewhere decent to get a quote from, then you'll have the choice of paying up or going through the insurance. Hope it's not too much, as well as my mate who got ripped off over the tiny (not visible to the naked eye) scratch on the golf, another one of my mates paid over a grand to have a wall rebuilt and another grand to do his car up rather than going through the insurance cos they increase the premiums for young drivers by ridiculous amounts for accidents.

[breezer]

if youre told owt above 150 quid!!! tell him to f off!! and that hes tryin2screw you!!

[Robie]

If he gets the work done without u paying him first Im sure you aer within your rights to not pay him. You could easily say you are going through the insurance company who wont pay for the work already done and therefore he is left with the bill.

[Viper_7]

Aye...if they won't give you an accurate estimate for the work...then tell em to stuff it and go through your insurance.

Insurance company is not just there to rip you off...but also to be your barrier.

Say for example...his "mate" fixed it...then several weeks later he called his insurance and said there'd been an accident ( as he'd drove into a post say) how could you show that the damage had already been fixed..and that this was something new???

also...for al lyou know...the car was repaired..you paiud up...but really...no work was done at all....!

Don't mean to scare you...but it does happen!!

I'd also get it in writing if you go down this route that he is happy with the repair, and that that's the end to it.

Vipes

[Blue84]

Gotta agree with Viper completely!!

I work in Motor Insurance, and if you put it through your own insurance company say to them about how minor the damage is and can they make sure that the claim isnt inflated. I often get it asked to me when I take accident reports..and we simply note on our engineers/repairer instructions about it. If the other person claimed off their own insurers and there was a dispute then your insurer can request a copy of the report that they have had done incase of disputes..and if they arent happy then they can dispute the inflated cost. Engineers can also see what damage is recent and what isnt, so imagine they reversed into a post or something and damaged the car a few weeks previous, and then when this comes along they think "we can get it sorted through insurance and it will be cheaper" but they are wrong!!

If you do settle privately get them to sign a written declaration saying that you have settled in full with them, and if you use an independant garage make sure they don't use the comeback of anything going wrong with the repair and putting it against yourself.

Hope that helps.

Blue

[Viper_7]

Top advice gals and guys....that's what this site is all about.

Good luck, hope it all works out as I'm sure it will.

Vipes

[mkidd]

Thanks for all that helpful advice guys! Really appreciated! :D

Have hit a stumbling block now...phoned him yesterday at 6pm and he was in the shower so i asked his g/f to get him to phone me when he gets out...gets to 7.30pm and no call so i phone back to be told "oh he has gone out".

I am going to phone tonight as this is getting dodgyer by the minute and say that i want a written estimate before i will pay and i definately wont pay if the work is done and i just get handed a receipt. Also i would imagine that our insurance company wouldnt be too happy about paying out for work that they have not actually authorised?

@Blue 84 - Is there any way to tell what sort of no claims she wil lose if she does claim?

Her insurnace runs out on the 18th of this month, when she will have 3 years no claims. If she claimed before this would she lose it all and when the insurance runs out be left with nothing or would she be left with 1 years no claims?? Its just that i have heard that you lose 2 years no claims when its a fault accident?

[mkidd]

Attached are the photos i got of the damage.

Does that chance anyones opinions on the cost of the repairs??

Apologies for the poor quality but they are off my camera phone. Also apologies that they arent hotlinked, but it wont let me do it for some reason???

http://images1.fotopic.net/?iid=y3up6i&outx=160&oq=0

http://images2.fotopic.net/?iid=y3up6h&outx=160&oq=0

Cheers

Mark

[breezer]

definately no more than 150!! approx 80-120 mate! the one on my yaris was worse and it cost 90-100!! the garage will just knock it back out, and if it needs sprayin then theyl do so! mine needed spraying coz paint was took off, plus it was definately worse and cost approx 90 quid!

[SMW]

Don't look expensive to me.

I would send the guy a registered letter (actually called 'Special Delivery' now - costs about £3 but you can prove that he has received it). In the letter ask him to send you a written quote before he gets anything done. If the quote is acceptable (in the range of prices banded about here) then settle with him and get a written note saying that he has no further claim against you.

If you are not happy with the quote hand over to the insurance company - and let him know you have done this.

[Viper_7]

She'd have to check her policy to work out how much NCB you'll lose.

Depends on a few factors...first Does she have no claims protection?

How much current NCB she has now.

It's usually on the back of your policy...so say you have 5 years NCB now..and had an accident you'd lose say 25% or something like that.

For the price....it would more likely be cheaper in the long run to pay up yourself...as you'll have an excess to pay anyway...and I bet that's over £100

Vipes

[Matty]

If its just the lower bumper cover if should be able to get that part seperate and if I remember correctly they are in the region of £60-£80 plus fitting & painting.

[mkidd]

Cheers for all the info guys it has been so helpful

I am going to send off a special delivery letter tomorrow to ask him to send me a quote before any work goes ahead because i have left numerous messages with his brother/missus etc but there is no come back on that really as he can just deny receiving the message.

Also i cant see on her policy anywhere that says what % of no claims will be lost for a claim, but you are right that it will be cheaper to probably cough up the cash in the long run as her excess is £250!

Once again cheers for all this info guys i owe you all a beer if we ever happen to meet!