To claim or not to claim.....

jethrothe2nd

Went round to visit my parents in Ranelagh on Sunday. Parked the car in Albany Road, just around the corner from the house. Got a nice surprise upon getting back to the car in the form of the words F*ck and Asshole neatly etched into my drivers door, and substantial key-ing on the front wing, and passenger door. At first I thought it might be because I was driving a Skoda, but a quick look at the Mercedes and Mondeo beside me reassured me that wasn't the case, as they had been artistically modified too.

W****rs.

Called the Gardai who in fairness arrived pretty quickly, although they then left equally quickly after telling me that there wasn't really much they could do. Which I suppose there wasn't.

Question is, insurance claim or not? Is it likely to be hugely expensive to repair?

blond45

how would ya claim, thought you,d need a name to claim of, id try and get the same colour paint of car .go to any auto shops and they will help you, we done it before cos of scratches on our maroon astra.

Tefral

Its it down to the metal? if theres still paint there, the bulk of the damage could be removed with compound.

Vertakill

OP can claim off his own insurance.

If I had NCB protection, I'd claim.
If the cost to repair/respray the panel(s) was more expensive than what your insurance is likely to rise by, I'd claim.

If I had no kind of NCB protection, I wouldn't claim.
If it's less than a couple hundred worth of damage, I wouldn't claim.

jethrothe2nd

blond45 wrote: »

how would ya claim, thought you,d need a name to claim of, id try and get the same colour paint of car .go to any auto shops and they will help you, we done it before cos of scratches on our maroon astra.

This goes way beyond scratches. I don't imagine that simply getting the same colour paint would solve the problem.

With the claiming thing - I'm claiming against my own policy I guess. I rang my insurance company this morning and they said they would get back to me within the next 24 hours, so I'll let you know what they say

jethrothe2nd

Vertakill wrote: »

OP can claim off his own insurance.

If I had NCB protection, I'd claim.
If the cost to repair/respray the panel(s) was more expensive than what your insurance is likely to rise by, I'd claim.

If I had no kind of NCB protection, I wouldn't claim.
If it's less than a couple hundred worth of damage, I wouldn't claim.

I have full no claims protection, which is why I am considering claiming. Judging by the damage, I have the feeling it will cost a lot more than a couple of hundred....

jethrothe2nd

cronin_j wrote: »

Its it down to the metal? if theres still paint there, the bulk of the damage could be removed with compound.

Right down to the metal, Cronin

Vertakill

jethrothe2nd wrote: »

This goes way beyond scratches. I don't imagine that simply getting the same colour paint would solve the problem.

That sucks. :eek:

Wish you could find them and etch a$shole into their foreheads with their own car keys. :mad:

jethrothe2nd wrote: »

I have full no claims protection, which is why I am considering claiming. Judging by the damage, I have the feeling it will cost a lot more than a couple of hundred....

I'd claim then. This is why you have insurance. No point in paying for all these extras like NCB protection and then paying your own hard earned money for this kind of crap.

Your insurance company will probably look for it to be assessed (to insure you're not just looking for a free respray) and they may recommend their own company to do the spray/repair... but you're not obliged to use them and there's no guarantee they're good.

Do some research and find yourself someone that'll do a good job. Last thing you want is a couple of panels that aren't properly colour matched to the rest of your car.

thebiglad

Get a quote from a local accident repair centre - avoid main dealers (unless using insurance)

Take into account your excess (probably €150 - €250) and only then can you decide if worth claiming.

Wife severely scratched side of her car on a post, got it repaired for €400 - I had thought looking at it that it was going to cost near to €1,000.

Don't presume protected NCB will see you through this - when you renew (if you have protected NCB) then your present insurer will not reduce your NCB - if however you want to change insurer then your NCB will be lost - the 'proof of NCB' will state 1 claim in x years. You will be tied to your current insurer so hope they stay competetive!

Generally wouldn't claim for under €500 of damage.

Vertakill

thebiglad wrote: »

Don't presume protected NCB will see you through this - when you renew (if you have protected NCB) then your present insurer will not reduce your NCB - if however you want to change insurer then your NCB will be lost - the 'proof of NCB' will state 1 claim in x years. You will be tied to your current insurer so hope they stay competetive!

Generally wouldn't claim for under €500 of damage.

Wasn't entirely aware of that actually, but seems to be more or less true. So that would change your decision dramatically.

Btw, €500 is a lot of money if the OP is paying something similar in insurance to begin with.

Anyway, get a quote before you come to any conclusions, OP. As thebiglad said, to us it may look like 1000's but it could be a lot less expensive than it looks.

jethrothe2nd

All very helpful. Thanks guys.

I hadn't considered that my NCB is only protected as long as I stay with my current insurer. That kind of makes me think twice. Obviously the first thing to do then is to shop around for some quotes.

Anyone any recommendations? I'm in Maynooth, so somewhere in that kind of area would make life a bit easier....


Thanks again.

blond45

jethrothe2nd wrote: »

Right down to the metal, Cronin

ah god thats bad ,sorry i thought it wouldnt be that deep. thats :mad:

ha-ya-said-what

For Maynooth Area - Liam Duff or John Quirke, tho I think John has moved from his Maynooth base. Liam Duff is in the trade yonks & his work is great now, can't fault him on it.

jethrothe2nd

Quote from main dealer - E1360.

Drummerboy08

Might sound like an obvious question, but has your insurance company got its own bodyshop?

That quote sounds very expensive for what is essentially a repair and paint job. No new parts required.