All,
I came back to the car park yesterday to find that someone had hit my car along the side - both the passenger side doors have become dented (no other damage). Of course, the driver had not bothered to stop and leave his details. (I didn't see the accident.)
Now, my question is - do I claim this on the insurance, or should I pay the (approx) £700-£800 that this repair will cost? I have comprehensive insurance and full, protected, NCB (although I have 1 accident claim in the last 3 years). Will this count againts me when I come to renew my insurance in Oct? I haven't rung my insurance company (Churchill) yet.
Any advice/info gratefully received.
P
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What a bummer :-( there really are some pink fluffy dice people around..
Anyway, most protected NCD allows for 2 claims in a 1 year period so that should be ok.
But if the paint is till sound and merely scuffed you could do worse than investigate some one like Dents Away who will be much cheaper than any body shop.
I think www.dentsaway.co.uk, there are other companies ( I have nothing to do with this company)
JaB
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JaB, I may be wrong in this but I don't think the NCD is the full story.
While the protected NCD should mean it isn't lost, the insurance costs for the next x years will still increase if a claim is made, due to the 'have you had any accidents' and 'have you made any claims' parts of the insurance quotation process.
Those lovely insurance companies catch you going AND coming back.
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JaB, I may be wrong in this but I don't think the NCD is the full story. While the protected NCD should mean it isn't lost, the insurance costs for the next x years will still increase if a claim is made, due to the 'have you had any accidents' and 'have you made any claims' parts of the insurance quotation process. Those lovely insurance companies catch you going AND coming back.
Thats true... but I think it helps with regards to fault/no fault claims.
Altho' as you say INs Co's aren't in it for the good of their health.... [:-[
JaB
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I'm afraid you're q right BazzaBear; I had this 3 years ago when I made a claim on my NCD protected policy; when the renewal came up there was a hike of approx £100 if I remember rightly. When I queried it, pointing out the "protected NCD", I was told "It's not the premium that's protected, it's the NCD". I still can't quite get my head round it, but I'm pretty sure all the Ins companies play the same game. The bottom line is having a prtected NCD means you won't get quite so badly stung, but you'll still get stung.
I think it's well worth trying to find someone who'll do it for sensible money; the posh body shops are really only interested in insurance jobs, which are a license to print money for them. I can usually get my scrapes and dents done for under £200, and leave my insurance out of it.
Good luck!
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I am sure Mark (RLBS) will be along in a minute to explain fully, but from what I gather from my experiences with accidents is that once you claim for damage, you are more likely to claim again and therefore you are classified as a higher risk.
This happened to me when someone drove into the back of my passat on the M1. I was not to blame, but my premium went up on the next renewal (1 month later). I was given the above explanation.
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I had this happen to me a year ago. I took the hit and paid (about £500) out of my own pocket.
Feel free to rant and scethe about it for ages - I did.
You might also want to walk around the car park every day and look for signs of your paint on someone else's bumper and have a camera with you.
Gareth
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I may be lucky but this hasn't been my experience. I'm insured with the same company for both my cars. I have a protected NCD which I think allows for 2 claims in 5 years. I had a claim in April 2000 for £1900 and another in June 2003 for £1500. When my lastest renewal for one of the cars came through in May it was for £282 compared with £290 last year.
I have to say I never bother with alternative quotes as the biggest saving I found in recent years was about £20. And I don't have to go through all the rigmarole of filling in a new proposal form.
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Since you're giving them a good review, I think you're allowed to name this lovely company who don't automatically put the premium up a bit each year in the hope you won't notice, like most others seem to.
I'd certainly be interested in their name since I'm due to renew next month.
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Since you're giving them a good review, I think you're allowed to name this lovely company who don't automatically put the premium up a bit each year in the hope you won't notice, like most others seem to. I'd certainly be interested in their name since I'm due to renew next month.
Norwich Union Direct... I had smaller quotes from them each year for 3 years running despite an accidental damage claim.
They only put my premium up when I stopped driveing a GTV to work and started driving a Punto
JaB
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You should report the accident to the Police. Look for any cameras in the area and go to the car park at the time you think the accident happend and see who about, ask passers by if they saw anything. You never know . Good luck. Peter
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Thanks all for the replies.
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