# Reversed into a BMW! insurance questions



## bluefirefly (19 Jan 2010)

happened in the estate, the neighbours across the road I reversed into the passenger door of a 06 BMW.. it was foggy and i misjudged, i was really scared when i heard the bang.... i left my contact number on the windscreen(it was late at night).
I took some pictures but it's really dark and the car was black. 
I can see a dent anyway,I dont see any paint scatrched off or scratches...I'm just wondering can anyone tell me around how much will it cost me? If I can pay it myself(prob not) I will, but if I can't my insurance will have to.. 
If that happens is my insurance going to sky high next year i get a renewal? (i'm a 23yr girl ,i drive a 00 yaris...yea am i screwed?) 
Thankyou


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## Pacific (19 Jan 2010)

I agree, it's over to your neighbours and how they respond. Happened me a few years back someone reversed into my Mondeo and took the bumper off but they hung around to fess up - very honest and I was more concerned that the driver was gonna have a cornary. The damage came to €300. But me thinks a BMW dent might be a pit priceier. Check your policy for no claims discount cover or step back cover. Any way good luck with the negotiations.


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## jack2009 (19 Jan 2010)

Is a dent in one car not the same a a dent in another provided paint types are the same/similiar?


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## bluefirefly (20 Jan 2010)

Hey guys thanks for the replies.
The man called me today, he said that his brother is a mechanic and he'll let him have a look at it and that it's just a dent and it shouldn't cost too much. He also told me not to worry about it, my respond to his was.."Sorrry i'm soooo sorry!!!" I was really embarassed and don't know what to say!! but he manage to break a joke and say " ah dont worry,I'll prob do that to ye some day" 

he said he'll drop the quote/bill to me on saturday and he's only getting it fix in two weeks time or so because he needs the car(guilt kicking in again) ,and i could decide what to do then.
My car is perfectly fine. Now I just have to worry about the cost, hopefully its gona be something I can afford!

@petermack . wow that's a BIG difference in price!! I'm hoping it'd be about or less than 600e over that i think i would need to claim insurance... but he said it's his brother so hopefully its cheaper than i think it would be.
(I live in Carlow,pretty close to portloaise.But i cant make him go there!)

just gotta wait and see.


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## bluefirefly (2 Feb 2010)

just got the quote today!! it comes to 1954something euros!!here's what the bill look like: Rear door 695.86 , door seal(weather strip) 85.75 , Paint and sundries 220. Labour 720.

he texted me today but i wasnt at home so i didnt reply. When i got home and saw the bill, i was naturally shocked!! So i text him back saying that i just got the quote and ask him to give me some time to think about it. Then he replied saying that he'd like to get a reply before the weekend. And another text saying "in all due respect the car has to be fixed" . 

I feel like he's trying to get me pay for it like immediatley! so i replied saying it's not a small amount of money and that i'll contact him before the weekend.

honestly, i was prepared to pay for one  grand, but now is almost 2grand!!


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## chrisboy (2 Feb 2010)

Wow, someone is making an absolute killing on that! 720 labour? How much an hour is that? The door seals are about 35 euro delivered, brand new on ebay.. Just as well his brother is the mechanic, hey?


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## jack2009 (2 Feb 2010)

Perhaps get a second quote from someone on your side before handing out all of that money and consider going through insurance company.


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## Slash (2 Feb 2010)

Who supplied the quote to the car owner? was it from a BMW dealer or on a sheet of plain paper? Sounds like a lot to me, but I haven't seen the dent.

You are perfectly entitled to get a second quote, and you should insist on that.

Also, check your car insurance policy, some policies allow you to make one claim without affecting no claims bonus.


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## Staples (2 Feb 2010)

So much for honesty being the best policy...


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## tosullivan (2 Feb 2010)

that sounds about right. someone reversed into my drivers door recently and cost them about 1800 with new door, labor/paint etc.


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## PaddyBloggit (2 Feb 2010)

cousin's car hit by a deer .... damage barely visible .... but cost was €2100 .... and that was after insurance co assessed it. Labour was a large percentage of it.

I reckon your quote won't get much better.

Report to your insurers, they'll assess it .... you'll probably have to pay an excess (check your policy) and suffer an increase in premium next year and loss of no claims bonus.


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## bluefirefly (3 Feb 2010)

@Petermack  no i didnt. this is the first time anything like this had ever happened to me. And i never ever thought a dent like that would have cost SOOO much! especially him saying ït's not gona cost too much, my brother is a mechanic"!  
I'm going to ring the insurance company tomorrow, is there anything i should be aware of when talking to them?

@chrisboy well, guess his brother charge a good bit

@jack2009 I would prefer to get a second quote, yet I can't force him to get one

both of us live in Carlow and the invoice I got for the repair is from WESTMEATH! (i guess that's where his brother's garage is! )

@Slash  The quote is from a garage. but what's on it is what i typed out. As its a very high chance that it's his brothers garage, the chances for me to move him elsewhere is very slim.
I'm with Quinn Direct..dont think they're that nice and will let me go

@Staples  honesty sucks!

@tosullivan may i ask you what car you drive? and you got a whole new door? hm. maybe thats what he's getting too. not just a matter of "popping the dent out" now

@PaddyBloggit yea, not gona bother asking the guy to check out other garage,dont think he will either.
Yep, gona ring the insurance company tomorrow. 
And i'm gona make sure i tell them that that garage is probably owned by his brother.


Ok, these are my suspicions:
1) We both live in Carlow, but he found a garage in Westmeath to do the estimates (his reg is WH..could be where he got the car?)

2) he said his brother is a mechanic, so big possibility that his brother own/work in that garage

3) It took him a week and a half to give me the quote and i think he's being abit pushy wanting me to sort it out before the weekend and saying the car needs to be fixed.

Advice needed on:
1) Do I need to tell QD the exact date of the incident? Will they be mad because I didnt call them straight away?

2) Any good to mention the mechanic brother and garage link to them?

3) Any point at ALL for me to ask how much my premium will go up be when i renew my policy?

4) Can I still shop around for insurance or will I be stuck with QD for a couple years because I made a claim?

loads of questions, sorry!!!!
and THANK YOU!!! for advices and replies

P.S. I'm uploading picture to the internet. will release link soon


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## bluefirefly (3 Feb 2010)

here are the pictures. it was a foggy night and its really dark, the dark car doesnt help either
you can see the dent, and a little circle shape thing at the bottom, but i think thats just a dust mark from my car. the car has a..hole in the bumper


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## Slash (3 Feb 2010)

I think the car owner is correct: the car does need a new door. Bad luck. The dent probably could be popped out, but it would never be 100% right because the ridge just below the window is dented also, albeit only slightly.

Anyhow, tell QD all the information and be 100% honest with them
QD won't care about the relationship between the driver and the mechanic
Yes, you can ask QD how your premium will be affected by making a claim.
Yes, you can shop around for insurance, you will have to disclose that you have made a claim, which will affect the premium.
I still think you should insist on a second quote.


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## Scotsgirl (3 Feb 2010)

The same thing happened to me. I reversed into a car door.  The owner of the car was so honest and didn't want me to think she was ripping me off in any way and asked me to go to the garage with her to get damage assessed.  Because of the position of the dent the garage said it wasn't possible to fix and a new door was required.  This cost quite a bit, mainly spraying and labour.

Perhaps this was the case with the car you reversed into.


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## PyritePete (3 Feb 2010)

the bottom link is the better one to view. Still while I am not a mechanic I dont see any reason why he needs a new door as it looks like it can be popped ( if that is the right trade term) out ?

As another poster said, check with Quinn. Some policies allow 1 unlimited claim within a 3 year period.

Good luck !!


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## jack2009 (3 Feb 2010)

You are right that it is not fair that it has taken him over a week and that he is demanding a decision within 24 hours.  Especially since we are talking €2k not €200 and as you have posted you dont have the money but want to get the issue sorted.

I am not a mechanic but everyone seems to be agreeing that you are very possibly getting ripped off.  You are entitled to a second quote and if insurance get involved they will want to asses the damange themselves .  So until you know whether you are claiming off insurance or not dont let him get the car fixed.

I have seen cars with worse dents on doors and they were simply bet out and resprayed.  Also thinking about it you were only reversing out of the drive and not going at high speed so it seems a bit unsafe for BMW if the door needs replacing after a knock!


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## Leo (3 Feb 2010)

jack2009 said:


> You are entitled to a second quote


 
Playing devil's advocate here, but as the OP is seeking to avoid the insurance route, they are not legally entitled to make any such demand. 



jack2009 said:


> I have seen cars with worse dents on doors and they were simply bet out and resprayed. Also thinking about it you were only reversing out of the drive and not going at high speed so it seems a bit unsafe for BMW if the door needs replacing after a knock!


 
This is nothing to do with safety. Having a panel beaten and re-sprayed will almost always be detectable after the fact. This would lower the value of the car. The BMW driver was not at fault, so should suffer no loss as a result. Having said that, they shouldn't be going looking to make money out of it either.

Regarding insurance renewal, try get quotes from a few places now saying you've had 1 claim. See what the options are, some quotes will probably be off the scale though.
Leo


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## bluefirefly (3 Feb 2010)

Right. I just called QD. wow that guy had NOO interest in my story at all! guess its not an interesting job there. very blunt tho. 
why are you only calling us now?
did you call the guards?
Do you have VAT??? are you self employed?

anyways, thats done now. Letting them take over.2 years NCB is gone, oh well. 2grand is waay too much!!! 
My exess is 300euros which I can afford!

oh i asked him what my next premium will be and he said he can't at the moment. But I'll get a letter after the whole thing is settled and that I'll "get the idea then"???


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## Leo (3 Feb 2010)

Well, on the bright side, at least now the hassle is Quinn's to deal with. 

On the other hand, you may well pay more than 2k in the long run. I'd have gotten a couple of quotes under a false name before going down that route.


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## Pique318 (3 Feb 2010)

The reason you need a new door (or more correctly a 'door shell') is that the side impact protection bars have probably been damaged and therefore just repairing the skin is hiding the real damage.


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## bluefirefly (4 Feb 2010)

Leo said:


> Well, on the bright side, at least now the hassle is Quinn's to deal with.
> 
> On the other hand, you may well pay more than 2k in the long run. I'd have gotten a couple of quotes under a false name before going down that route.



for online quotes i usually use false informations just to get an idea of what it looks like.I know for 123.ie if they gave you a quote the first time and you dont get it,the second time you go back,the quote is at a much higher price.
 But after one claim I dont think I can get online quotes any more. So I need to phone them. Is it necessary to use false info when ringing insurance comapanies?


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## PyritePete (4 Feb 2010)

Pique318 said:


> The reason you need a new door (or more correctly a 'door shell') is that the side impact protection bars have probably been damaged and therefore just repairing the skin is hiding the real damage.


 
from looking at the link/photo the dent is quite high on the door - are the impact protection bars this high ?

Again I'm no mechanic...


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