Facelift Help needed - A4 rear bumper repair estimate.

[Shaun Bowman]

Hi, I’m looking for some advice please.
I recently got clipped on a roundabout by an uninsured driver and wanted to know what it would cost to repair the damage to my rear bumper, pop it out and spray it or would I need a new bumper. My car is a 2018 model and only 2 months old. I’m trying not to use my insurance as I want to keep my no claims bonus.
I’ve attached a few photos.

Thanks.

 

[cuke2u]

Why are you not claiming off your own insurance? Mine has a specific clause that means my policy isn't affected. If I made a claim for an accident that is not my fault and the driver of the car that hits you is not insured, I would not lose my no claims discount or have to pay any excess.

I would have the bumber and the lower valance replaced. Plus the crash structures need checking just to make sure they're OK.
Sure you could get in done on the cheap. When I managed to dent my A3 bumber Audi quoted over £3k for everything, whereas I had it repaired for £350. But I could see the difference...

 

[Shaun Bowman]

Hi. Thanks for your reply. As it happened on a roundabout insurance companies usually go 50/50 on claims as its difficult to prove fault. He’s saying I cut him off. I will check with my insurance to see what’s in my policy.
Thanks again.

 

[MOA4B9]

I had my front bumper broken in a parking lot last week so I'm interested in the responses to this topic as well. The difference with me is that I don't know who did it so would I be able still to claim it from insurance without loosing no claims discount? I cannot prove that it wasn't me that did it.

 

[Dingah from Downundah]

Hi, I’m looking for some advice please.
I recently got clipped on a roundabout by an uninsured driver and wanted to know what it would cost to repair the damage to my rear bumper, pop it out and spray it or would I need a new bumper. My car is a 2018 model and only 2 months old. I’m trying not to use my insurance as I want to keep my no claims bonus.
I’ve attached a few photos.

Thanks.

Shaun - very similar issue here but less damaged. To have a really professional job enquires a reasonable amount of labour due to the need to remove and replace several panels for respraying - notably the rear quarter panel above the bumper unit which requires removal and repair as well - currently looking at around $3000AUD.

 

[B5NUT]

Regardless of what your current policy say's, when you next renew with with either the same or difference insurance company, you will have to answer the "Have you had an accident in the last 3/5 years" question, answer yes an I guarantee your insurance will go up regardless of fault. I would also report the driver that hit you to the police.

To me that could be repaired but if it was my car I would be looking at a new bumper, also looks like they got the alloy wheel.

 

[ash13]

Had my previous A6 rear-ended by a waste truck three years ago whilst waiting to get on to a roundabout. Luckily it was only a low speed collision, total cost of the repairs was £2300 which was paid for by the other guys insurance. And yes my insurance went up the next year.

 

[cuke2u]

Regardless of what your current policy say's, when you next renew with with either the same or difference insurance company, you will have to answer the "Have you had an accident in the last 3/5 years" question, answer yes an I guarantee your insurance will go up regardless of fault. I would also report the driver that hit you to the police.

To me that could be repaired but if it was my car I would be looking at a new bumper, also looks like they got the alloy wheel.

Regardless, the OP has had an accident whether he claims or not, so if his insurance covers non-insured ones there is no point of paying for a cheap repair that my well look poor and would still have to declare it anyway. Or are you suggesting he lies?

 

[B5NUT]

No, don't know why you think I told him to Lie. I'm suggesting regardless of "specific clause that means my policy isn't affected" you will take a hit when you come up for renewal, even more so if you go to another insurance company, as regardless of clauses insurance companies don't have to tell you why your insurance is going up, and most companies ask about accidents for at least the last 3 years fault or not. There have been a fair few member on here that have reported there insurance went up after a non-fault accident, it shouldn't happen but insurance companies area law unto themselves.

 

[cuke2u]

You will not necessarily take a hit if your policy covers you against any liability with a non-insured driver causing damage to your car and you stay with that insurance.
That's surely the point of it and my policy states this.

As, with my insurance, and if I was in the same position, I would not hesitate in going through them. That way all the body parts, and other components, would be replaced for no financial hit and knowing the repair was done properly and professionaly...

 

[liveseytowers]

I'd find a good body shop and get a quote. If it's only £350ish I'd just get it repaired especially if your not sure who is to blame. If it's much more I'd consider the insurance route. Be careful though as if they know you've had an accident and you don't declare it they could increase your premium.

I did some quotes on a comparison site to see what affect a claim would have on my premium before deciding if protecting my no claims was worth paying the extra. When I renewed with the protected no claims I got a letter saying I hadn't declared an accident and my premium had increased and they would take an extra £200 in 14 days. I had to ring up and explain and luckily they believed me!.

 

[royalsteve68]

Hi. Thanks for your reply. As it happened on a roundabout insurance companies usually go 50/50 on claims as its difficult to prove fault. He’s saying I cut him off. I will check with my insurance to see what’s in my policy.
Thanks again.

So what if you cut him off, he shouldn’t have on the ****** road


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[mjcairney]

I don't know if the OP has picked up on it but, as has already been pointed out by B5NUT in post #6, it looks like the alloy wheel has also sustained damage, so you need to factor that in as well.

 

[wideboybloke]

I damaged mine to a lesser extent in exactly the same place when I’d only had it a couple of months or so. My local body shop straightened the bumper in situ and resprayed the corner for £280. You couldn’t detect any repair.

12 months later another driver scraped the bumper in exactly the same place whilst the car was parked. Fortunately he left his details so it was repaired on his insurance at my local Audi body shop. This time the bumper was removed and completely resprayed at a cost of £1000. Beautiful repair but of course my insurer saw fit to increase my premium at renewal.

 

[mjcairney]

I damaged mine to a lesser extent in exactly the same place when I’d only had it a couple of months or so. My local body shop straightened the bumper in situ and resprayed the corner for £280. You couldn’t detect any repair.

12 months later another driver scraped the bumper in exactly the same place whilst the car was parked. Fortunately he left his details so it was repaired on his insurance at my local Audi body shop. This time the bumper was removed and completely resprayed at a cost of £1000. Beautiful repair but of course my insurer saw fit to increase my premium at renewal.

That stinks! As a matter of interest, did you think to query them as to why they did this?

 

[cuke2u]

No fault claim, same happened to me and unfortunately you have to declare it...

 

[mjcairney]

Yes, I appreciate you have to declare a no fault claim but truly object to them upping your insurance because of it. To me, it's just part of Rip-Off Britain. Any way they can get their hands on your money. **** Turpin at least had the decency to wear a mask when he was robbing people, these companies just do it bare faced. As I said in my previous post, it stinks!

 

[DarkyUK]

It is the norm, basically if you have had an accident, regardless of fault, the insurers see you as more of a risk to have another accident.

I had a BMW 1 series drive into my old A7 causing a huge amount of damage, nothing I could do about it, no fault of mine, my insurance shot up the following year and is only just coming back down 4 years later

 

[Paul Golding]

And that's why Compare the Meerkat et al exist.

My last car was rear ended and required, bumper, tailgate, sensors etc and was off the road for a couple of weeks i.e. shed loads of money in car rental charges. Current car had someone reverse into the rear quarter and had the panel replaced and was taken off me for nearly 3 weeks, so again, shed load of car rental charges (I swear the document I signed when the replacement was dropped off quoted around £150 per day for a 5 series!).

Anyway, not cheap repairs and both non-fault and declared at renewal and on both occasions my premium went down, albeit that both times involved a change of insurer. I seem to swap between Aviva, Axa and Esure quite regularly and always with protected NCB and business use, so not using the unheard of dodgy insurers that seem to be cheapest.

 

[DarkyUK]

@Paul Golding : I have always dome comparisons and have also used Axa in the past, in fact Axa was my insurer when the BMW crashed in to me. I'm now with Direct Line because of the free Business Cover but do find I have to call them every year to get them to reduce the price and they do tend to match quite well.

 

[mjcairney]

@DarkyUK : And yet Direct Line wouldn't reduce mine last time after applying a fairly substantial increase, so I moved on to LV.

 

[DarkyUK]

@mjcairney They bought mine for the S3 down by around £200, and the Mrs rang them about her little Ford EcoSport just last week and got a reduction on her's too. Maybe they have changed their stance now due to loosing so much business?

 

[wideboybloke]

That stinks! As a matter of interest, did you think to query them as to why they did this?

I more or less expected them to increase the premium, but in any case I have a special arrangement with my insurer that I haven’t been able to negotiate elsewhere (won’t bore you with the detail) so I’m more or less stuck with them until other insurers follow their lead.

 

[mjcairney]

@mjcairney They bought mine for the S3 down by around £200, and the Mrs rang them about her little Ford EcoSport just last week and got a reduction on her's too. Maybe they have changed their stance now due to loosing so much business?

I shall try them again at the next renewal time. That said, they absolutely refused to budge last time. As always, time will tell.

 

[mjcairney]

I more or less expected them to increase the premium, but in any case I have a special arrangement with my insurer that I haven’t been able to negotiate elsewhere (won’t bore you with the detail) so I’m more or less stuck with them until other insurers follow their lead.

Yes, I suspected that but that's where we go wrong, we expect it so, when it happens, we just accept it. I would much rather put them on the spot and demand to know why they are imposing an increase because someone else hit my car. To say that because it's already happened means it more likely to happen again is absolute bullsh*t. It's just another way of getting their grubby hands on more of people's money. I think a country whose national TV broadcaster has a program called Rip-Off Britain says it all. If I have said that already in this thread, I don't apologise for repeating myself.

 

[cuke2u]

I have just done so with my house insurance, they gradually creep the premium up on that one every year hoping I won't notice. In the end they've lost my custom because I got fed up with them taking the pee...

 

[Evil Derboy]

£400. Bumper removed, repaired, resprayed and refitted.

From the pics it doesn’t look like your rear quarter has been affected.

 

[pjeffe9172]

Whereabouts are you based Sean?