Help - Exorbitant Car Accident Claim

spartacus77 on 08/07/2022 - 08:10
Last edited 08/07/2022 - 09:55 by 1 other user

I crossed a lane on my moped and the car in the lane bumped me at very low speed. I was in the wrong I think, as I thought it was a 2 way street but it was one way, so I thought I was looking for oncoming traffic. The car that shunted me was a BMW SUV. The damage on the BMW was minimal - The plastic trim around the sensor on the bumper and some minor scratches on the side bumper.

I'm insured but thinking I might be able to pay without claiming, I asked for the quote from the other person's insurance. It has come back at $5000. Sounds outrageous and includes 22 days of car hire at over $800.

Can I dispute the costs? Should I? Is there anything I can do or should I just claim with my insurance? If my motorbike insurance is a separate company from my car insurance, will my car insurance premium be affected?

Thanks for any advice.

Automotive

Comments

  • dust on 08/07/2022 - 08:24
    +26

    It was a BMW. It's going to be expensive. Just let your insurance deal with it, that's what you pay premiums for.

  • sheamas88 on 08/07/2022 - 08:24
    +10

    Can I dispute the costs? Should I?

    Ask for an itemised invoice, if it looks inflated then offer a reasonable amount. Hard to say whether it sounds unreasonable without any details for the repairs they are claiming for. $800 for 22 days car hire sounds cheap to me, especially since they are entitled to a car that is equivalent to their current one

    Is there anything I can do or should I just claim with my insurance?

    Yes you should claim, that's why you have insurance.

    If my motorbike insurance is a separate company from my car insurance, will my car insurance premium be affected?

    It would depend on the exact wording of the disclosure clause, but if you make a claim on any vehicle insurance and they ask "have you made a claim before" then you would be required to disclose, doesn't matter that it's a different insurance company or vehicle.

  • Pelicannn on 08/07/2022 - 08:29
    +2

    Sounds about right to me.

    If it’s metallic paint, they need to blend panels and it’s expensive to get right. That means likely a whole bumper respray plus the panel either side of it. The plastic trim is probably also a lot more than you think. Considering BMW charge in excess of $1500 for some carbon fibre trim to jazz up your mirror caps I wouldn’t be surprised at the price they charge on the trim.

    I actually had the front trim on my Audi replaced about 7 years ago. The cost to replace the plastic trim bit from Audi was quoted at over $2000. Some of that cost included the fact they also had to recalibrate the front sensor again. Sounds as if BMW might also want to do the same which I wouldn’t blame them. The sensors on the front are… forgive my pun, sensitive… any incorrect movement of it could cause the AEB or radar function to fault out. They are very temperamental at times.

    Tl;dr - I’d recommend just going through insurance.

  • Benoffie on 08/07/2022 - 08:32
    +3

    OzInsure, please hold….

  • kerfuffle on 08/07/2022 - 08:33
    +4

    22 days of car hire at over $800

    That actually sounds pretty cheap for car hire if it's between $800-$900. One week is already about $500 for a bog standard Corolla/i30 type car from SIXT

    • WT on 09/07/2022 - 09:44
      +1

      yea it is but some dont use hertz etc they use a company that basically only hires out to smash repairers

      They dont have a lot of overheads apart from the cars, insurance, rego etc. You get a corolla or some other basic car. They might have 3 or they might have 15

      The other thing is the insurance co may have a corporate rate with say hertz so they get a lot cheaper rates since they are always hiring cars and a car being hired out at a reduced rate is better then one sitting in the lot.

      • Euphemistic on 09/07/2022 - 15:18

        Plus BMW SUV driver probably wouldn’t be happy with a little hatchback.

  • SF3 on 08/07/2022 - 08:34
    +6

    In today’s AA (Accident Anonymous) lesson.

    Always have insurance ( OP has 👍), as you may damage a high yield and have a Big Bill to pay.

  • apsilon on 08/07/2022 - 08:47

    The plastic trim around the sensor on the bumper and some minor scratches on the side bumper.

    Unlikely the trim is available separately to the sensor so you'd be paying for the sensor as well. Assuming bumper doesn't need to be replaced you're still paying for paint (and all the labour that goes into dismantling, prep, paint, reassembly and detail) of the bumper and blending of paint into guards and bonnet and 22 days of car hire. $5k sounds cheap to me.

  • wazit2u on 08/07/2022 - 08:54
    -3

    While it's not your responsibility to cover their hire car as a out of pocket cost to yourself - the damage sounds like it's enough to put it through your insurance.

    Save yourself the headache and let insurance take care of the repair

    • sheamas88 on 08/07/2022 - 09:31
      +3

      not your responsibility to cover their hire car as a out of pocket cost to yourself

      If OP is at fault, and the car is not driveable then they are 100% required to pay for the hire car. There are many third-party companies that will enforce these rights for the not-at-fault party these days

  • Stopback on 08/07/2022 - 08:56

    Confused how a car hitting you from the back

    Means you are at fault.

    • [Deactivated] on 08/07/2022 - 09:08
      +3

      They moved into a lane without looking, the rear of their moped hit the car as they moved into the lane. You don’t have to let anyone into “your” lane, it’s up to the lane switcher to find a gap they can safely fit in.

      They worded the post poorly, the car didn’t bump them, they bumped the car.

      • dust on 08/07/2022 - 09:10

        Yes. OP thought it was one way so didn't look back to check if the adjacent lane was clear before merging into it. (Kinda dangerous if you're in a moped if you ask me!)

    • spartacus77 on 08/07/2022 - 18:36

      I crossed 2 lanes on a one-way road. As I crossed the second lane, think the lane was oncoming traffic only, the front left of the car behind in that lane shunted me. Can I claim that as not my fault? Hard one to argue surely..

      • apsilon on 08/07/2022 - 18:38

        Can I claim that as not my fault?

        No you can't. If it'd been a more serious accident where cops had to attend you'd be charged with negligent driving.

      • WT on 09/07/2022 - 09:52
        +1

        youre on a scooter, its your prerogative ride properly and defensively. You have a lot more at stake in an accident since you can get squished while karen has a 2 ton bmw around her it will be just like driving over a speed hump.

  • bobbified on 08/07/2022 - 09:56
    +1

    You break it, you pay for it.

    Honestly, save the headache and pay the excess so that your insurance company deal with it. That's exactly what you pay them for.
    Your premium for both bike and car is likely to go up since you will have to declare that you have made a non-recoverable (at-fault) claim.

  • Muzeeb on 08/07/2022 - 09:59
    +3

    Exorbitant

    $5k is nothing in the panel repair business

  • GrueHunter on 08/07/2022 - 10:15
    +3

    There's no "wrong I think" if you didn't realise you were on a one-way street and just drove into somebody in the next lane. You were wrong.

    Have you seen how much a BMW SUV costs? What difference does it make anyway? The costs were never going to be less than your excess. You're insured, use it. I've never got this "So great I'm insured…now I must never, ever use it" mindset.

    Check your car insurance policy for a clause about needing to disclose at-fault incidents, or risk having an "accident" in your car where you "think" you might be wrong and find out the policy is void.

  • Drakesy on 08/07/2022 - 11:16
    +2

    At lest you were insured.
    Take it as a win.

    admittedly the 22 days of car hire sounds a bit high for something where the car sounds like it's still driveable.

    • apsilon on 08/07/2022 - 11:25

      admittedly the 22 days of car hire sounds a bit high for something where the car sounds like it's still driveable.

      On one hand I agree, my car was still driveable so I only took a hire car for the days it was in for repair which I think was only 3 days but I could've taken it for 4.5 months as that's how long it took for all parts to be available if I wanted to.

      • Drakesy on 08/07/2022 - 11:32
        +1

        I don't think that's how it works.

        If your car is driveable it's driveable. Hire cars are there while the car is repaired (or if the car is undriveable).

        I have a friend who's car were dented on a couple of door panels and pretty scratched up. Insurance company deemed it driveable and denied a hire car until it was in for repairs.

        • apsilon on 08/07/2022 - 11:38

          I was offered one straight up so it depends on your insurer and coverage. Didn't bother taking it as I'm WFM anyway so my driving mostly consist of popping out to the shops once a week for groceries.

          • Drakesy on 08/07/2022 - 12:06

            @apsilon: Yeah i guess that would play a role as well.

            • apsilon on 08/07/2022 - 15:36

              @Drakesy: Yep. The bill for damage to one panel on my Kia was $4,994.58 inc the 3 day car hire so $5k for a BMW and 22 days of car hire is in no way exorbitant IMO.

              • Drakesy on 08/07/2022 - 15:39

                @apsilon: Geezus for one panel?!

                Seems a bit outrageous.

                • apsilon on 08/07/2022 - 15:56

                  @Drakesy: Most of the cost is labour. Lot of prep work, disassembly, assembly etc as the paint needed to be blended into the door, bumper, A pillar and bonnet. I also didn't choose a cheap place but rather one I knew I could trust. Didn't care about the cost as I wasn't paying, just wanted it fixed right.

                  • Drakesy on 08/07/2022 - 16:47

                    @apsilon: It's still 4 days full time @ $100 an hour + $1000 in paint and parts.

                    Even on the surface that seems excessive for 1 panel.

                    A new panel (conservative) - $1000, installation & paint $800.

                    • apsilon on 08/07/2022 - 17:03

                      @Drakesy: Yep, as I said, I used a high end place.

                      • Drakesy on 08/07/2022 - 17:04

                        @apsilon: TBH its sounds like they shafted the insurance company.

                        • apsilon on 08/07/2022 - 18:37

                          @Drakesy: No, I used to work in a related industry which is why I knew which shop I wanted to use. Yes I could've got it repaired elsewhere cheaper but as I said, I didn't care what it cost, only cared about the end result.

    • Baysew on 08/07/2022 - 11:26
      +1

      It actually sounds like that the BMW may have been repaired in that time.

      I asked for the quote from the other person's insurance

      Could be that the BMW owner has claimed through their insurance, not wanting to go through the run around with the Moped owner.

      • bobbified on 08/07/2022 - 13:26
        +1

        not wanting to go through the run around with the Moped owner.

        I wouldn't want to be messing around with repairs either. If I'm going to get something repaired, I'd want it done properly and not to the budget of the person that caused it.

  • Webber000 on 08/07/2022 - 15:12
    +1

    @spartacus77
    If it was a BMW suv then the plastic bumpers probably have sensors for lane control, parking etc and even if they aren't broken the repairer is going to have to recalibrate them all. It will only cost the garage labour but they'll charge a lot for it. In addition to everything else people have said above. Unfortunately $5k for 2 panels on a BMW plus car hire is actually not a bad price at all. Either put it through insurance or pay the guy now and make it clear its full and final payment so he can't come back for more if it turns out sensors are broken. Don't piss him off because $5k sounds good and he's not trying it on.

  • Euphemistic on 08/07/2022 - 17:27

    I wouldnt be surprised if it cost $5k for a minor repair on a BMW, but I’d argue about 22 days for the hire car. That sounds ridiculous.

    Having said that it’s possible the car should not/cannot be driven if the sensor is damaged and it may take a couple of weeks to get a part and a week to fit it.

  • subydooby on 09/07/2022 - 09:43

    We shouldn’t make cars that expensive to repair. Base model white Camry’s for everyone…
    Or ban the Beemer.

  • MontyMacaw on 09/07/2022 - 10:23

    You’re screwed

  • ColtNoir on 09/07/2022 - 17:54

    If it’s a newer car they buy a new panel, paint it and blend the adjacent panels.

    Can’t say it wasn’t beaten properly if it was replaced. It’s how workshops offer ‘lifetime guarantee’s on workmanship’.

    For what sounds like 2 panels it’s not too bad. We had a scrape across 2 panels and it was around $6k for a Mazda CX-5.

    Just use insurance.

    Edit: hire car for 5 days was approx $300 without the insurance add-on, as my insurance covered the hire car.

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