My Baby's Been Hit...again

[SAM LOVERS HER TOYOTAS]

Today's been a very sad day for me indeed, came home from work at lunch time, parked up opposite the house, a normal day as any other, an hour later my neighbour's knocking on my door..."someone's hit into your car", i run out and all i see is...i felt pure devastation ! A dear old lady come's round the corner...literally shaking...and admits that she hit into my car, what could i say, she gave me her driver's license so i took down all her details, and likewise gave her mine, she kept apologing a zillion times, an hour later Saga insurance ring me, they confirmed that their party admit full liability and they would like to arrange a courtesy car and book my car in for repairs, i ask with who?, they confirm a local garage a mile down the road, i said i insist i want it repaired by my Toyota dealers, they said fine and to get a quote and ring them back tomorrow...and here we are...i havent even notified my insurance company...do i need to? Im still shaking myself! I've included a pic thanks to my kind neighbour lending me their camera, Where do i go next??? I can't believe she hit my car, there was like 3 or 4 car spaces infront of me! I just give up. Please let me know what you all think.

Will this increase my premiums now? Devalue my car even more? Be recorded as damaged? So many things to stress about! Does the damage look bad to you all?

Sammy

P/s...Do you think the dealers will do a PERFECT JOB after my past experiences with local bodyshops? My local Toyota Farmer & Carlisle dont have a bodyshop onsight but they do have one at their Loughborough site.

[mr-p]

well old people eh lol its not that bad looks worse id say, wing looks ok so does the bonnet. because she has admitted full liability the your ncd will not be affected. you can inform your insurance company if you want but you dont have to as the other company has already offered to fix your car. asking for it to go to toyota is within your rights it may just take it a little longer to get it all done as they wont be on the insurers "approved repairers" list and there is no way enough damage there for it to become a cat d/c and if they dont do a perfect job then just keep taking it back thats what i did and they got it right in the end

[nrgizerbunny]

looks like it's front bumper only so you should have no problems getting it fixed.

I would just make sure you get it to toyota to fix not the approved "insurance garage"

[etihad]

Yeah looks ok, worst come to worst a new bumper from toyota and a coat of paint will get it as good if not better. Its panels you gotta worry about.

[oldcodger]

Hey Sam,

If its not one thing it another ....

In a way its a good job you were not in it !

Does look like just the bumper but you never can tell until is properly inspected.

While to other party has stepped straight in, you normally have 24 hours to inform your own insurers, Ok they will probably add another layer of phone calls etc, but it could be a wise move incase anything goes wrong with Saga / the repair.

As long as Saga pick up cost of everything, repairs, hire car it should not affect your no claims bonus.

Pity you did not park it the other way around then you could have got a good respray on your rear bumper

[oldcodger]

Hey Sam,

If its not one thing it another ....

In a way its a good job you were not in it !

Does look like just the bumper but you never can tell until is properly inspected.

While to other party has stepped straight in, you normally have 24 hours to inform your own insurers, Ok they will probably add another layer of phone calls etc, but it could be a wise move incase anything goes wrong with Saga / the repair.

As long as Saga pick up cost of everything, repairs, hire car it should not affect your no claims bonus.

Pity you did not park it the other way around then you could have got a good respray on your rear bumper

[SAM LOVERS HER TOYOTAS]

Thanks guys, do you honestly think its not that bad? Mr-P, you're darn right it looks worse in the real, i recon that beam behind the bumper looks pushed back a little, the headlight and foglamp look absolutely fine so i hope they don't replace them as then they won't match the other side! Old codger you joker, my rear bumper's fine and doesn't need a respray! Nobody's commented as to whether this will affect the value of my car??? I'll ring my insurance company tomorrow, what a start to what was supposed to be a relaxing weekend for me! :ffs: Can't wait to ring My dealer tomorrow and hopefully they'll ask me to pop down so i can get the ball rolling! what do you think their quote's going to be???

[Lorna2]

Sam, its such a pity what happened your car.

I don't think it should affect the value of your car, as long as the job is done properly. Again,I'm another who would only go to Toyota for repairs, rather than somewhere recommended by insurers. I found out who my own insurance company uses for repairs, and its a place I wouldn't go near. Insurance companies only send you to the cheapest place they can find,they don't care if the job is done properly, as long as it doesn't cost them too much.

Hope you get it all sorted out soon

[oldcodger]

Hey Sam,

Thought you weren't happy with the rear bumper respray.

Yep, call Toyota first thing, though their accident assesor might not be in till Monday and Saga might want their assesor to see it before authorising the repairs.

If some internal beam (?) etc is bent they won't always replace it, they have plenty of power tools to straighten things out properly.

Don't worry about cost, insurance repair costs are amazingly high as everyone gets a slice of the cherry cake!

Don't forget you are fully entitled to a free hire car while yours is off the road, at Sagas expense, and don't sign anything that does not clearly say Saga will pay for it, or get it checked with your insurer.

Try and switch off for a few hours and things will be sorted out in the morning - its not your job to run around; Saga and Toyota should be doing all the running for you, you just drop your car off and they see you off in a courtsey/ hire car.

[Cyker]

Argh! Poor Sammy!

I can't believe your luck! I think we will need to nick the shield from the batmobile to protect your poor car at this rate!

Don't worry tho' - If it's just the bumper it'll be a pretty easy fix and the value of your car shouldn't be affected as it will be repaired to as-new.

You will need to list the crash when you renew your insurance tho' (Otherwise your policy will be invalid if they find out), and that will affect your premium.

As Saga are doing this for you, your NCB won't be affected; My friend had a collision and he did it through his insurance company and they processed it as a claim, and even made him pay the excess (Which they said they'd claim back for him, which they did... after 4 months!)

The internal structure of most Toyotas is very strong so I doubt that will have taken any significant damage... (I found that out when my Yaris went through the back of a Ka )... so I think the car will be okay :)

[andycam06]

doesnt look to bad, i know how you feel though

i wouldnt ring my insurance but thats ireland, yous might have to i dont know

also should affect the price of the car as its a direct replacment, no real bodywork or anything, its like getting a windscreen replaced.

theres nothing really behind where it hit, the windscreen bottle is right at the wheel so it should have missed that and the crash bar doesnt go as far over as that so you should get away with just a bumper.

i would imagine it will cost about £500, could be wrong but thats my guess

[SAM LOVERS HER TOYOTAS]

THANKS for all the input so far guys, just an update, rang my insurance company Admiral this morning, they confirmed since im dealing with the other party's insurance Saga and they have accepted full liability, they don't need to know about it so long as i declare the non fault at renewal time!!! I also rang my Toyota dealer who confirmed i would have to take it to their Loughborogh branch to get a quote, so i rang Loghborough Toyota and they said an accident assister comes to Leicester on a weekly basis so they will ring me on Monday, and finally rang the other parties insurance Saga again just to let them know that i am awaiting assistance from my Toyota dealers and they were fine about it. this does seem to be like a lengthy process all this, its the last thing i needed to worry about!

[oldcodger]

Hey Sam,

Glad you have got things underway and life is a bit calmer.

Think you did the right thing in letting your insurers know about the crash, even though they are happy to let you deal direct with Saga.

Just accept it will take 2-3 weeks to get everything sorted, its the way the insurance gravy train works.

Suggest you keep a written log of all your phone calls just incase anything changes and photos of the damage before and after the repair.

Also keep records/ receipts of any relevant out of pocket expenses incurred you might be able to claim back.

The repair should be guaranteed for at least 3 years, get it in writing from Toyota/Saga - the clowns (insurers selected garage) who did my Avensis renewed the bumper and bonnet etc but cannot have primed the bumper properly, after 2 years it was flaking off in hand sized pieces.

Pic of my old Avensis parked up at the time, was butted by a transit van trying to do a one point turn or something like - repairs cost £2000 so they said, but probably cost the other party around £3000+ when you add the excess and hire car etc on. Took just over 3 weeks to sort out.

Like you - still think the old style Avensis looks a good car when kept in good nick.

Have a good weekend.

[CorollaD4D]

everyone has pretty much answered your questions, only thing is i don't understand why everyone is advising you to let toyota repair the damage? if their mechanical work is anything to go by the dealers might not be the best bodyshop in town? one thing to make sure is if an independant garage does repair your car they use dealers parts only, from the clips to the bumper etc

you car colour is 1c0 by the looks of it, same as mine, can be a b*tch to colour match properly but a decent bodyshop shouldn't have any trouble :)

[adamc260]

You 'should' report any incident to your insurer whether you claim from them or not but it will possibly affect your Premiums =/ The claim with Saga will also be logged on CUE (Claims and Underwriting Exchange) so any future Insurer can see that a claim has been made.

With the vehicle I guess as long as they repair it correctly it shouldn't affect the value but.. I'm no expert on that!

Seems extremely strange that Admiral didn't want you to report it (I used to work for them)... even logging it as a non fault one and closing it! Seems you spoke to someone who's quite lazy and cant be bothered doing their job properly =/

[Adam786]

Today's been a very sad day for me indeed, came home from work at lunch time, parked up opposite the house, a normal day as any other, an hour later my neighbour's knocking on my door..."someone's hit into your car", i run out and all i see is...i felt pure devastation ! A dear old lady come's round the corner...literally shaking...and admits that she hit into my car, what could i say, she gave me her driver's license so i took down all her details, and likewise gave her mine, she kept apologing a zillion times, an hour later Saga insurance ring me, they confirmed that their party admit full liability and they would like to arrange a courtesy car and book my car in for repairs, i ask with who?, they confirm a local garage a mile down the road, i said i insist i want it repaired by my Toyota dealers, they said fine and to get a quote and ring them back tomorrow...and here we are...i havent even notified my insurance company...do i need to? Im still shaking myself! I've included a pic thanks to my kind neighbour lending me their camera, Where do i go next??? I can't believe she hit my car, there was like 3 or 4 car spaces infront of me! I just give up. Please let me know what you all think.

Will this increase my premiums now? Devalue my car even more? Be recorded as damaged? So many things to stress about! Does the damage look bad to you all?

Sammy

P/s...Do you think the dealers will do a PERFECT JOB after my past experiences with local bodyshops? My local Toyota Farmer & Carlisle dont have a bodyshop onsight but they do have one at their Loughborough site.

SAM are you from leicester! Ive seen a corolla exactly like yours "before it got crashed" with the same body colored fog surrounds parked in high fields!

[GazzyG]

Sorry to hear about your Baby Sammy! Hope you get it sorted soon.

[SAM LOVERS HER TOYOTAS]

THANKS for all the support guys, i'm still in shock lol, my neigbours keep pointing out what a bruiser it is which doesn't help! Can't wait till tomorrow for Toyota to ring me to see if we can get the ball rolling, just want it sorted, my nightmare is whether they will do a good colour match! Hope they line up the new bumper perfect and don't miss out any clips, do you think i should point these things out to them? And they have to match my foglamp covers to the bumper!!!

Kind of looking forward to a courtesy car though, would like to test the Auris for hell sakes lol! Hey re.courtesy vehicles, has anyone had one on loan from Toyota? How does their insurance work on them? Do you pay a one off amount and then no excess applies if someone damages it???

Takecare all, will keep you updated! X

[KPARRIS-JONES]

You seem to have been lucky, your headlamp is in tact as is the wing. So as said your bumper should be the only thing that gets replaced. And it shouldn't devalue the car so long as it looks perfect.

Premiums shouldn't rise seeing as you aren't making a claim with your company but insurance companies never fail to surprise me on this sort of thing.

KP

[CorollaD4D]

Sam if I'm correct in thinking your car colour is 1c0 (same as mine) then getting a perfect colour match shouldn't be a problem (assuming they're competent at their jobs) my car has had a new wing you honestly cannot tell which one it is.

[oldcodger]

And they have to match my foglamp covers to the bumper!!!

Kind of looking forward to a courtesy car though, would like to test the Auris for hell sakes lol! Hey re.courtesy vehicles, has anyone had one on loan from Toyota? How does their insurance work on them? Do you pay a one off amount and then no excess applies if someone damages it???

Hey Sam,

Cannot say with any certainty but generally your repair will be to Toyotas original condition, so you might have to befriend them to paint your extra covers.

If Toyoya cannot fit the correct clips who can, would avoid trying to tell them how to do their job.

However give them hell if its not done right.

Saga will only pay for the smallest hire car - it may not be one from Toyota but from Sagas selected car hire company like a 1.2 corsa - they should arrange full insurance cover to your existing Admiral cover. - Speak to Saga when Toyota give you definite dates, leave it to them to arrange everything.

Re what Adamc260 said,

Seems extremely strange that Admiral didn't want you to report it (I used to work for them)... even logging it as a non fault one and closing it! Seems you spoke to someone who's quite lazy and cant be bothered doing their job properly =/

Think I would be tempted to speak to Admiral again to be sure... no harm in checking.

Bet you will all have a laugh at work tomorrow examining the 'bump'

[SAM LOVERS HER TOYOTAS]

And they have to match my foglamp covers to the bumper!!!

Kind of looking forward to a courtesy car though, would like to test the Auris for hell sakes lol! Hey re.courtesy vehicles, has anyone had one on loan from Toyota? How does their insurance work on them? Do you pay a one off amount and then no excess applies if someone damages it???

Hey Sam,

Cannot say with any certainty but generally your repair will be to Toyotas original condition, so you might have to befriend them to paint your extra covers.

If Toyoya cannot fit the correct clips who can, would avoid trying to tell them how to do their job.

However give them hell if its not done right.

Saga will only pay for the smallest hire car - it may not be one from Toyota but from Sagas selected car hire company like a 1.2 corsa - they should arrange full insurance cover to your existing Admiral cover. - Speak to Saga when Toyota give you definite dates, leave it to them to arrange everything.

Re what Adamc260 said,

Seems extremely strange that Admiral didn't want you to report it (I used to work for them)... even logging it as a non fault one and closing it! Seems you spoke to someone who's quite lazy and cant be bothered doing their job properly =/

Think I would be tempted to speak to Admiral again to be sure... no harm in checking.

Bet you will all have a laugh at work tomorrow examining the 'bump'

THANK YOU to "EVERYBODY" who has left me a comment, guys you seriously don't know how comforting it is reading all your posts! Anyway, i got an appointment at 4pm at Toyota today, the accident bloke is driving down from Loughborough to come inspect it for me, But now i'm confused if i shoud go with Toyota???

I had yet another call from Saga today (4th call since the accident),anyway a very nice bloke talked me through my options, basically if go with Toyota who give a 3 year warranty and the hassle of them driving my car 40/50 miles all in there and back and if i have any complaints i have to complain to Toyota...OR...if i go through Saga and they will use Vauxhall Drive here in Leicester and i will get a 5year warranty and they will not pay them until i am totally satisfied with the car and if i have absolutely any problems i simply phone Saga and they will liaise with Vauxhall Drive to make sure its rectified!

So now thats why i'm totally confused, and Saga would like an answer by 6.30pm tonight as they REALLY are desperate to get the problem resolved!

I'm still feeling and :ffs: but more

p/s Oldcodger, do you really think that they will refuse to spray my foglamp covers??? That cost me £££ to get done. It would be cool to keep the bottom skirt spoiler and make them put a new one, but thats DISHONESTY! Sorry

[Parts-King]

SAM, Saga have an interest in you taking it to where they want you to go. The 5 year warranty is worth nothing, if the paint is going to be an issue it will be an issue in months and not years! You could use the exact same argument in reverse as to why you SHOULD go to your Toyota dealer

As a dealer we have nothing but Toyota cars for customers to use, some Aygo, some Yaris and some Auris, express an interest in Auris and you might get one to use if available

As for the fog lamp covers, you could always ask them to be painted, so long as they know when putting the estimate together. tell the estimator you are worried about the travelling if something is wrong and get an undertaking that if you are not satisfied, that it is not you who has to take the car back and forth but the dealer at their expense

Good luck

Kingo

[oldcodger]

Hey Sam,

Well as Parts-King says its cheaper for Saga to use their repair route.

If you have several first hand reports of how bad their local repairers are then perhaps stick to Toyota, otherwise might be prudent to keep onside with Saga.

50/50 choice really .. :unsure:

[Steven252]

As i used to work as an accident repair clerk, id recomend you go with the toyota route. The 5 year warrenty with saga is not worth the paper its written on.

And to be perfectly honest silvers one of the EASIEST colours bar white to match. If it was red/yellow/orange or any bright/uv reactant colour then they would simply blend the pannel in so you wouldnt notice anyway.

Itll be fine.