First accident in my Elise...
Discussion
I was on the way to work this morning when a young chap in a D reg Nova (complete with Porsche badge on the bonnet
) decided to pull out of a side street and re-model the rear wing of my car, shunting me sideways in the process. I got out the car thinking 
but the guy looked so scared I calmed down almost immediately! The look on his face as a 19 stone bloke extracted himself from an elise would probably have been quite amusing under different circumstances! Damage looks suprisingly little considering the noise and shunt on impact, and his car seems to have come off a lot worse.
Problem is, he hit just above the rear wheel, where the rear and side panels join - so are the insurance company likely to patch it up, or replace both panels at great expense? Also, am I within my rights to insist on a Suspension / Geo check?
I'm insured with Bell Direct, who so far have been very helpful, and aren't bothered that I'm taking it to the local lotus dealer rather than their "approved" repairer. Unfortunately they've told me that I have to pay the excess (£300) even though it's not my fault
, and this will be claimed back from the lads insurance... Just before christmas too... I'm going for a repair estimate this afternoon! Is there anything in particular I need to be wary of or pay attention to in this scenario? If there's a tiny scratch on my rear wheel should I insist it gets replaced? I don't want to rip the guy off, but certainly don't want to be disadvantaged because of the accident...
Damn, hard luck! Get the car checked immediately by a Lotus specialist.
Sorry to the bearer of bad news but the damage is unlikely to be just cosmetic if you got badly shunted sideways. Your suspension and geo will DEFINITELY be out of line and need sorting, and it's even possible that the chassis is damaged and will need replacing (write offs are alarmingly easy due to the cost of chassis replacement).
It's very noble of you not to want the guy to get stung but at the end of the day you've got to look after your investment however bad it makes you feel.
Sorry to the bearer of bad news but the damage is unlikely to be just cosmetic if you got badly shunted sideways. Your suspension and geo will DEFINITELY be out of line and need sorting, and it's even possible that the chassis is damaged and will need replacing (write offs are alarmingly easy due to the cost of chassis replacement).
It's very noble of you not to want the guy to get stung but at the end of the day you've got to look after your investment however bad it makes you feel.
Really sorry to hear about the accident.
As it was clearly not your fault you are quite within your rights to insist that you are put back in exactly the same position after the accident.
An alternative (if not too late) would be to go to an accident specialist who will look after everything from getting your car repaired, providing a courtesy car for you during the repair (the Lotus dealer my not be able to do this) and recovering all costs from the liable party. I'm not sure from what you write whether you've already committed to using your insurance company though - I guess they'll be able to provide courtesy car etc too, but I'm just thinking about your excess.
Anyway - I hope the repairs don't take too long & the car is back on the road soon.
Dave
PS - make sure they carry out every check possible - you've already been nice enought to the guy and you shouldn't be out of pocket from this accident.
As it was clearly not your fault you are quite within your rights to insist that you are put back in exactly the same position after the accident.
An alternative (if not too late) would be to go to an accident specialist who will look after everything from getting your car repaired, providing a courtesy car for you during the repair (the Lotus dealer my not be able to do this) and recovering all costs from the liable party. I'm not sure from what you write whether you've already committed to using your insurance company though - I guess they'll be able to provide courtesy car etc too, but I'm just thinking about your excess.
Anyway - I hope the repairs don't take too long & the car is back on the road soon.
Dave
PS - make sure they carry out every check possible - you've already been nice enought to the guy and you shouldn't be out of pocket from this accident.
Accident specialists are as ethical as claims direct.
If you want a general increase in insurance rates for the rest of your life then why not...they'll rent you a corsa and charge Nova Boy £500 per day which will eventually come out of your pocket after it's all been round the houses....queue the next "why does it cost me £xxxxx for insurance? thread".
Just take the car somewhere you trust (many dealers outsource bodywork, find out to whom and check their reputation); make sure they look hard at suspension, driveshaft, gearbox, have a good gander round the mounting points and see what's actually been damaged and then decide what to do.
They are tough little cars, and good to repair as bits tend to get replaced rather than straightened so the finished job should be as good as (or better than) when it left the factory.
Cheers,
AdrianR
If you want a general increase in insurance rates for the rest of your life then why not...they'll rent you a corsa and charge Nova Boy £500 per day which will eventually come out of your pocket after it's all been round the houses....queue the next "why does it cost me £xxxxx for insurance? thread".
Just take the car somewhere you trust (many dealers outsource bodywork, find out to whom and check their reputation); make sure they look hard at suspension, driveshaft, gearbox, have a good gander round the mounting points and see what's actually been damaged and then decide what to do.
They are tough little cars, and good to repair as bits tend to get replaced rather than straightened so the finished job should be as good as (or better than) when it left the factory.
Cheers,
AdrianR
Thanks for the advice guys - AdrianR was fairly spot on with what I did - The local dealer outsource their work to a body shop I've dealt with before, so I'm happy to take it there.
They said they'd repair rather than replace in this instance, but the damage does appear to be superficial except for my wheel, which took most of the force.
I made sure they included a suspension / geo check in the repair quote, which came out at about £1100 not including any of the Lotus sourced parts, such as the new wheel...
The last obstacle is getting my insurance company to accept the quote and give the go-ahead
! Stoker
Sadly for my sins I am employed in the Insurance industry and am all too well versed with the various shady Firms which enable me to pay for my own S1.
With regards to your own Insurers, most Comprehensive Policies now a days contain a specific exclusion that the Insurers will only be responsible for the cost of the repairs that they themselves could have obtained by way of their own Approved Repairer network (which is not likely to include a Lotus Main Dealer) and that any extra repair costs incurred (eg by you insisting your car is repaired only by a Lotus Dealer as opposed to a Ford Dealer)will have to be paid by the Policyholder (which in this instance is you).
In addition, have you thought about the effect of such a prang will have on the second hand value of your own car, even if it is repaired 100% by a Lotus Dealer ? As you are now legally obliged (if specifically asked)to inform a prospective purchaser if the car you are selling has been invloved in an accident (be it your fault or not) then most purchasers of such a specialist car as an Elise will either walk away, or demand a lowering of the asking price. This is referred to as Diminution and can range from anywhere between 1% to 15% of the pre accident value of the repaired car (dependant upon the severity of the damage occasioned in the first instance).
Apologies for being the bringer of bad news......... The best way to get round this and recover any associated drop in value of your car, is to have a qualified Firm of Engineers undertake an inspection of it post repair and then provide a copy of the report to the Defendant Insurers with a request that they pay for any loss in value.
Happy hunting...........
With regards to your own Insurers, most Comprehensive Policies now a days contain a specific exclusion that the Insurers will only be responsible for the cost of the repairs that they themselves could have obtained by way of their own Approved Repairer network (which is not likely to include a Lotus Main Dealer) and that any extra repair costs incurred (eg by you insisting your car is repaired only by a Lotus Dealer as opposed to a Ford Dealer)will have to be paid by the Policyholder (which in this instance is you).
In addition, have you thought about the effect of such a prang will have on the second hand value of your own car, even if it is repaired 100% by a Lotus Dealer ? As you are now legally obliged (if specifically asked)to inform a prospective purchaser if the car you are selling has been invloved in an accident (be it your fault or not) then most purchasers of such a specialist car as an Elise will either walk away, or demand a lowering of the asking price. This is referred to as Diminution and can range from anywhere between 1% to 15% of the pre accident value of the repaired car (dependant upon the severity of the damage occasioned in the first instance).
Apologies for being the bringer of bad news......... The best way to get round this and recover any associated drop in value of your car, is to have a qualified Firm of Engineers undertake an inspection of it post repair and then provide a copy of the report to the Defendant Insurers with a request that they pay for any loss in value.
Happy hunting...........
Ah Dragstar. Sadly the dead hand of logic is not applicable to the somewhat idiosyncratic world that is Insurance. In principle you could indeed claim directly from the Defendant Insurers, thereby excluding your own Insurers and not having to pay the Policy excess. However, the problems that could arise are many & varied.
You would first of all have to wait for the responsible party to complete a claim form, as the Defendant Insurers will not be able to either assess liability or grant an Indemnity to their Policyholder. As the other party was a driver of a D reg Nova (which sported a Porsche badge !!), it could well be that he cannot write (this is particularly so when shell suits and/or a baseball cap is worn).
The Defendant may provide an inaccurate version of events and blame you for the accident (yes people do lie on Claim Forms every so often). In this case his Insurers would refuse to meet your Claim, upon the basis that you have to establish the Defendants guilt, rather than the Defendant having to establish his innocence.
Further, unlike your own Insurers, the Defendant Insurers will not particularly prioritise your claim, as quite simply you are not paying them any money for their services. In my Office the backlogs of work stretch as far as the eye can see.....
The other sides Insurers may insist upon you authorising your own repair work and paying for the same before they will consider reimbursing you the Costs. The problem can be that if they authorise the repairs upon your behalf to a Lotus Dealer, then they have entetred into a legally binding contract with both yourself and the repairer, so that if anything goes awol with the actual repairers, then they have to intervene. Again more costs for the Insurers.
If the picture I am painting of the Insurance profession is unduly bleak, then thats because it is. However, hope you do come out of this sorry affair with an enhanced opinion of humanity, but sadly bitter experience leads me to believe otherwise.
You would first of all have to wait for the responsible party to complete a claim form, as the Defendant Insurers will not be able to either assess liability or grant an Indemnity to their Policyholder. As the other party was a driver of a D reg Nova (which sported a Porsche badge !!), it could well be that he cannot write (this is particularly so when shell suits and/or a baseball cap is worn).
The Defendant may provide an inaccurate version of events and blame you for the accident (yes people do lie on Claim Forms every so often). In this case his Insurers would refuse to meet your Claim, upon the basis that you have to establish the Defendants guilt, rather than the Defendant having to establish his innocence.
Further, unlike your own Insurers, the Defendant Insurers will not particularly prioritise your claim, as quite simply you are not paying them any money for their services. In my Office the backlogs of work stretch as far as the eye can see.....
The other sides Insurers may insist upon you authorising your own repair work and paying for the same before they will consider reimbursing you the Costs. The problem can be that if they authorise the repairs upon your behalf to a Lotus Dealer, then they have entetred into a legally binding contract with both yourself and the repairer, so that if anything goes awol with the actual repairers, then they have to intervene. Again more costs for the Insurers.
If the picture I am painting of the Insurance profession is unduly bleak, then thats because it is. However, hope you do come out of this sorry affair with an enhanced opinion of humanity, but sadly bitter experience leads me to believe otherwise.
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