Renault Clio - Repair to car door

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Sat 15 Jan 2022 12:34
Renault Clio - Repair to car door - malct

I have just had a repair done to the side of the our clio after a accident with a cow !!! in which it damaged the passenger front/rear door, The insurance agreed to a new rear door but would only repair the front door.

I picked the car up last night and on inspection today , I can clearly see that that the repair doesn't follow the line of the drivers side and its more sank in on the repair. Looking at it from a few feet away head on , It looks OK, Its when you look down the side of the car, Its the line below the window She i complain or accept it.

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Sat 15 Jan 2022 12:48
Renault Clio - Repair to car door - Xileno

Impossible to say without any photos but even then that won't be as good as seeing it for real. How old is the car? If it's quite new then you want a good job done. On;y you can decide whether to complain, I would think if you are going to then do it quickly, I'm sure there will be some kind of quibble period you don't want to exceed.

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Sat 15 Jan 2022 13:04
Renault Clio - Repair to car door - malct

The car is 5 years old now, We buy any car are quoting £8800 , But that's going to be knocked back due to the accident.

Personally, i would have preferred a new door , The rear door was replaced at a cost of £400 inc Vat, So it would not have been that much more by repairing than repairing

I will have a chat with the insurance company on Monday , I think it might be pointless going to the Garage about it

Edited by malct on 15/01/2022 at 13:05

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Sat 15 Jan 2022 14:24
Renault Clio - Repair to car door - sammy1

It does not matter how old any body shop should do a perfect job. As you say go back to the insurance and complain even if they have to replace the another door and paint that. Sounds like they put the apprentice on it or the door is buckled beyond filling. You should not have to put up with shoddy work

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Sat 15 Jan 2022 15:48
Renault Clio - Repair to car door - malct

I agree with that, The paint job is good , But the bodywork is still out of line, I just wondered if there was a standard that their required to make and was the job done the standard.

I had a couple of other issues with the garage which has got the contact for the police cars and its the Insurance companies preferred bodywork repairer, I asked if they could do a stone chip on the bonnet , Only small, They would not touch it unless they were to do the full bonnet, Also i got the car service done and MOT, They failed to notice that the water level for the Radiator was low, So i had to get them to top it up plus the price quoted for the service was minus the Vat !!!!!

I hate having to complain, But honesty, They give you no choice

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Sat 15 Jan 2022 16:01
Renault Clio - Repair to car door - sammy1

The insurance company will have their own independent assessor I don't know if he looked at your car before the repair or the insurance company took the advice of the repairer .What ever if you are unhappy ask for an independent to look at the repair

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Sat 15 Jan 2022 16:22
Renault Clio - Repair to car door - thunderbird

after a accident with a cow !!! in which it damaged the passenger front/rear door, The insurance agreed to a new rear door but would only repair the front door.

Sound very similar to our Focus, both passenger side doors but it wasn't a cow that hit us, it was a car.

I presume they did not replace your rear door, like our it would have got a new skin but the damage to the front door was knocked out filled etc. They painted the whole side of the car and to match it part of the roof and bonnet and rear hatch, totally undetectable, brilliant for a silver car. It was the insurers approved bodyshop that did the work and it came with a lifetime guarantee (translated that meant whilst we owned the car).

Car was 5 years old when it was repaired and we kept it for another 5 years. Still fine when we sold it.

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Sat 15 Jan 2022 16:58
Renault Clio - Repair to car door - malct

They replaced the rear door , But not the drivers door, Honestly , For a few hundred pounds, If i can get a new front door, Its going to cost them more in the end

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Sat 15 Jan 2022 17:15
Renault Clio - Repair to car door - thunderbird

They replaced the rear door

If the door needed replacing there would be some serious damage to the rest of the side of the car. You mention no damage other than that to the doors so I preusme the body shop actually meant the door skin and not the whole door.

We had to have a ne hatch on one Focus after were were rear ended whilst stationary. It needed a whole new hatch since the frame was bent and the price for that one part some years ago was almost £2000 including fitting, paint and a rear bumper cover.

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Sat 15 Jan 2022 17:37
Renault Clio - Repair to car door - Andrew-T

The insurance company will have their own independent assessor I don't know if he looked at your car before the repair or the insurance company took the advice of the repairer.

After an accident of that scale I can't see any insurer responding without at least asking for photos of the damage (as was done after my incident of 5 years ago). But the problem may have arisen if the job was done by the insurer's preferred repairer, rather that your local (perhaps trusted) bodyshop. You are entitled to prefer your own repairer, who the insurer will deal with direct after an acceptable estimate.

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Sun 16 Jan 2022 08:55
Renault Clio - Repair to car door - malct

The body shop had taken the photos to send to the insurer. Also their was Dash cam footage of the accident, What happened was, My wife was driving home from work at midnight and she spotted a cow on the road , She swerved to miss the cow and the cow clipped the side mirror dragging it down the side of the car which left a deep scratch on the passengers front door and a big dent in the rear , On the invoice , It states new rear back door at a cost of around £400

The farmer admitted fault and the accident went down has no fault of the wife.

Honestly She only had a second warning, The road was dark and to swerve the way she did , She was lucky to not to hit the cow head on, I am not sure if i would have missed it.

I am not sure if to complain to the body shop first or go direct to the insurer. End of the day , The farmers insurance is paying and then i need to try and claim my access back from the farmers insurance since i didn't have legal cover and i have to recover the money myself

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Sun 16 Jan 2022 09:21
Renault Clio - Repair to car door - thunderbird

I am not sure if to complain to the body shop first or go direct to the insurer. End of the day , The farmers insurance is paying and then i need to try and claim my access back from the farmers insurance since i didn't have legal cover and i have to recover the money myself

If the Farmers insurance has paid directly for the repair it adds a layer of difficulty for you since there is no contract between you and the insurer.

Your own insurer will not be interested and with no legal cover as you say its down to you to get the money back.

But check your home insurance, they may be able to help and failing that if you are a member of a motoring organisation such as the RAC or AA they may help. Some years ago I had a no fault accident caused by an uninsured driver and my own insurers were useless after they had fixed my car, they didn't want to know. I spoke to the RAC (who I was not a member of at the time-new car came with breakdown included) and they offered a free loss recovery for members but non members could access the service for a small fee. Paid it and sent details, all sorted in under 2 weeks.

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Sun 16 Jan 2022 09:43
Renault Clio - Repair to car door - Andrew-T

I am not sure if to complain to the body shop first or go direct to the insurer.

As you have doubts about the work, I think I would ask the bodyshop if they are happy with the result, as there seems to be a misalignment, which may suggest some distortion of the bodyshell which has not been allowed for ?

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Sun 16 Jan 2022 12:06
Renault Clio - Repair to car door - malct

Regards the Farmers insurance, It looks like it was my own insurance company who wanted the work done at the lowest price by doing the repair to the door thinking that they were paying for it , Since then, They are now claiming from the farmers insurance after seeing the dash cam footage

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Sun 16 Jan 2022 14:40
Renault Clio - Repair to car door - malct
Paying excess for a car accident that isn’t your fault

When you pay the excess for a car accident which isn’t your fault, you may need to claim this back from the insurance company of the driver who caused the accident once the claim is settled, if you don’t have legal expenses cover to pay this for you. If you have trouble getting your money back, you can take the insurance company or driver to court.

If your insurance company have dealt with the claim, they should claim the excess back for you. If you have a no fault accident, a credit hire company can also make a claim on your behalf.

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Sun 16 Jan 2022 15:37
Renault Clio - Repair to car door - thunderbird

If your insurance company have dealt with the claim, they should claim the excess back for you.

They will only do that if you have uninured loss insurance which is normally an add on. Its sometimes called Legal cover

If you have a no fault accident, a credit hire company can also make a claim on your behalf.

DO NOT GET A CREDIT HIRE COMPANY INVOLVED. It could well end up costing you loads of money since you will be signing an agreement that makes it impossible for them to loose. But since a Credit hire Company only exist to hire you a car at an inflated price whilst yours is repaired its clear they have nothing to do with claiming back excess.

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Sun 16 Jan 2022 16:54
Renault Clio - Repair to car door - Rerepo

Never use an insurers 'prefered' repairer. They get the contract because they agree to cut costs to the bone. Not enough to do a proper job.

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Mon 17 Jan 2022 10:20
Renault Clio - Repair to car door - malct

Just a update, I contacted the insurance company and told them that i was rejecting the repair and they instructed me to contact the repair shop with photos.

Within one hour , They have agreed to replace the front passenger door with a new one.

I am happy with that.

Email from the Body repair shop below (No sorry or anything , Just a one liner)

I have sent this to the estimator and he is going to order a door once it is in and painted I will give you a shout to arrange getting you back in.

Regards claiming back my excess, The insurance company will inform me once the farmers insurance has paid up and they will send a covering letter to me to help my claim

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