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Accident damage advice.

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J-Man:
Hi guys

My other half was involved in a nasty multicar accident a couple of days ago. Luckily she's alright but unfortunately another chap wasn't so lucky - this was no fault of hers though (just to clarify that).

Now, the police and insurance aren't interested in her or her car and she is insured third party fire and theft.  Her car is front end damage only - lights and bumper smashed, wings bent a little and bonnet folded. The chassis legs however look to be fine (i need to investigate further). Although in the insurance's eye this would be classed as a write off, it would only be uneconomical to repair it being a 2000 fiesta. So my questions are:

Can i repair it myself, stick it though the MOT which is due July anyway and plod along as normal?

Do any further official inspections need to be made as the insurance are aware and a claim is being made by the third party?

Am i even allowed to repair an accident damaged car?

The Wrinkly Ninja:
Rules and regs are quite convoluted here and whatever I say, someone will chime up with something else.

As a general rule ....... if she's got front end damage only, then it's likely there'll be a claim on her insurance that she was travelling too close or fast.

She will have no claim to repair her car, so that will be down to you. If you've made no claim on the insurance, then in theory they won't be interested in what you do. However, I can't imagine that you can just sweep it under the carpet and bolt on a new light and bumper and give it a tickle with a spray can. Someone somewhere is surely going to note the involvement and want a report, I'd imagine - otherwise God alone knows what would be driving around on our roads - tho' I do wonder sometimes.

Provided no-one asks for an inspection, try bolting on the new bits and see if it gets an MOT pass - either it will or it won't. Don't think they can bang you up for trying. ;D

J-Man:

--- Quote from: The Wrinkly Ninja on June 08, 2012, 10:30:37 pm ---Rules and regs are quite convoluted here and whatever I say, someone will chime up with something else.

As a general rule ....... if she's got front end damage only, then it's likely there'll be a claim on her insurance that she was travelling too close or fast.

She will have no claim to repair her car, so that will be down to you. If you've made no claim on the insurance, then in theory they won't be interested in what you do. However, I can't imagine that you can just sweep it under the carpet and bolt on a new light and bumper and give it a tickle with a spray can. Someone somewhere is surely going to note the involvement and want a report, I'd imagine - otherwise God alone knows what would be driving around on our roads - tho' I do wonder sometimes.

Provided no-one asks for an inspection, try bolting on the new bits and see if it gets an MOT pass - either it will or it won't. Don't think they can bang you up for trying. ;D

--- End quote ---

Aye, i did forget to put that, it went as a fault claim. I think what i was trying to say was what you said about someone noting the involvement of the car. I just worry that should anything happen again in the future, someone would pipe up and say well that car has been damaged in the past - how do they know its safe. Im swaying towards not bothering and selling it as salvage. I'm confident i could repair it to a high standard, however i wouldnt like to risk future problems.

The Wrinkly Ninja:
Really depends on your own confidence, first of all in your correct analysis of the damage and secondly in your ability to repair it.

If it was blindingly obviously a big job, then you've got little ability to claim you can safely and adequately repair it. Tying to do so may lay you open to future repercussions if it were shown to be inadequate.

Equally, a "soft-tissue", purely cosmetic shunt should really pose no problem, and I would have no hesitation in tackling it.

It's that grey area, when you start getting bent chassis or suspension arms being twisted, that you really need to be very careful that there isn't hidden damage. Steering wheel off-centre and other little signs like pulling to one side would guide you there. Only you can assess your own confidence in that area and if you can't be certain - don't.

J-Man:
I totally agree. I stripped it back today to have a look. Bit's that should be bolted on have been welded on when it's been in a front end accident before. Its a cat c from about 8 years ago.  Anyway some of the welds have cracked in the impact on the bumper reinforcers etc so im leaving well alone.

I did however have to speak to the insurance and asked them about this today. His words were its a massive loophole. It's not recorded about the accident and as there has been no official engineers inspection made (like there would have been to write it off had she been fully comp) there is nothing to prove what damage was caused by the accident. His advice was that if i was going to repair it i'd be best to stick it through an MOT to prove road worthyness.  Interesting...

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