Had my first accident today while pulling into my garage. I scratch the sheet out of right passenger door. It looks nasty...door is dented.



For those with body shop experience, should I first get a quote before filing an insurance claim?

Any tips/advice would be much appreciated!

 

I would probably get a quote just because from the picture it doesn't seem too bad. Most of that is just paint from the garage and can easily be buffed out with some compound and polish. Hope it doesn't turn out to be too expensive.

 

Thanks for the reply.
The door is actually a bit dented and and it was the garage door wood frame that caused the damage. Scratched may be deep.

Will probably get a quote tomorrow. Insurance deductible is $500 and includes rental car....so that might be the way to go.

 

I think I'd get a quote first, might be better than filing a claim if it's not much more than your deductible since you rate might jack up after the claim.

 

Just adding another vote. You should get a quote first. It may not be worth your time/money to file an insurance claim. If you have a $1000 deductible and the damage isn't much higher you're wasting a claim. You'll cause your rates to increase for something like 3 years (depending on company) and still have to pay the $1000.

 

+ 1, find the body shop that you like and get a quote from them. Get another quote from another shop too just so that you feel comfortable. For this amount of damage, they should be within $100 of each other.

 

^^^This

13 years ago, I once made an $800 claim with a $500 deductible, and my rates went up for a few years, which put me upside-down for the total out-of-pocket expense on the repair. It was nuts. Big lesson learned.

 

Got a quote today.

$950 including rental car for 3 days. Thing is, I can't afford to pay it all out of pocket. My deductible is $500. Worth filing a claim?

 

I would request payment arrangements with the body shop before making an Insurance claim. See what they can do for you. If needed, borrow from the bank or a friend. As mentioned above, you'll be paying more in the long run if you make that claim.

 

Ouch! I did almost the same thing on my moms ford explorer one time.

 

Why not just wait until you have the money to get it fixed?

 

Ouch! Sorry to see man. Get an estimate first to see how much it will cost.

 

Do not file a claim for such a small amount....generally if the insurance company pays more than $300 or $400 the claim is "chargeable" and will affect future rates. You will be WAY upside down on this claim, especially if you end up with another chargeable claim in the near future. If you need to wait to fix it, you might use some fine polish compound (Mequires #7) to clean off the garage paint. You might find the damage much less noticeable. Sorry for your problems.

 

should be easy fix ? sorry to see.