[Charles Hunt]

Insured with Saga - docs not to hand - c12 years NCD.

Just had my driver's door mirror swiped off whilst parked damaging not just glass and plastic, but the whole casting as well. 2006 Jaguar XJ powerfold. Not found a price yet, but perhaps £300 plus £100 to fit.

Any sense in making a claim or will losing the NCD wipe out the sum received?

Any sense in asking the insurer the question, or if I even mention it do they instantly say you've had an accident and there goes the NCD.

Help&advice welcomed.

[Flying_john]

Buy one off ebay, look for a "how to" video on youtube and replace it yourself. Probably £60 - £100 for the whole thing and a mornings work to ping off the door card and undo the bolts and plug in the wires.

OR

Buy one off ebay and go to local travelling mechanics Facebook/Webpage and get him to come fit it for you.

Certainly not worth a claim on insurance. Once youve paid the Excess and lose your NCB, or even have your record marked the premiums will go up.



2ps worth

[stevelup]

Agree - no way I'd claim on insurance for that if the mirror is the only damage. Hopefully, you can find one at a breakers / eBay / whatever in the right colour. Should then be a ten minute job to swap.

[Jim Jones]

No way use insurance for this. Protected NCD is not protected in the usual sense. They protect it ok, but put up your premium.

E bay the part and have a go. YouTube will likely show you how. I’ve replaced door handles etc that way . It’s worth buying tools if needed. Very satisfying, just allow plenty of time....

[Charles Hunt]

Thanks all, I eventually remembered the excess and came to the same conclusion. Couldn't see anything on ebay in silver, but I suppose a spray can can change that.

[Flyin'Dutch']

@Charles Hunt

If ever you needed an excuse to get a proper car, wait no longer! I have changed cars for less!

[Korenwolf]

Had exactly the same myself a couple of years back; driving up a street in our town where cars were parked down one side, meaning that drivers had to give way. One fella pulled in between two cars to let me by, and at the last second swung out again and collected my mirror. He didn't stop and I wasn't about to go after him, it was dark anyway.

Replacement mirror £25 off eBay from a place that I had used before, a few minutes to fit it, including the electric adjust. Mirrors seem to be designed so that if you bash them, they will fly off with minimal or no damage to the door if one is lucky. I've replaced a few over the years.

[PeteSpencer]

Thanks all, I eventually remembered the excess and came to the same conclusion. Couldn't see anything on ebay in silver, but I suppose a spray can can change that.

Or get Chipsaway along>

They've just done an excellent job on my krautomobile rear bumper which I scraped while backing out of the hangar last week : an action I've done hundreds of times in last 15 years>

Must've had a micro sleep....

Excellent (silver) colour match and finish.

Peter

[riverrock]

I replaced my Honda's via eBay (breakers yard) and local garage at Christmas time. Some are more complex to fit than others and it helps when you have a common car.

[Rob P]

Depending on the excess I'd claim and at renewal time shop around if your premium goes up.

Life's too short to be faffing around with car repairs.

Rob P

[cockney steve]

^^^^^ Fine, if you're wealthy -enough to fritter money! Mine came too hard to waste

Secondhand is the way to go, unless your income is ~£200 an hour -or -so. Taking it easy, a couple of hours for a first-timer should be the max.

Yes, I envy your affluence.

[Rob P]

I am a pilot and aircraft owner. What is this affluence of which you speak?

If I couldn't better Saga's quote at renewal, even with a trifling claim, I would be very surprised.

I own a similar Jaguar for which the premium is a bit less than £400. Spending the time and effort involved in sourcing a replacement unit, spraying it and fitting it myself after paying this much for cover against just such an eventuality seems irrational to me. A 25% increase the following year would still leave me in pocket.

Rob P

[johnm]

I looked at insuring my XJ6 and house with Saga a view years ago, competitive they weren't.

[avtur3]

...... Any sense in asking the insurer the question, or if I even mention it do they instantly say you've had an accident and there goes the NCD.......

I don't know if all companies work the same but a family member fell foul of this, very similar situation to what you've described, so decided to call insurers "for advice". The relative decided to cover the cost themselves but insures noted that they had been involved in an incident.

It didn't affect NCD but because premium calculations lack any sort of transparency it was difficult to work out whether the incident affected the next premium.

[PeteSpencer]

Yep the Insurance company dark network seems all knowing .
I couldn’t get a quote one year because I hadn’t mentioned ‘a claim’.

Racked my brain / I certainly hadn’t made a claim or had an accident I hadn’t mentioned.

Then I rememberer I’d had a windscreen chip filled- by a man in a van on my front drive - all done without any paperwork or emails and completely forgotten .