Guide to fixing car scratches & dents They can hurt your car but they don’t need to hurt your wallet. It’s a frustrating and often costly experience returning to your car to find it’s been damaged and the culprit’s done a runner. ’s guide to fixing car scratches and dents will help you sort out scrapes at minimal cost. Scratches are the lesser of the two evils, whether they’re deep scored or a series of light grazes. They are also easier to rectify than dents, which tend to be more complex and can be a complete pain to sort. But if you know what you’re doing, you can have your car back to its best in no time – and avoid making a car insurance claim. Sort out the scratch Locate the problem: What the scratch looks like will depend on how it happened: a kid’s bike going too close will get you a lengthy scratch but hopefully won’t remove too much paint. If you can see bare metal, the repair job’s going to take a bit more work. Equipment: To repair a scratch you’ll need some good quality polish, paintwork restorer, the smallest brush you can get hold of (go to an artist’s shop), very fine grit paper and the right paint stick for your car.

Better yet, you can get a complete touch-up kit from good accessory shops, which have primers and lacquers as well. The light scratch: Make sure the area is clean and free, particularly from paint flakes. Light scratching can be sorted by patient use of the paint restorer, which removes a microscopic layer. This is the best approach, but cover as little area as possible and be sure to wax it afterwards to protect the paint – otherwise it will fade!Prom Dresses Lace Corset The big scratch: These will need to be painted, so use your tiny brush and once again - be patient. T Shirt Jesus Said Go FishingBuild up layers of paint rather than doing it all at once: remember you have your paint restorer so you can take off any excess. Fight Lab T Shirt

Once you’re happy with the filling, let it dry properly then go back and use the finest grit paper you can find to smooth it off before polishing. Deal with that dent A dent doesn’t always require a qualified panel beater. has top tips to rid your car of that dent. Size: How you fix the dent depends on how large it is and where on the car it’s occurred. The dent may be bigger than you first thought so check the area carefully. Easy to reach: To sort dents of all sizes, try and get to the back of the damaged panel - it’s much easier that way. Then it’s simply a matter of tapping the dent out from the rear. Use a suitably sized hammer but make sure you put cushioning between the hammer and the panel - soft woods are best. Go slowly and work from the centre of the dent. Hard to reach: If you can’t get to the back of the panel, you’ll need a dent puller. There are various sizes available, either to buy from accessory shops or you can hire larger ones from plant hire firms.

The dent puller needs to be roughly the same size or bigger than the dent you’re pulling, or it won’t work. Clean the damaged area to ensure good contact, then apply the suckers to the bodywork. If you have good contact, start pulling – you’ll be surprised at how much force is required. Seek expert advice: A mix of delicacy and patience is required to achieve good results when dealing with a dent, but if the job looks beyond your expertise, seek advice. It may avoid you having to claim car insurance for a new panel. Once you’ve finished sorting those scratches or dealing with those dents, give your car some extra TLC with our motor maintenance spending tips. Compare quotes from up to 120 providers all in one placefind the cheapest car insurance quotes instantly Sometimes, after a car accident, it’s obvious that you’ll want to get ahold of your insurance company as quickly as possible. Major damage has been done, or someone is hurt. But the truth is, not all of the 10 million car collisions that happen annually are serious—in fact, the vast majority of them are non-fatal.

That means that tens of thousands of folks are inconvenienced on a daily basis by a minor accident. Chances are, you’ve likely had someone offer to pay you out of pocket post-fender bender, or maybe you’ve even been the person begging proposing to avoid getting insurance involved. Quoted wanted to know: Is this ever a good idea? Are there some cases in which the possible rate increase might not be worth telling your insurance company about your accident over? As usual, we headed to the experts. Here’s what we found about when to file a car insurance claim—and when to keep mum. We have a longer post on what to do after a car accident that’s worth checking out, but for this post, we spoke with Christin Wiley, a personal risk advisor based in Tennessee, about the few things she always reminds her clients are critical financially after an accident. “A couple little tips I tell my clients about filing accidents: First of all, I always suggest attempting to file a police report or an incident report, so that the other party won’t be able to come back after the fact and try to twist the truth (I’ve seen that done all too many times).

Second, I tell people to never discuss the details of the accident with anyone but the police and insurance company. It’s up to the police and insurance adjustors to determine the fault of the accident, not you. I have heard of too many people saying, “Wow, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to do X…” Sound advice: Get the police and your insurance involved, and keep your mouth shut. But, Wiley adds, this isn’t always necessary, depending on the accident. Wiley says she always tells her clients the same thing: Check your insurance policy documents. “Many insurance policies state that you must notify the insurance company of anything that might lead to a potential claim. Also, there are many different state and insurance company specific time limits to filing a claim; so, always know of any applicable time limits.” And of course, if anyone is even remotely injured, always file a claim. More on that below. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, though: 1.) It was a one-car accident and you’re not injured, or if you are, you’re able to pay for your medical expenses yourself.

2.) You can afford to pay for the costs of damage to your vehicle—or the costs of the repair are close to or not much over the cost of your deductible. Joseph Ritter Jr., a Certified Financial Planner based in Florida, once had a little damage done to his own car that ended up costing him much more than he expected. “About ten years ago, we were visiting relatives out of town when I noticed that someone had pried the emblem off our car and scratched the paint. Although it was vandalism, I didn’t know where it occurred. Thinking I was protecting myself, I called our insurer. When we got back home, I went to a local body shop, and they gave me an estimate of less than $100 to repair the damage. That little incident stayed with us for 5 years. Even though the claim had no monetary impact, just the fact that we made a claim affected our insurance rates. Most if not all insurers require prompt reporting of claims. However, for minor incidents not involving injury, property damage or when the vehicle is still safe to drive, my advice is to make a police report and obtain an estimate of the damage before contacting the insurer.

Just be sure you do it promptly.” So let’s break down that math: Paul Moyer, an independent insurance agent based in Florida, was a bit more bold in his claim: “There are very many times that filing an auto insurance claim is a bad idea,” Moyer says. “It really has to do with the math of the policy.” “I just had a client that backed into his own vehicle. He caused $1,500 maximum of damage and $1,200 minimum. His deductible was $1,000 so he had to pay that before the insurance would kick in anything. So his maximum out of pocket would be $500. If he filed the claim his rates would also go up and he would probably end up paying back that amount over about 12-18 months and then just get penalized from there on out. This happens frequently in small accidents where a driver could do much better by just paying out of pocket. 3.) There’s little to no damage to someone else’s vehicle or property. This one is straightforward: If you happened to kiss a giant SUV and not leave any lipstick, so to speak, you might not need to get insurance involved.

But serious smooches (aka actual accidents) require trading of personal details. Just as there are times it might work in your favor not to involve your car insurance company after a crash, there are times when you really should file a claim: 1) Anyone is injured and your vehicle is involved. If you, passengers in your vehicle, anyone in the other party, or any pedestrians are injured from a crash, you’ll need to file a claim–especially if there’s a good chance you’ll be found at fault. Medical expenses can skyrocket quickly, and not filing a claim can leave you open to litigation. If you wait to get sued before filing a claim your insurer could deny the claim altogether. 2) When fault isn’t so clear. If you’re involved in a crash with another party that results in either property damage or injuries and fault is disputed in any way, you’ll need to file a claim so that your insurer can represent you. Insurance companies deal with insurance companies, and yours and the other party’s will need to figure out who will pay for what amongst themselves.

3) You hit a fixed object, your car is vandalized or damaged without you knowing who did it, or your car sustains weather-related damage and the costs for repairs of your vehicle or your medical expenses are greater than you can afford or want to pay. If you need $20,000 worth of medical attention, you’ve got to file a claim. Likewise, if damage from an uninsured driver, or you hitting a tree, causes significant damage to your vehicle (and you’ve got ), file a claim. If you’re going to file a claim, it’s best to do so as quickly as possible–at the scene of the wreck, if possible. You can find a list of what info you’ll need to file a claim . Once your claim is filed, the insurance adjuster will take care of reviewing important materials like the police report, witness accounts, and photos, and they will handle payouts to the other party (if applicable). If you’re the one who needs repairs, the insurance company will work with your repair shop. And what can you expect from your claims process?