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Off Topic  Argh!

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Off Topic  Argh!

Craig010 said:
I agree that insurance is rediculous, especially since im twenty, with three years no claims now, and its £1000 a year for insurance on my 1.9 Sport! The next cheapest quote was like £1800!!
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Yeah. When I first started driving I had a 1.25 X Reg Fiesta... £2700 third party! When I got the Bravo it was £1400 fully comp. Then "We see you've had an accident that wasn't your fault and that no one claimed for..." "Your quote is now £1700... Lol

I'm sticking by my theory that they have a dartboard full of numbers in the office... Where they land, they multiply them by 300 and that's your quote :p
 
My previous, and first car was a 52 plate Ka... basic one. £2200 for the 1st year, thats fully comp though. How can they charge you extra for a non fault accident? :O Someone ran into the back of my Ka, which was not my fault, but recorded etc. etc. but my premium didn't rise a penny?

Yes, i couldn't agree more, haha!
 
we had a similar accident on a roundabout, again no witnesses. Despite providing lots of evidence about road markings and pointing out the damage caused bore no relation to the other parties statement, Aviva would not shift from a 50/50 position. The fact that both cars were insured with them might have had something to do with it, lets up both drivers premiums next year - just call me cynical. It does seem that without witnesses most roundabout accidents get sorted on a 50/50 basis.
We now run all our cars with in car cams running, we have a Roadhawk and a Smart Witness in the other. Being able to provide a video of any incident should make it pretty clear who was to blame.
I would say though that sometimes when you look at an incident later it often isn't as how you remember it.
 
SurreyAlan said:
we had a similar accident on a roundabout, again no witnesses. Despite providing lots of evidence about road markings and pointing out the damage caused bore no relation to the other parties statement, Aviva would not shift from a 50/50 position. The fact that both cars were insured with them might have had something to do with it, lets up both drivers premiums next year - just call me cynical. It does seem that without witnesses most roundabout accidents get sorted on a 50/50 basis.
We now run all our cars with in car cams running, we have a Roadhawk and a Smart Witness in the other. Being able to provide a video of any incident should make it pretty clear who was to blame.
I would say though that sometimes when you look at an incident later it often isn't as how you remember it.
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How much does it cost to get a Roadhawk or SmartWitness fitted? I was contemplating getting one of those rear view mirrors with a camera on the back but not sure how good they are...
 
killahboo said:
How much does it cost to get a Roadhawk or SmartWitness fitted? I was contemplating getting one of those rear view mirrors with a camera on the back but not sure how good they are...
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Exactly what I thought :)

... My girlfriend used to moan at me for waxing the car...

BEFORE:
bc0dd924.jpg

36e238eb.jpg

fc6111c3.jpg


A wipe with a damp cloth later:
60f0c5d7.jpg

f95612f5.jpg

2ce8a58c.jpg


... That's cheered me up a little =]
 
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Has it done the paint in to the point you might need it resprayed? Tbh looks like an idea job for a smart repair man and his mate who does Paintless dent removal....

Infact paint looks ok, PDR would definatley be your best way to go, I know a very good bloke who has PDR nearly all the cars on my drive!
 
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TallTom said:
Has it done the paint in to the point you might need it resprayed? Tbh looks like an idea job for a smart repair man and his mate who does Paintless dent removal....

Infact paint looks ok, PDR would definatley be your best way to go, I know a very good bloke who has PDR nearly all the cars on my drive!
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Definitely worth considering mate. There are a couple of scratches but I could live with that. Was shocked on how it came out. Only noticed because my 9 year old sister was picking at the dent. Told her to go grab a sponge and voila! Got to love curious kids lol. The only thing i'm worried about is the "ridge" detail around the wheel arch is damaged :(
 
He managed to get my bonnet spot on, and then the rear of my mums BMW in the same place as yours, the fold. (An OAP with a scooter thing ran into the back/side of her while she was going across a zebra crossing of all things)

Probably removed 10 dents from my car (Conker, and parking dints from stupid people), and cannot see any of them. I had a number plate hit the front bonnet large dent from corner, cannot see it at all!
 
Craig010 said:
Its amazing what these PDR guys can bring back mind. Bish, bash, bosh with a hammer, bit of polish and voila! ... Hopefully anyways.. :)
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It seems to be one of those skills that'll fritter out in the future though :( It is amazing what these people can with just their hands ;) ... And a hammer lol
 
Indeed, allot of jobs requiring specialised skills such as PDR are very dependant on people being interested and learning those skills, and allot of people don't bother these days as that's not where the big money is and "it's boring"...

Either that or they cant be bothered... :)
 
Craig010 said:
Indeed, allot of jobs requiring specialised skills such as PDR are very dependant on people being interested and learning those skills, and allot of people don't bother these days as that's not where the big money is and "it's boring"...

Either that or they cant be bothered... :)
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It really does seem ashame. In the long run too, it's going to push prices up due to the limited availability. Bit like proper carpentry, hand made pottery, etc.
 
killahboo said:
How much does it cost to get a Roadhawk or SmartWitness fitted? I was contemplating getting one of those rear view mirrors with a camera on the back but not sure how good they are...
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They cost around £200 so not exactly cheap but if they ever mean you can prove the accident wasn't your fault then it will be worth every penny. I stuck a velcro patch to the windscreen and another to the mount so they can be removed easily but the smart witness tucks in front (or behind) the rear view mirror so it doesn't really stick out. The cable was easily tucked behind headlining and behind the door rubbers to get to the cigarette lighter.
I think the smart witness is neater, gives a better picture and has far superior low light performance than the roadhawk but the roadhawk has other things going for it like it can record your swearing and has a greater recording time. There may well be some newer gear out there.
Most Easterly Pandas has posted some videos on here somewhere of the rear view mirror model but not sure if you can buy those now, but I thought the quality was quite good.
Here's a link to a video I posted on you tube so you can judge, poke around my other videos and you will find two which are a direct comparison of SmartWitness and Roadhawk
 
TJetPete said:
Ah well, with the damage to the back of mine and front of hers it should come out as her fault
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Until she claims that you swung into her lane as you didn't see her. (n)

Time to invest in something like a t-eye I'd suggest.

Just hope she admits liability.

and BTW the SmartWitness is extreamly over priced for what it does, no GPS etc etc. Can get a cam that'll do very similar for £25-£50 off of ebay.

Having compaired quality with my £300 t-eye they video is slightly better, just don't get the GPS and shock sensors built in.
 
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Most Easterly Pandas said:
Until she claims that you swung into her lane as you didn't see her. (n)

Time to invest in something like a t-eye I'd suggest.
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Yep, and double yep!

I've just emailed off the details and statement. As well as a Photoshopped Google map image showing the route, and intended route after the incident. Also sent a few routine photos over there of the accident. I think the insurance company was surprised at me ringing them up asking for an email address... He said "Oh... Brilliant. We were probably going to end up asking you to do that anyway." Still reckon it'll go 50/50 though :( Ah well... That's life eh?... Lol.
 
Most Easterly Pandas said:
Time to invest in something like a t-eye I'd suggest.
and BTW the SmartWitness is extreamly over priced for what it does, no GPS etc etc. Can get a cam that'll do very similar for £25-£50 off of ebay.
Having compaired quality with my £300 t-eye they video is slightly better, just don't get the GPS and shock sensors built in.
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There are two models of Smart witness and the one with GPS is about £225. The Roadhawk with gps is about £200. I agree, there are some excellent cams on the market for very little money, if you can mount them in a car and run them off a power supply they would represent far better value.
I watched your T-Eye videos and thought they were pretty good quality especially the night time one, can't quite remember what you were doing in that but I recall the supermarket car park one. I haven't seen a T-eye for sale very briefly Maplin were selling them at a very keen price.
You can't really make out a number plate with either the Smart Witness or the Roadhawk unless you're behind it in a Q of traffic, the quality is good enough to tell what happened though.
 
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