Newish member here so bare withn me on this, travelling home from work saturday late afternoon when i skidded on a greasy roundabout (doing 25-30mph) in which the rear started to drift which i tried to correct the car then picked up grip and flicked the car head towards the kerb both frontwheels on. after going over the kerb the car slid sideways drivers side along a bush then rested against a fence. damage is front driver wing dented, wheels kerbed, driver front right tyre sidewall ripped, foglight protectors damaged not too sure about suspension at min or steering. My insurance excess is £350 any advice would be greatly appreaciated

Get the damage assessed before thinking about claiming. It sounds expensive to me anyway! £350 might just get you a painted wing and replacment tyre for the blown one.

Insurance excess will come in handy, you hit that kerb hard so expect some suspension damage. Did you ring the police?

The dent on the front wing is luckily scratchless, the helpful police officer who drove the car home for me said it felt ok but needed checking! undecided to go for insurance or to get it checked by family mechanic?

The dent on the front wing is luckily scratchless, the helpful police officer who drove the car home for me said it felt ok but needed checking! undecided to go for insurance or to get it checked by family mechanic?

I would get it checked with the familymechanic - Then depending on cost go via insurance?

How many NCB do you have? Are they protected?

Ive only got 2 years NCB which are protected

Ive only got 2 years NCB which are protected

I didnt realise you could protect 2 years, thought it was a min of 4?? I bumped my first VRS in the snow (well i describe it as parked it in the rear of a van). Ended up getting it repaired myself as it costs £5 less than my excess at the time. Saying that your damage is likely to be more than mine was.

Does the fact the police were called/attended mean that it will need to be reported to the insurance company anyway?

Edited 31 May, 201016 yr by benwiddowson

Ive only got 2 years NCB which are protected

it isnt possible to protect less than 4 years,, so you'd lose your no claims, so work out how much your insurance will go up and factor that into your repair cost and decision whether to claim or not, you have to declare a claim for up to 5 years when getting insurance also worth bearing that in mind!

believe it or not the police were passing in which i waved them down who then called for an ambulance as a precaution, the officer drove my car home 1.5 miles away from the incident. im not too sure about having to contact insurance if police were called?

If the car was driveable, you might get away with a DIY repair - Wing pushed out again. How was the front bumper generally? Perhaps a new track rod end required, or if you are lucky just adjustment. Lower swingarm could have taken a knock from the kerb, so best be cautious.

PS: When the roads are wet for the first time after 3 to 4 weeks of dry weather, they are LETHAL!

Hopefully the cars not to bad mate. Main thing is you are.

And im sure when I was looking at insurance few weeks back a option came up for 2,3,4 etc protect NC

If the car was driveable, you might get away with a DIY repair - Wing pushed out again. How was the front bumper generally? Perhaps a new track rod end required, or if you are lucky just adjustment. Lower swingarm could have taken a knock from the kerb, so best be cautious.

PS: When the roads are wet for the first time after 3 to 4 weeks of dry weather, they are LETHAL!

The front bumper seems ok lots of grass and leaves from bushes, the foglight protectors had popped off which i went back yesterday and cleaned up with a few cracks on them

Hopefully the cars not to bad mate. Main thing is you are.

And im sure when I was looking at insurance few weeks back a option came up for 2,3,4 etc protect NC

I totally agree cheers

Could have been worse.. you walked away thats all what realy matters

Did the traction control not do its job or was it turned off? because I believe its suppose to prevent a slip

A wing from a breakers would be fairly cheap, and the other bits shouldnt' sum upto £350

You would be better doing the fix privatley only because you will loose your no claims bonus and your insurance premium next year will go higher because you have to declare the accident, most likely you wont even get insured on the Fabia if your a young driver

Traction control was on didnt see the flashing icon on dash im 27 and have had the vrs 2 years(and love it!), glad i walked away but my pride has took a hit but the main thing is im here

traction control will only kill power on acceleration when it sense slip. You have to rely on ABS when it comes to slippy stopping.

You might want to get some better tyres on the rear too. I swapped to a cheaper and harder compound tyre a couple of sets ago on the rear. I would get lift-off oversteer all the time on roundabouts in the wet. At first it can catch you off-guard, but then you get used to it. I swapped the rear tyres and it handles a lot better in corners.

So once you get everything repaired again, might be worth getting some new tyres on the back...