Huge (45cm) scratch on car - how much to fix

[Qashqai1233]

A pleasant person has scratched my car, massive scratch about 45cm on my car door (within 1 panel)
When I bought the car I thought I purchased the extra bodywork cover, which I have since checked and I did . Its with autoprotect and they cover scratches up to 30cm or contribute £250 to scratches over 45cm. Has anyone got any experience of using Autoprotect, and in particular for a scratch over 30cm ? Does anyone know how much this will cost me ? Has come at a bad time.

My mate is a panel beater. All depends how deep it is. Some surface level scratches you can buff out or use T cut but if it's gone down to metal it'll be more expensive. As it's a long scratch whole panel might need respraying and if you've got a fancy paint that'll cost more.

Depends how deep it is. I would have a go with T-cut first.

I reckon it's down to the metal. It's a blue car and scratch is silver/white!

Give it a clean and a buff first, then have a go with t-cut. It could be that a lot of it comes out without needing professional work.

Anyone else with any experiences?

It depends why you want it fixed? I had a similar scratch, down to the metal in an old car and was advised by the garage if I just wanted to stop rust rather than cosmetic to clean it and paint over with clear nailpolish. This has worked for a few years.

@helpfulperson it's a 23 plate car with no other marks so I would like it sorted

Is the pleasant person going to pay? I'd get some quotes and charge to them before I used my own insurance

I had a small bit behind the rear wheel arch resprayed, and that cost £300. So a whole panel would presumably be at least double that? Perhaps more

If it’s not your fault, why aren’t you going through insurance?

Is there a Chips Away franchise near you? Worth asking them if there is.