Car damaged by airport meet and greet parking

[Fizzgigg]

We recently got a brand new car - our first as we never needed one before. It's new and we've leased it. Had it about 2 months.

We went on holiday 2 weeks ago and worth rail strikes etc. decided to drive to major airport and park. We booked a meet and greet service where they meet you and take the car off site whole you're away and bring it back the day you return. All brilliant and super convenient at drop off but when we arrived back we were informed that they'd damaged the front of the car. We have written proof acknowledging liability and how.it happened. We also spotted further damage to the rear when we got home.

We're obviously talking to them about repair and they told us they'd pay for costs but I don't know whether we should go through or inform our insurance. My DH says no as it'll affect no claims status but I'm really nervous that the company are going to be shitty about it all,. especially the rear damage,.and we'll need the legal/insurance support.

Anyone any experience or advice you can offer?

There's a lot of this about. A couple came back from holiday to speeding tickets for offences while they were away. I would tell my insurance company. If you have a record of mileage before you wenr, check that too. It's recommended that you photograph your milometer when you hand it over.

Yeah we don't have a photo of our mileometer but we do strongly suspect the car was taken out for a ride.

You need to inform your insurance

I live near a major airport and the meet and greet parking has cars parked so close they are touching. They’ll use any field or disused car park they can find. The local press has regular stories about them.
Some may be legitimate businesses, but lots of them aren’t.

As the parking operator has admitted liability, it is highly unlikely to affect your no-claims status. That is only impacted when your insurer cannot recover the cost of the claim.

It doesn't impact your no claims discount but it is still a claim you have to declare and that can still impact the cost of your insurance (like claiming on it for windscreen cover is as well).

If you're leasing you need to go through them for damage (or you did when we leased out last car)?

Yeah that's what I thought. I'll get all the docs out and go over it with DH again. We were mostly tired and pissed off yesterday afternoon when we picked it up so not a great time to assess best course of action.

As per pp, you need to go through insurance and lease company. They will get it done at an approved garage who will use genuine parts. You don't want to get it done 'on the cheap' and then have the lease company not accept the car back or charge you for the repairs to be redone. For example I'm not expert enough to notice a bad paint job touch up, but friends involved in cars would spot it a mile off. It'll save you a lot of stress in the long run.

It'll also take the stress out of you having to negotiate a price with them and get quotes for repair.

You must inform your insurer and let them deal with it. No claims is unaffected but it will probably put up your renewal. Unfair but it's how the system works

Thanks everyone. We don't actually have a no claims status at the moment as we've never had a car so our insurance is high as it is. We were hoping to get through the year without a claim.

You dont have to process the claim via your insurance company.
You can call them and let them know whats going on but that you are going to deal directly with the parking company's insurance company.
Once you have written admission of fault the next step is to confirm their insurance company and the claim reference number
You should not allow them/their insurance company to do the repairs directly as the contract for repairs is under their control not yours.

I would recomend going back to the dealer you purchased it from and have their mechanic provide a list of the damage and an estimate of the repair using branded parts.
Unfortunatly with crumple zones the damage may be more substantive that it appears as the plastic bumpers flex back into shape but the internal mounting brackets etc can be cracked or broken

A lot of new cars now have a "black box" and the dealer may be able to download the data on when the crash occurred.

The insurance company may accept the estimate or send out their own assessor in an attempt to negotiate the costs involved.
Your dealer can help advocate for you as they want to get paid.

Sorry missed the lease bit.

you don't own the car the leasing company do.
You will need to inform the lease company of the damage and work with them to fix the car in accordance to the terms you agreed.

As it is a lease you need to check if there is a financial penelty included in the contract for the fall in expected market value due to crash damage.