One of the most heartbreaking incidents for a car owner is receiving a dent on their ride. Although, a dent may be a result of a crash, a hailstorm, or any other reason, the very first thing that you must do is to inform your insurer. It is to ensure that you can receive the repairs for your ride without having to worry about burning holes in your pocket.
But, is it enough? Definitely not! There’s a lot more that needs to be done in order to restore your ride back to its original condition.
So, in this article, you shall find some of the steps that you must follow when you have a dent in your car.
File a Claim with your Insurer
The very first step, as already mentioned, is to contact your insurer. Usually, depending on the type of policy you have, your insurer may cover the expenses completely or partially. Regardless, it is important to inform your insurer if you wish to receive any sort of financial assistance.
Usually, the mechanic you approach may suggest the process of contacting your insurer. Otherwise, the seller you bought your vehicle from may also help you contact and make a claim with your insurer. Besides, the contact details are also there on the policy documents that you can use to connect with your insurer.
An important point to consider here is to ensure that you are transparent with your insurer if you wish to receive the best compensation. Additionally, consulting an insurance claim attorney may also help you ensure that you fulfill all the right paperwork and obligations. And thus, minimize the chances of denial for compensation from the insurer.
Find a Mechanic for Dent Removal
In several cases, an insurer may or may not consider to compensate for a repair from a specific workshop. Therefore, it is best to consult your insurer and ask them to suggest which repair workshops should you approach. Your insurer shall provide you with a list of workshops they work with. However, you can still deny to get the repairs from their suggested workshops and go for your own mechanic. But, if you prefer to do so, here are some key points that can help you receive the claim, anyhow.
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Inquire their authorization
First of all, you must ensure that the workshop is a proper license holder for the practice. It is important, as only a licensed mechanic can provide you with a proper bill. In all possibilities, a bill is very helpful when you’re filing for the claim, and of course, your taxes. Secondly, a licensed mechanic is sure to be skilled with the best technologies. And in case, they fail to repair your car to the original state, you can file a lawsuit against them.
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Confirm their reputation
Once you’ve identified an authorized mechanic for removing a dent from your car, you must also inquire about their reputation. Dent removing experts from https://dent-busters.com/ opine that a professional who has a good reputation amongst their patrons is sure to offer great services. You can ask your service provider to help you connect with some of their previous customers. Additionally, you can also check their testimonials and reviews online.
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Get an estimate of the repair
The next thing is to ensure that the repairs can fit into your budget. Well, it might be possible that your insurance provider may not cover all of the expenses. In other words, you may need to cover a part of the repair cost of your car. Therefore, you must ask for an estimate of the cost of repair before leaving it with the workshop staff. Additionally, you must also inquire about the time that it shall take for the repair work to complete. Ideally, a bumper dent should not take more than a day or two to repair. Similarly, if the hood has a dent, it might take up to two weeks for complete removal of the dent and restoring it to the original state.
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Choose the right method for dent removal
Your mechanic shall also provide you with the repair options that you have. For instance, there are usually two types of dent removal techniques– spot dent removal and paintless dent removal. Both the techniques vary in cost and time it takes to repair. Besides, the result of repair is also drastically different. For instance, spot dent removal is suitable for minute dents and fender benders but is usually less effective than paintless dent removal. In other words, a spot dent removal may leave behind stress marks on your ride, which is not the case with paintless jobs.
By now, you must have a clear idea of what you must look for and how. In fact, when you have the right repair professionals working on your ride, you can peacefully leave your ride with them. Knowing that your ride is in safe hands and you’ll receive high-quality services, you can also expect them to deliver your car as soon as possible.
The task is not over yet. It is always best to double-check on the expectations. In other words, you must inspect the work before making the complete payment.
Complete Inspection Before Making the Payment
It is important to make a thorough inspection of your ride post the repair job is done. Although the chances are pretty low, you may find a few flaws in the repair work. If you can find them before making the payment, you can expect the repairmen to fix it. On the other hand, it may become a daunting task to get it fixed after you make the payment.
This might not be the case with all the repair workshops, but with a few. Moreover, it also depends upon the nature of the repair. If the dent is on an area where it is pretty much difficult to reach or say it is not exposed to the naked eye, fixing the flaws may seem unnecessary. Or, there may be instances that the availability of the necessary parts for your ride could be limited. So, it entirely depends on the specific scenario.
In the end, fender benders are the most common reason that a car owner visits a repair workshop. Therefore, it makes hiring the right service all the more important. Hopefully, the aforementioned tips and tricks shall help you find the right solution. After all, your ride is a precious possession and caring for its functionality, as well as, aesthetics is quite necessary.
