Help, fibreglass repairs?

[liljo]

A mazda pickup with bull bars on the front was shunted into the rear of my C15 Romahome yesterday morning, there is quite a bit of damage, the bottom half of stable door is distorted but just about shuts, there is quite a bit of damage to the fibreglass underneath the door and inside a crack down the side of the fridge and cupboard, the cupboard doors do not shut. It is still driveable. My insurance company are sending UK Select Accident Repair Centre to assess the damage, I have made them aware yhat it is fibreglass that needs repairing.
Does anyone know how repairable it is and if they cannot do it are there any specialist repairers that you know of?I do so hope it can be repaired, will try and put some photos on here.
Liljo[ATTACH]roma crash 001.jpg

roma crash 003.jpg

roma crash 013.jpgside of cupboard door, much appreciated if anyone has any ideas


roma crash 014.jpgCH]side of fridge

[peterholden]

Boat repairers tackle jobs much bigger than this but ask Romahome for some advice

Peter

[liljo]

Thanks will do

[NomadSue]

Agh! What a nightmare for you! I wish you luck getting it sorted.

[RRH]

Go to the library and get a book on fibreglass repairs, learn and teach yourself. Don't pay £300 + for someone else to do straight forward job.

[timeshift]

Fibreglass repairs

This wasn't your fault so your insurers should be able to get the whole thing paid for by the other party. It should go to a specialist though - funnily enough something very similar happened to me yesterday and my van was taken to a motorhome service centre not too far away, as it has extensive fibreglass damage. It's all a nightmare at this time of year.


PS While on the phone to the insurance claim helpline they put me on hold. Guess what tune was playing? "Simply having a wonderful Christmas time."

[dunnie]

fibreglass

I have over the years restored a few Reliant Regals which as you know are fibreglass, i have carried out many repairs on the body, from repairing cracks to replicating new bits of body work here and there,including parts of the wings and sills etc etc, fibre glass in very forgiving, and suprisingly very strong, although at this time you might not think so, you can mould the fibre glass and sand it down to the shape you want , just takes time and patience, from what i can see the the outer body work will not be a problem, the gel coat , and painting can be done, although there are products on the market that gets over the gel coat problem, the inner parts can also be repaired with care, although i have not tackled such, i would give it a go, i know of a person in Balsall Common near Coventry who does lots of work with fibre glass, especially for TV companies, do you remeber the cigar advert with the ford anglia, where the wheels came off, he made the anglia space frame for the advert, very clever bloke.good luck, and merry christmas.

one other thing, do not buy the repair kits from diy shops, buy the matti
ng, hardener,and resin seperate, as you get better value for money.

[jayjay]

What a thing to happen! Your insurers should put it right - there are plenty of fibreglass repairers around. Only in the case of a write off should you consider repairing yourself. Good luck with it all!

[peterholden]

If insurance companies are involved stand your ground and do not let them write it off - that is important. You should insist that the other mans insurance fixes it. If the worst comes to the worst get them to pay you out and give you the vehicle so that you can sort out the repairs yourself. It is definitely worth repairing but the ins may decide that it is not economical to do so.

Peter

[rubberrat]

As above, don't (DON'T) release the vehicle from your drive - at all, regardless of excuses by your insurers.
Go to two reputable boat repairers and get quotes and insist that the repair is done by your choice of qualified repairer.
I know my way around fibreglass repairs and that job will be a little tricky but not impossible - a good boatyard will do the job for you, although you may have to help out by doing some of the dismantling to get things going your way. Its so easy to have things written off due to labour costs and lazy insurance companies.

When my cherished aircooled VW was scraped down the side the insurers tried to write it off, but I dug in (It was very rare and almost factory fresh despite being 30 years old), I did the interior strip out myself (plus an excuse the clean behind panels and furniture etc) and did everything to reduce the cost to ensure that it was repaired to my standard by my choice of classic repairer.
You just have to be forceful (And helpful)

[Ian.C.S]

Hi liljo,
Rubberrat has given you very wise advice,insurance companies always try to write off,its cheaper for them.
Follow Rubberrats advice and all will be well.

Ian

[peterholden]

Remember do NOT let anyone talk about writing it off because it would become a Cat C or D and that has to be declared to insurance and when selling.

Also remember that it is the other persons insurance that must sort it out. Your insurance are only agents in this case.

Peter

[joe]

Hello Liljo,
I don't know where your based but if your in the south the Romahome centre at Freebourne Southampton have a good body shop and are experienced in Romahome repair.You need to talk to Janet Blake.
Joe

[Donk's Dad]

As rubberrat said. DONT let them take your romahome away ! ! !

My wife had an accident in her MGF and we stored it here until the insurance arranged for it to be picked up.

When they wrote it off we asked to buy it back to repair it ourselves it had already been auctioned off to a salvage company!

When my sons Vitara had the same think happen, we refused to release it and were allowed to keep the wreck and break it for spares to get some money back on it, as the payout was not what it was worth to him.

Had we had released it he would be about £300 (and counting) down by now,

[liljo]

Do you mean, NOT to let the garage take it away if they say it can be repaired?
Should I talk to my insurance company before the garage comes to take photo's of the damage?