Tree damage to roof

[Rob_benton]

I’ve seen some amazing dent removed from roofs.
Maybe worth joining a couple of detailing Facebook pages and seeing what they think. There might be some smart repairs specialist on there.
Also join detailing world forum. Some of the best detailers in the country are on there and will have contacts.

Thanks, anything is worth a try at this point as I'm running out of ideas.

I'm unsure how it could get fixed back to the standard it was prior without a replacement. The dents too deep to fill, filling a dent that deep risks it cracking if a stone hits it etc

Also, isn't detailing just car cleaning? or does it include repairs too? I have no idea myself

Ha ok, so to sign up on Detailing World there's a security question to stop bots signing up. The question it "What does DW stand for?". Stand for Detailing World, right?. Apparently it's wrong every time I enter that. So confused

@Lordie; Really sorry to hear about your misfortune.

I’m a fan of Mat Watson’s videos on YouTube. Mat had / has a Porsche 911 with some serious vandal dent damage to the roof. The dents were removed using paintless dent removal and the results were amazing IMO. It wasn’t cheap - £1,500 - but you keep the original roof and judging by the repair to the Porsche roof, the results are really impressive. A company called TDN Group did the repairs - link to their website and to Mat Watson’s YouTube video below;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI1_l1J9SjU

https://www.tdngroup.co.uk

Might be worth giving TDN a call.

That was the video I was thinking of.

[Lordie]

Yes detailing is cleaning but in my opinion it’s all connected

Thanks  I've signed up and waiting for my account to be approved so I can post. There is a sub on there for repairs so I'll give it a go. No need to apologies, grateful for the help! Cheers

The dents were removed using paintless dent removal and the results were amazing IMO. It wasn’t cheap - £1,500 - but you keep the original roof
Might be worth giving TDN a call

When I mentioned smart repairs in the original post I meant paintless dent repair, didn't know what to call it. I took it to one place that does that and they didn't want to touch it, the accident repair garage also did it too and didn't recommend it at it's too bad to get back and said it would leave ripples.

I'll send some picture to them and see what they thing. Obviously I need to get as many opinions as possible

Thanks

[Rob_benton]

Yes detailing is cleaning but in my opinion it’s all connected

Thanks  I've signed up and waiting for my account to be approved so I can post. There is a sub on there for repairs so I'll give it a go. No need to apologies, grateful for the help! Cheers

The dents were removed using paintless dent removal and the results were amazing IMO. It wasn’t cheap - £1,500 - but you keep the original roof
Might be worth giving TDN a call

When I mentioned smart repairs in the original post I meant paintless dent repair, didn't know what to call it. I took it to one place that does that and they didn't want to touch it, the accident repair garage also did it too and didn't recommend it at it's too bad to get back and said it would leave ripples.

I'll send some picture to them and see what they thing. Obviously I need to get as many opinions as possible

Thanks

Definitely try PistonHeads too. It’s a great forum. Enthusiasts vary from running a £100 car to the next with millions of pounds of cars in their garage. As well as people in every motor trade you an think of that might be able to advise.

[Lordie]

Definitely try PistonHeads too. It’s a great forum. Enthusiasts vary from running a £100 car to the next with millions of pounds of cars in their garage. As well as people in every motor trade you an think of that might be able to advise.

Thanks, registered 

[dervy]

Last year a pizza delivery bike pushed away from the kerb an caused a nasty dent to the c-piller of my car. I visited a few body shops and was told that a paintless dent repair would not work and that I’d need filler/respray etc. The VW dealership confirmed this. I contacted Dent Devils and the tech said he’d get it 90% right. He didn’t, he got it 100% right. I know that every job is different, but worth a go.

[SRGTD]

Last year a pizza delivery bike pushed away from the kerb an caused a nasty dent to the c-piller of my car. I visited a few body shops and was told that a paintless dent repair would not work and that I’d need filler/respray etc. The VW dealership confirmed this. I contacted Dent Devils and the tech said he’d get it 90% right. He didn’t, he got it 100% right. I know that every job is different, but worth a go.

Yes, it’s amazing what pointless dent removal (PDR) can achieve.

Nowhere near as serious as the OP’s roof damage, but my last car was damaged while parked in a public car park (I hate car parks and inconsiderate drivers and their inconsiderate parking!). Someone planted a nice parking ding in my nearside rear wheel arch that couldn’t be accessed from the rear of the panel because of the location of the ding. The PDR guy removed it from the front using glue pullers that he attached to the front of the panel and he then removed any small surface irregularities with a selection of special hammers that are the tools of their trade.

Really nice guy and incredibly skilled at his work. He asked me if I wanted to watch him do the repair (I did!). I’d always opt for PDR over traditional repair methods if the paintwork’s not damaged.

@Lordie - I’ve watched a few videos on the 1st Track Dents YouTube channel. Worth a watch to see what can be done with some really difficult dents, and might be worth contacting them as well for their opinion on your roof damage - Links;

Website; https://www.1sttrackdents.co.uk/
YouTube channel; https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUyEa2HVxn64Ppd34qCtAvw/videos

[Gnasher]

do some research on smart repairers and get some additional opinions, that has to be a better option than a new roof.

3 out of 3 have said it's too bad to be repaired with the smart dent repair methods. Was a a right pain to hear that as I was initially relived when I saw the damage as I didn't think it was too bad and would be easier to repair than replacing the roof panel

Apparently the roof panel is spot welded into place, that gets taken out and replaced with a new panel. Obviously all the headlining with all the lights and anything else in the way needs to be removed

put in a freedom of information request on when the trees on that stretch of road were last inspected and the schedule of inspections. I hope you have photos of the offending tree and branch etc. too. I doubt they inspect them regularly which will really help your case.

I personally would make sure I'm not out of pocket for something that wasn't your fault. If it was (for instance) a neighbour and their roof tiles came off and landed on your car, they would be liable, so I don't see why the highways agency shouldn't be. Stick at it and I'm sure you'll get it sorted.

If you need someone to email high up, try here... https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/highways-england

I have a camera so caught it falling on video

I emailed the council and highways england. The council initially confirmed it was their tree and refereed me to their legal department. Then I got an email from them which said I was misinformed and the fault lies on Highways England. Great shout on the freedom of information request though. Bet that will take months to get a reply but collecting as much evidence as possible is vital. Exactly! If it was a neighbours tree they will be liable. But because it's the council/Highways I imagine them doing the same as they did with the pothole claim. They will just say 'it was never reported so as we didn't know we aren't at fault and no chance to stop it". If the tree was shorter it wouldn't have happened, but they pretty much never trim trees unless large branches look dangerous.

If I get it repaired through insurance they're likely to just say as it has been repaired it counts as the problem being solved. But I lose 4 years off my no claims and my price will go up a little. I heard this (but not sure if it's true), apparently if the total the insurance paid for the repairs is payed back to them they wipe the claim and you get your no claims back. No idea how true that is but I can't imagine getting anywhere near £3k from the Highways

I can't remember the exact timescales, but a freedom of information request has to be fulfilled in something like 20 days or something. I know mine came through within that time.

[fredgroves]

If you have legal protection on your insurance policy, get that started. Let them battle the highways agency for you. Failing that get a specialist solicitor on the case. Their costs can be recovered from the highways agency too. Probably the first letter sent will see them buckle anyway.

[Lordie]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI1_l1J9SjU
https://www.tdngroup.co.uk
Might be worth giving TDN a call.

Emailed TDN with pictures and he said it certainly doesn't need a new roof but needs to see the car or a video. They're 2.5 hours away so going to send a video and see what he says. But if it seems possible to repair it then I'll have a search around more places and see if there's somewhere like that but closer

If you have legal protection on your insurance policy, get that started. Let them battle the highways agency for you. Failing that get a specialist solicitor on the case. Their costs can be recovered from the highways agency too. Probably the first letter sent will see them buckle anyway.

I do but the insurance just aren't interested with things like that. I imagine them just saying that it's one of those things that happen and to pay it and get it done.
Obviously I could just pay for the repairs myself and then get a solicitor involved but then I risk the chance of losing and being a could of grand out of pocket with the repair costs and paying the solicitor

Edit// Quote from someone that works for an insurance company:
"Highly unlikely. I work for an insurer and used to deal with these types of recoveries against councils. You have to prove the council have acted negligently, so you’ll need evidence that the tree was basically rotting or in poor condition. Your insurer should still look to pursue the recovery on your behalf though, albeit they will probably abandon it without strong evidence."

@Lordie - I’ve watched a few videos on the 1st Track Dents YouTube channel. Worth a watch to see what can be done with some really difficult dents, and might be worth contacting them as well for their opinion on your roof damage - Links;
Website; https://www.1sttrackdents.co.uk/
YouTube channel; https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUyEa2HVxn64Ppd34qCtAvw/videos

Unfortunately only coverers the outskirts of London but I'll message him and see if he thinks it's repairable too

I can't remember the exact timescales, but a freedom of information request has to be fulfilled in something like 20 days or something. I know mine came through within that time.

Yeah thats correct. Found that somewhere eventually and going to shoot off a FOI request today to Highways England and possibly the council if it involves them

[Gnasher]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI1_l1J9SjU
https://www.tdngroup.co.uk
Might be worth giving TDN a call.

Emailed TDN with pictures and he said it certainly doesn't need a new roof but needs to see the car or a video. They're 2.5 hours away so going to send a video and see what he says. But if it seems possible to repair it then I'll have a search around more places and see if there's somewhere like that but closer

If you have legal protection on your insurance policy, get that started. Let them battle the highways agency for you. Failing that get a specialist solicitor on the case. Their costs can be recovered from the highways agency too. Probably the first letter sent will see them buckle anyway.

I do but the insurance just aren't interested with things like that. I imagine them just saying that it's one of those things that happen and to pay it and get it done.
Obviously I could just pay for the repairs myself and then get a solicitor involved but then I risk the chance of losing and being a could of grand out of pocket with the repair costs and paying the solicitor

Edit// Quote from someone that works for an insurance company:
"Highly unlikely. I work for an insurer and used to deal with these types of recoveries against councils. You have to prove the council have acted negligently, so you’ll need evidence that the tree was basically rotting or in poor condition. Your insurer should still look to pursue the recovery on your behalf though, albeit they will probably abandon it without strong evidence."

@Lordie - I’ve watched a few videos on the 1st Track Dents YouTube channel. Worth a watch to see what can be done with some really difficult dents, and might be worth contacting them as well for their opinion on your roof damage - Links;
Website; https://www.1sttrackdents.co.uk/
YouTube channel; https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUyEa2HVxn64Ppd34qCtAvw/videos

Unfortunately only coverers the outskirts of London but I'll message him and see if he thinks it's repairable too

I can't remember the exact timescales, but a freedom of information request has to be fulfilled in something like 20 days or something. I know mine came through within that time.

Yeah thats correct. Found that somewhere eventually and going to shoot off a FOI request today to Highways England and possibly the council if it involves them

Hopefully if you find that the trees haven't been inspected for safety (from you FOI request) that'll be your evidence of the negligence of the highways agency which is the one thing that opens lots of doors. I don't think you actually need to prove the tree was in poor condition, just that the highways agency haven't checked the condition of it frequently enough to prevent this sort of thing happening. Fingers crossed - it might take a while but for that bit of effort, things should get sorted.