Backed into Garage Door: What to Do

Accidentally reversing into your garage doors is a frustrating experience. Not only can it shake you up emotionally, but you also have to deal with the damage and associated repair costs.

In this article, we will show you what to do when you back into your garage doors by mistake.

What to Do When You’ve Backed into Your Garage Door

Safety First

As soon as you feel the collision, apply your brakes, bring the car to a total stop and engage your handbrake. Turn off the engine and make sure that you and anyone in the vehicle with you are unhurt. Once you’re satisfied, have everybody leave the vehicle so you can inspect for any damage.

Assess the Damage

Most of the damage will be located at the point of impact, both for the garage doors and the car itself. These are some key areas to consider:

Look for cracks and leaks in the door panels

This damage is often the most noticeable, as it is where the metal door panels have been split apart by the force of the impact.

Check the mechanism

Carefully inspect the opening and closing mechanism. Typical signs of damage here include snapped cables, broken springs or cracked electronic door openers.

Check your car

The most common form of damage when backing into a garage door will be a dented or cracked bumper or rear panel.

Take photos of any damage

These will be useful when arranging a repair and when contacting your insurance provider.

Call a Garage Door Repair Company

If you’ve damaged your garage door, it’s important that you have it repaired by trained and experienced professionals. Search online or speak to friends and family to find a local garage door repair company you can trust.

How Much Does It Cost to Fix a Damaged Garage Door?

Repair costs typically depend on the extent of the damage and how long it will take to fix. Indeed, if the damage is particularly bad, it may be more cost-effective to replace the garage door entirely. Whatever the case, your local garage door company will be able to give you a quote for repairs once they’ve inspected the damage.

Crashed into a Garage Door: Does Insurance Cover the Damage?

If you’ve backed your car into your garage door, it can be useful to know whether your insurance will cover the cost of repairing it. As a driver and a homeowner, you should have both house and car insurance policies in place, and you will likely need to contact both of them.

Car insurance

Since you were the one who backed into your garage door, your car insurance is unlikely to cover any repair or replacement costs for the door. You should contact them anyway to report any damage to your vehicle, the repairs for which may be covered under your policy.

House insurance

Speak to your house insurance company to advise them of the situation and provide them with a repair quote for your garage door. Depending on the extent of the damage and how comprehensive your policy is, they may be able to cover the damage in part or in full.

Backed into Garage Door: Final Thoughts

If you’re a Dorset or Devon resident and need immediate garage door repair after backing into it, the team at Alliance Garage Doors can help. Operating from our Newton Abbot office, we provide a first-class garage door repair service for all our clients. Call today on 0800 328 1930 or 07760 784 283 and see what we can do for you.