damaged bumper on my car insurance claim?

bwatt00

Hi guys had a bit of a nightmare yesterday a deer run out in front of my car yesterday not a lot i could do happened in the dark and so quick anyway the front bumper is damaged and the plastic parts over the wheel under the arch,i think all else is ok head light seem loose but not enough to fall off maybe just came loose with the hit i got and there maybe the odd few other bits that are loose but maybe dont need replaced so pretty much in what i can see just a whole new bumper and a few other small bits.
I have no idea the cost of this damage,so have called my insurance company up,i need to pay the first £150 and looks like i will loose my no claims bonus after 5 years all that was not may fault.
I suppose when i get my insurance ever year i have probably the option to protect the no claims,will this mean my insurance will also be higher next year cause i will have made a claim
I was gonna not claim to save my no claims but whats the point?i be moving to australia in the next year or two,i take this no claims would not be any good for over there?and i would need to pay say the first £150 of my claim if the job was gonna be about that or not much over then it would be wise hey to no make the claim,but im sure is gonna be several times more than that,im sure when a garage see a insurance job the eyes roll and cost there is no limit.
Would have been nice to have kept my no claims and also probably not get higher insurance next year but then thats what they are for when stuff like this happens.
Does anyone know approx the cost of a new astra bumper,i take they would need to spray it fit it etc all im sure would come to £500+ not gonna be paying that.

savemoney

As I found out protected no claims doesnt stop your insurance going up. Mine is going up from £160 to £210 and that wasnt my fault and I had 9 years no claims. I wasnt even driving some pillock hit car and drove off late last year.

You could ring around and ask at local scrap yard how much a 2nd hand bumper is depending on age of your car. I got one replaced and resprayed and it looks great or ask at a body shop that does respraying for a quote to see whether it may be better to get it done yourself

Some people make the mistake respraying is cheap it isnt I had £600 of damage to one side panel and slight mark on drivers door plus curtsy car hire all in it and had to pay £250 access

I had same panel changed 4 months before that as it was rusty from within and private job and that still costs £300 and that was done on cheap and no paint blending was included, then 4 months later had yet another new panel

lisyloo

I have no idea the cost of this damage,so have called my insurance company up,i need to pay the first £150 and looks like i will loose my no claims bonus after 5 years all that was not may fault.

It's a good idea to check before claiming whether the excess, loss of no claims and premium rises are worth it.
It might not be worth claiming in your case.

I suppose when i get my insurance ever year i have probably the option to protect the no claims,will this mean my insurance will also be higher next year cause i will have made a claim

If you have full NCD then yes you can protect it.
Now you will be on 3 years, you will probably not be able to protect it.

Your premium will probably rise because of the claim, although personally I have only seen a small rise.
My personal experience shows that you are largely given the "benefit of the doubt" for one small claim. But if you are unlucky many times, then you'll be hammered.
This is another reason not to claim.
If you have another claim which may well be genuine and not your fault, then you will start to look like a serial claimer and your will be penalised.

You can check the impact easily by doing quotes with 0 claims and 5 years NCD. Then editing and adding one claim and 3 years NCD.
You will certainly see a rise from the loss of NCD and possibly a small rise from the claim.

I was gonna not claim to save my no claims but whats the point?

Generally the point is that
1) sometimes it costs more to claim over the long term. This is due to excess, plus premium rises for 3 years AND loss of discount for 2 years (it's a double whammy if not protected).
2) You'll be hammered if you become a serial claimer and this only takes one more claim that might not also be your fault.

i take this no claims would not be any good for over there?

No idea sorry.
But if I was in your shoes I'd send an email to find the answer before claiming.

Does anyone know approx the cost of a new astra bumper,i take they would need to spray it fit it etc all im sure would come to £500+ not gonna be paying that.

Depends where and how you get it done.
Getting parts from a scrap yard or from ebay is much cheaper than going to a main dealer or repairer.
Sometimes this is appropriate and other times it's not.
If you have an old banger and don't mind how it looks then you car drive around with different colour parts on.
If you have a nice car with a high value, then you probably want it fixed properly for max resale value.
If you don't care what it looks like then you could certainly get it done cheaply with ebay, scrapyard and back street garage prices.

It's your car and it's up to you what you want to do with it.
You don't have to have the 5* service if that's not appropriate for your situation.