£650 worth of damage, worth claiming?

Greentrafficcone

Hi All,

My wife recently managed to hit a post and do some damage to the side of the car. I've just got a quote for getting it repaired (assuming I replace the door myself) and it works out around £650. That's if I'm paying for it anyway, I know it can be more if the insurance are involved. I was wondering if it's even worth calling my insurance. We have full comp with a protected no claims and it works out at around £400 per year. I'm worried that it'll shoot up if I claim, or even if I ask them about it. Any advice on what I should do?

Many thanks
G.

smashingyour...

One may say, you should tell them either way.;)

OddballJamie

What's your excess?

Get an online quote with the damaged mentioned and one without, use a faux name, then change the year it happened a few times to get a long term idea. Then add the difference to your excess and if there isn't a massive difference then get it repaired yourself.

System

how much is the excess on the policy? might be worth doing, might not - depends on the car too, if it's an old shed that's worth 500 quid then not worth doing at all, or if it's a brand new car go for an insurance repair

londonTiger

£650 could easily cost you in excess and next year premium increase (also further potential losses due to loss of NCB reset if you claim). So claiming from insurance may not be better for you at all.

You are supposed to inform your insurer of any incident whether you intend to claim or not. But personally - i wouldn't inform them and just repair it myself. It does affect your premium if you tell them that you drove into a lamp post and will reflect badly on your record. If you overlook a stationary object what hope do you have against a cyclist or a pedestrian cross the road for instance?

Also, it may cost £650 to repair, but have you looked at just buying a new door/wing from a breakers? That could come down to as little as £50 and some of your time to fix.

Jamie_Carter

smashingyour... wrote: »

One may say, you should tell them either way.;)

And why would that be??

smashingyour...

Jamie_Carter wrote: »

And why would that be??

Read your policy, it's a material fact.

Or simply carry on doing what you accuse others of.

Jamie_Carter

smashingyour... wrote: »

Read your policy, it's a material fact.

Or simply carry on doing what you accuse others of.

Not at all. If you have a slight knock that doesn't involve a third party, and break lets say an indicator lens. Then there is no reason at all why you can't just replace it yourself.

Your car is your property, and not the insurance company's.

The only reason they want you to report it is so they have an excuse to put your premium up.

smashingyour...

Jamie_Carter wrote: »

Not at all. If you have a slight knock that doesn't involve a third party, and break lets say an indicator lens. Then there is no reason at all why you can't just replace it yourself.

Your car is your property, and not the insurance company's.

The only reason they want you to report it is so they have an excuse to put your premium up.

Bit more damage than a lens.

Jamie_Carter

smashingyour... wrote: »

Bit more damage than a lens.

Same principal. If you don't need to claim, and there isn't going to be a claim against you, then you don't need to inform them.

It is your car, and not the insurance company's.

smashingyour...

Jamie_Carter wrote: »

Same principal. If you don't need to claim, and there isn't going to be a claim against you, then you don't need to inform them.

It is your car, and not the insurance company's.

Oh alright, it says that in your policy document does it?