Claim or not to claim (Got protected no-claims)?

buel10

Hi all.
My wife had someone drive in to her car when she wasn't there. Had it looked at by a friend who repairs cars and he quoted £400 cash in hand or approaching £800 if through insurance.

My wife rang her insurance (Endsleigh) about her excess.
It's £250 for accidental damage,
No excess for malicious damage,
£250 Fire and theft,
£70 Windscreen replacement.

She asked how the no claims works: They told her that she has the 'protected no claims bonus' which is a 'discount off future policies that would be protected'. However, they added that an accident can still affect future prices, you just get discount of future quotes (if that makes sense). Apparently the amount varies by whether or not you were at fault but they obviously wouldn't give specifics.

My question is, is it worth making a claim on this? Apologies if the answer is obvious, I don't think I can see the wood for the trees here....!

Zorillo

For the sake of £150 (£400-£250 excess) I'd probably not bother with an insurance claim, IF I trusted my mate who was quoting £400 cash in hand to do the job properly.

If I had any doubt at all about my mate, I'd put it through insurance as that will guarantee the repairs will be rectified if I'm not happy with them.

Quentin

You can get a good idea of what affect this will have on future premiums by doing dummy quotes online with and without the claim in her history

If she has told her insurer she has this damage then it will be recorded and must be disclosed to future Insurers even if she decides not to make a claim

ThePants999

Just to add an explanation of "protected no claims".

Your insurance premium is calculated based on the risk you appear to pose, which takes into account all claims in recent history. That base amount is then discounted by your no claims bonus, which normally relates to how long it's been since you last claimed.

Making a claim is normally therefore a double whammy: your base premium goes up because a claim makes you a higher risk, AND you lose the discount. Protected no claims allows you to make a certain number of claims without losing the discount - but it doesn't stop the base premium going up.