Should I use my car insurance?

LibbyJ

Hello,

Can anyone advise if there is a formula that explains how much making a claim on my car insurance will impact on my premiums? 

I have some damage to my car caused by a lamppost which needs repairing and I’m in two minds as to go down the insurance route or self finance. Initial quotes for the work are approx £3.5k if I pay privately or 5k if I go down the insurance route.

I also pay to protect my no claims - how would this be impacted? 

Aylesbury_Duck

I'd be surprised if the rise in premiums would cost you more than £3,500 in the long run.

As for the protection, what do your terms and conditions say about the number of claims you can make in a given period?  Have any other lamp-posts crashed into your car in the past? 

neilmcl

LibbyJ said:

Hello,

Can anyone advise if there is a formula that explains how much making a claim on my car insurance will impact on my premiums? 

I have some damage to my car caused by a lamppost which needs repairing and I’m in two minds as to go down the insurance route or self finance. Initial quotes for the work are approx £3.5k if I pay privately or 5k if I go down the insurance route.

I also pay to protect my no claims - how would this be impacted? 

Did the lamp post suddenly run into the path of your car? The damage wasn't caused by the lamp post, it was caused by you driving into the lamp post.  😉 

Get it done via insurance, your premiums are not going to go up by that much over a 3-5 year period.

Ebe_Scrooge

I agree with the previous posters - for that kind of money, it's an insurance job, no question.  Regarding the NCD - as long as there's nothing in your policy that limits the number of claims you can make and still protect your NCD, then that will be unaffected.  Your premiums will almost certainly still rise though, as you're perceived as now being a higher risk.  By way of example, and to keep the numbers simple, let's say your premium this year should have been £100 and you've got a 10% NCD - you'll have paid £90.  When it comes to renew, you'll still have a 10% NCD, but your "base premium" increases to £200 - so you'll pay £180.  But the bottom line, as previous posters have said, is that overall you'll still be better off claiming on your insurance for the sums involved.

AdrianC

Three and a half grand's worth of damage to the car is not trivial - I'd be surprised if the lamp post was undamaged... Definitely insurance, because there's a likelihood of the local authority coming after you to repair their equipment.

Mickey666

AdrianC said:

Three and a half grand's worth of damage to the car is not trivial - I'd be surprised if the lamp post was undamaged...

I wouldn't. Repair costs are ridiculous these days, plus crumple zones make it very easy to inflict damage, so I could easily imagine a lamp post being undamaged while inflicting £3.5k of car damage (not that the lamp post did the inflicting of course!).

Someone broke the wing mirror of my car in a filling station.  Very minor damage and a slight dent to the door.  He was very apologetic, admitted liability and it was duly repaired and paid for by his insurance company.  It cost a little over £2.5k

LibbyJ

Thank you for all of your really helpful advice - it’s much appreciated. I guess I deserved those lamppost comments 😆😆  The damage isn’t that considerable to be honest, it’s paintwork scratches. As Mickey says above and as I have learnt through this experience, repair work on a car that is only a few years old is expensive. But I love the car and I want to keep it in as good condition as possible so I’m going to go through insurance as the majority suggests. Thanks also to Ebe_Scrooge for the NCD advice 👍👍

RichardD1970

I had an at fault, no other vehicle involved claim which cost just over £2000.

It had absolutely no impact on my next premiums or my NCB. In fact this year, 2nd after claim, my insurance has dropped over £80.

born_again

Assuming that the Op has Full Comp ins on the car.

tberry6686

£3.5k for paintwork scratches ?  A full respray wouldn't cost that so either the garage is trying to rip you off or there is a lot more damage than scratches.

Sandtree

LibbyJ said:

Can anyone advise if there is a formula that explains how much making a claim on my car insurance will impact on my premiums? 

Each insurance company has their own formula, some will be simple like saying its a 5% increase and others could be much more complex as they use a multidimentional table so a 50 year old may get a 5% increase but a 19 year old a 15% increase.

This is all immaterial though as whilst your insurer may bump up your premium another insurer may not care and the new business discount they are offering brings their premiums below your current insurers unloaded premiums anyway.

Assuming you aren't a teenager, don't drive a Ferrari, don't live on a drag strip etc then it is unlikely that premium increase would exceed £3500 but you'll basically never know. Also remember to factor in whatever your excess is.