Had a 'minor' bump in the car – damage to front bumper and N/S wing only. No-one else involved – all my fault. Been to a few garages and the estimates are all coming out at between £800-£1000. Car is insured fully comp with 5 yrs NCD – I believe the NCD is protested, but I need to find the policy/ring up and check this. Excess is ~£300 IIRC. Do I…..

a) Pay for repairs myself in cash/take it on the chin
b) Assuming NCD is covered go through insurance, accept that even though I may keep my NCD, the premium will go up next year…. but if I change insurers how will the claim affect potential premiums/transfer of NCD?
c) Assuming the NCD is not covered, go though insurance anyway. wave bye-bye to NCD and take it future rather large premiums on the chin.

Not had to claim in ages, so am undecided as best way to go. As I see it, c) is madness, b) may be a faff and I'll pay for it in the long run anyway hence a) is the preferred route as I can cover the costs and the garage can start work tomorrow.

Thoughts and comments please (helpful, or otherwise 😉

Assuming NCD is protected, I'd claim. A single claim in the last 3 years doesn't have a big impact IME, certainly not £700 worth.

I'd check whether your no claims is protected or not.
If not, ask how many yrs no claims your insurance company recognises.

You lose 2yrs no claims when you make a claim.

I had 6yrs no claims when I insured with Swiftcover. I had to make a claim and when it came to my renewal, they only gave me a 3yrs proof of no claims. When I queried this, I was told that as they only recognise 5yrs no claims, they have taken my 2yrs lost from this value and it's clearly defined in the terms & conditions…..!
So, if you have 10 years no claims, insure with Swiftcover & make a claim, you will only end up with 3 years no claims at the end of it.

If it was me, I think I'd either not bother getting it repaired depending on what your definition of 'minor' is or get it done through the insurance.

^^^^

Agreed.

With most protected NCD you are allowed 1 bump in 5 years typically before you lose some of your NCD.

You will no longer be classified as a clean risk, but your premium will not be loaded by that much.

It was so low speed, and caught the very corner of the car, that no lights were cracked, the bonnet is fine and everything is reltively straight. The only issue (apart from that corner looking a mess) is that wing is bolted on and slipped backwards enough so that the passenger door can't be opened. It needs doing – book value for the car is ~£6000 – if it was a banger then I would live with it, or get it done on the cheap with scrap spares etc.

EDIT: Thanks all – next port of call is insurers then to check protected NCD and the terms of that protection.

Pay yourself, you'll find the quote to be less too.

My wife had her first bump in 13 years last year, she's protected etc. But its meant that as a named driver on my car they wanted another £80 from me, plus her insurance has doubled…

Not sure how much you pay, but it will go up – and will it cover the loss on the claim, plus you've used up a 'life'?

The £800-£1000 is for a cash repair. The equivalent insurance quote is nudging £1500 as they will replace a few more bits that 'might' be damaged (admitedly, that the assessor can't see yet) as a matter of course.

I was minded to pay myself – I guestimated that it would be about £600-£700 (i.e. 'only' double the excess) at which point I think it made sense over the medium term not to claim… but the quote is closer to 3x excess plus the argument of 'what's the point of having (fully comp) insurance then?' is niggling me?!?!?

Comp is for when either you or someone else does serious damage and you need it fixing/replacing 'cos you can't afford to repair it.

If you claim you need to make sure that it won't make you worse off in the medium to long term.

Plus (for me) its cheaper than TPFT

If you claim you need to make sure that it won't make you worse off in the medium to long term

This my worry – I (grudgingly, though my Pompetamine super-build may have to wait a few months…. grrrr…..) have the spare cash to cover it and like low premiums.

Plus (for me) its cheaper than TPFT

Funilly, ditto here.

Or if you going to go through you insurer use a garage that will pay the excess for you.

Its simple really, if the work is going to cost £800 then the garage charges the insurer £1100 and pays your £300 excess for you.

Its up to you to decide where the car is repaired not the insurer so if you can find a bodyshop that offers this service (a lot openly advertise this fact) then that would be the way to go.

But workout what the long term implications are first eg, get on to compare the meerkat and see what your insurance costs would be without an NCB or with a reduced one