Grrrr, bloody cars and bloody insurance. Stuck in a big hole, don’t know what to do and have 4 hrs to decide. The crux of it is, is 3 yrs NCB worth more than £1100?

I hit something whilst driving along the motorway which caused a lot of minor but expensive damage that I need repaired to retain a large part of my 3 month old car’s 3 yr warranty. As a driver, I’m 27, 3 yrs exp no prior claims/conv and live in a “vibrant” part of Manchester which has v. high premiums.

Do I:

Case 1

Pay for repair myself at a cost of £1130 but I’ll keep my NCB which will be 3 years come renewal in December. Renewal with 3 yr NCB and an own fault no claim made incident looks like being £600 - £700 this year and a bit less over the next few years (hopefully with even more NCB)

Case 2

Claim on insurance which costs £300 excess today and I’ll lose my current 2 yr NCB come my renewal time in December. Cost with no NCB and an own fault with a claim incident is £1100. So over the first year I’ll be approx. £3-400 better off but I’ll lose out over the next couple of years as my insurance will be a few hundreds higher each year.

So estimating after a few goes at confused/moneysupermarket websites:

Cost of Ins Claim Vs. Pay up

Today £300 Vs. £1130

Yr 1 £1100 Vs. £650

Yr 2 £800 Vs. £550

Yr 3 £700 Vs. £450

Total £2900 Vs. £2780

So for the sake of £120 out of nearly £3K is it worth me claiming on the insurance just for extra piece of mind over the repair? Is it worth discounting the £400 saving this year over the further more expensive years? So, rock, hard place. Any thoughts or comments?

Can't help with the dilemma, but remember that most insurers ask to be notified of any accidents you've had in the past 3-5 years, irrespective of whether you claimed or not. This may have a bearing on which route you take....

Chris

Can't help with the dilemma, but remember that most insurers ask to be notified of any accidents you've had in the past 3-5 years, irrespective of whether you claimed or not. This may have a bearing on which route you take....

Chris

I'm aware of that but I've been unreliably informed by my insurer, churchill, that I keep my NCB with an own fault accident if I pay for the repair. I've already declared it to churchill so I have to declare it to other insures from now on anyway. Doing a few of the online quote engines that sounds right. Own fault, non claim incidents don't seem to be loaded significantly with as own fault with claim and no NCB doubles most quotes.:(

bugger, just been called out of the office for a bit, so I'll have to leave this with you guys.

Will you lose ALL your NCB? If you check with your insurers you may find you keep a portion of it.

Will you lose ALL your NCB? If you check with your insurers you may find you keep a portion of it.

Yeah I think it may drop back to 1 years NCB?

Chris

I'm aware of that but I've been unreliably informed by my insurer, churchill, that I keep my NCB with an own fault accident if I pay for the repair.

You may well keep your NCB, but you will be seen as a higher risk (as you've been involved in an accident). Sounds like you've done your research though and they won't load the premium too much

Chris

Will you lose ALL your NCB? If you check with your insurers you may find you keep a portion of it.

Tried that, I only have 2 yrs and they take off 2 yrs, Without a claim I would have gone up to 3 yrs on xmas eve when my renewal is due.

Sounds like you've done your research though and they won't load the premium too much

Chris

Not done as mush research as I could otheriwse I wouldn't be asking today:rofl:

Original repair quote was

When you got the quote did you tell them it was an insurance job? Most will usually provide a quote for the insurance comapny quote. If you ask them how much it will cost you to fix if you pay, they may knock off quite a bit of the price

Chris

I agree with Chris, if you tell them its insurance they will try to maximise their amount of money. However for an individual they may well be sympathetic.

I'd get it done through insurance - it might not make the difference you think it will and your premium will probably go up anyway because you've been involved in an accident.

As there was no one else involved I'd be inclined to pay out of my own cash. As recommended above, I'd talk to the company doing the repair, and maybe get another quote.

What exactly did you hit to cause all that damage?

pay for it and shut up, don't tell anyone. you don't have to inform anyone of any accident unless someone is hurt not even the police. just pay the money and don't say a word at all as its not like you hit someone but infact hit something that was left by someone else so its not your fault.

pay for it and shut up, don't tell anyone. you don't have to inform anyone of any accident unless someone is hurt not even the police. just pay the money and don't say a word at all as its not like you hit someone but infact hit something that was left by someone else so its not your fault.

:iagree:

In no particular order

- too late not to tell anyone. that was my intial plan but after the first quote I got was £1700 I decided insurance was the was to go.

- Cheaper for cash? Actually they told me its more as the insurer gets a discount. I may well be being ripped off by my insurer's approved body shop but warrington mazda never got back to me with a quote and RRG repair centre was £1700 cash or insurance. Smith Knight Fay in Audenshaw seemed ok. I don't have a mate/relative/love child in a body shop so I'm stuck. There's even a thread looking for a decent repair centre;)

- damage was caused by a boars about 4 foot by 2 foot by an inch thick sat in the middle lane of the M6 before junction 32 heading southbound. couldn't go round it and as I got nearer it flipped up and hit me square on the bumper. Bumper needs replacing, air con radiator/condensor, enginer under tray and front panel that all the lights and fans hang off need replacing.

- technically it is my fault as I was driving an I hit the board. To 99.9% of drivers it would have been unavoidable but still my fault. No obvious markings on the board and didn't see it fall off anything so nobody else to claim against

- My warranty really would be fubar-ed if I don't get the repairs done properly so I don't have much of a choice than to go to a "professional" outfit

so much for fixed cost, reliable, affordable motoring.

damage was caused by a boars ...

lol I'll leave that in as its funny. BOARD not boars:rofl:

get more quotes mate as that does sound expensive.

Too late to go elsewhere, its fixed. I was supposed to be picking it up this afternoon. Hence the thread to decide what to do as my insurance company left that option open to me. As above/below (I read posts most recent first) I was forced into a corner where I'd taken afternoons off work to ge tthe thing looked at but after 2 weeks wasn't making any progress on a cheap repair on the QT.

The itemised costs don't look unreasonable, there's a couple big parts items Bumper

In UK if you pay for a claim it can't be taken against your NCB.

Bearing in mind where you live, I would ask when renewal is.

If you think it likely that you will make it to renewal without any fault claims then I suggest that you pay for it yourself as £1100 isn't much and I am sure you should be able to negociate 10% off or something.

The problem is that you would be paying for the NCB loss for then next 4/5 years in increased premiums.

EDIT: ok oops you have done it, which way did you go?

I ran out of time to pick up the car yesterday but I'm going down the insurance route. I lose out either way but being a new car and intending to keep it beyond the warranty period, I'm happier to take the supposed protection of a fully guarenteed insurance repair.

I heard that if you pay it off at a later date then it doesn't count against you for no claims purposes either

Also remember the ins company will be getting a discount on what you were quoted.

HTH

Jeez, its been busy, picked the car up on wednesday afternoon but been away for work since and not stopped.

As for the repair, I've sacrificed my NCB mostly so that I have some comeback at service time if the repairs weren't done satisfactorily. Looking at the 2 broken parts that were re-fitted that's possible. Are cable ties a factory fit too? Not serious parts but for that much money, I want it as it left the factory.

On the plus side, they've done a nice job painting and fitting the bumper.

i'd go back and complain mate, they get paid a good amount of money to do the job right so thats the least they can do really.

yeah, its being looked at, been recorded with my ins company but i need a proper car this weekend not a 3dr polo so I've taken mine for the time being.