Claim or not?

J-Fit

Hi everyone. I've just had the worst fcuking day and topped it off by bumping my car into the right passenger door of a guy in town. No massive damage, bit of a dent on the door and rear panel causing the door to not really work right. I gave the guy my insurance details to let him know I wouldn't scam him as the guards were never called, despite it happening on the front step of the garda station. Anyway, my insurance premium stands at €640 on a 1.9 petrol. I'm not sure what the damage will cost but should I be claiming here or pay in cash? I'm in no mood to be held to ransom by overcharging panel beaters and I might ship it on to the insurance company if the price is outrageous. How would this affect my future premiums? Does it tend to go up by much and does the size of the claim have an impact on how much it goes up by? I tried asking my insurers these qs today but they were bloody useless and I didn't want to tell them I crashed.

Midnight_EG

Check if the bump is in a place easily reachable after pulling back a bit of trim and just simply hit it with your palm, it'll knock out, and assuming it comes out straight you might only need a touch up of paint if thats what you need.

Seth Brundle

J-Fit wrote: »

Hi everyone. I've just had the worst fcuking day and topped it off by bumping my car into the right passenger door of a guy in town. No massive damage, bit of a dent on the door and rear panel causing the door to not really work right. I gave the guy my insurance details to let him know I wouldn't scam him as the guards were never called, despite it happening on the front step of the garda station. Anyway, my insurance premium stands at €640 on a 1.9 petrol. I'm not sure what the damage will cost but should I be claiming here or pay in cash? I'm in no mood to be held to ransom by overcharging panel beaters and I might ship it on to the insurance company if the price is outrageous. How would this affect my future premiums? Does it tend to go up by much and does the size of the claim have an impact on how much it goes up by? I tried asking my insurers these qs today but they were bloody useless and I didn't want to tell them I crashed.

If you make a claim then you will need to pay the initial excess. With most policies, this is between €200 and €400.
I would recommend on settling it privately. However, ask the other party to get a few quotes. however, they are entitled to get it repaired wherever they wish.

Midnight_EG wrote: »

Check if the bump is in a place easily reachable after pulling back a bit of trim and just simply hit it with your palm, it'll knock out, and assuming it comes out straight you might only need a touch up of paint if thats what you need.

I read it that the damage described was to the other car. I would seriously doubt that the other driver would let the OP start pulling off peices of trim!

Midnight_EG

I read it two more times after you posted bannon, and now I get it

Try it anyway OP, but make sure you have his permission.

It could save a big big bill.

TestTransmission

If someone hit into my car,I would be bringing it a panel beater.

I wouldnt be letting any wannabe take off trim and banging the panel with their fist,I cant imagine many car owners here letting the person who hit into them in the first place to go at their car again.

J-Fit

I'm not sure I'm going to be able to play around with trim but I know a good guy who'll do the repairs. Trouble is, the repairs could be costly and I'd much rather pay that €300 excess and take a (small) insurance hit over the next few years. I suppose what I'm really asking is does anyone have any ballpark figure of how much an insurance claim will bump up my premium? Its now €640, could a claim like this, say, double it? I fully expect it to go up but am not too concerned.