To claim or not to claim?

Bobbyperu2013

Kid bashed the door next to us today at GAA. Bit of a dent, swapped numbers etc.
Got a phone call from the owner later, he'd got an estimate of over €500 to fix it.

Should I go through my insurance, will I be paying much more in the long run?
Never had a claim in 20 years of driving, cover costs me about €500 a year.

Money's a little tight now so I'd love to know what the implications would be of sticking it on insurance

thanks

Gorgeousgeorge

Bobbyperu2013 wrote: »

Kid bashed the door next to us today at GAA. Bit of a dent, swapped numbers etc.
Got a phone call from the owner later, he'd got an estimate of over €500 to fix it.

Should I go through my insurance, will I be paying much more in the long run?
Never had a claim in 20 years of driving, cover costs me about €500 a year.

Money's a little tight now so I'd love to know what the implications would be of sticking it on insurance

thanks

Very same happened to me. maybe a dent doctor could get it out? As long as no paint was chipped etc

Nigzcurran

I reckon the absolute max your insurance would go up is €100 a year so it would take 5 years to pay for it so if money is tight definitely go through your insurance, that’s what it’s for

Xcellor

Bobbyperu2013 wrote: »

Kid bashed the door next to us today at GAA. Bit of a dent, swapped numbers etc.
Got a phone call from the owner later, he'd got an estimate of over €500 to fix it.

Should I go through my insurance, will I be paying much more in the long run?
Never had a claim in 20 years of driving, cover costs me about €500 a year.

Money's a little tight now so I'd love to know what the implications would be of sticking it on insurance

thanks

Your excess is probably 250 euro. So you would have to pay that anyway. For am extra 250 I don't think it makes sense putting claim through.

Nigzcurran

Xcellor wrote: »

Your excess is probably 250 euro. So you would have to pay that anyway. For am extra 250 I don't think it makes sense putting claim through.

Most excess only exists for claiming for your own vehicle I thought? 3rd party claims have no excess

coylemj

Nigzcurran wrote: »

I reckon the absolute max your insurance would go up is €100 a year. ......

A claim is a claim and if the OP has no NCD protection, he could lose his no-claims discount entirely by processing a relatively frivolous claim and spend several years building it back to where he is today.

Though you'd like to think that his insurance would give him fair warning that he should settle privately, if that was the more economic option.

L-M

If you can ask for a picture of the dent we will be able to advise accordingly

con747

As above, and if you need to change insurers the "have you any claims" will be a pain.

coylemj

Bobbyperu2013 wrote: »

Kid bashed the door next to us today at GAA. Bit of a dent, swapped numbers etc.

Was there anybody sitting in the other car when this happened? Because whiplash claims have been lodged (and settled) for what seemed at the time to be extremely minor tips.

If there is the remotest possibility of a personal injury claim, report this to your insurance. It doesn't preclude you settling privately but will cover your ass.

Xcellor

Nigzcurran wrote: »

Most excess only exists for claiming for your own vehicle I thought? 3rd party claims have no excess

Maybe. I always assumed it was paid regardless!

Hercule Poirot

Bobbyperu2013 wrote: »

Kid bashed the door next to us today at GAA. Bit of a dent, swapped numbers etc.
Got a phone call from the owner later, he'd got an estimate of over €500 to fix it.

Should I go through my insurance, will I be paying much more in the long run?
Never had a claim in 20 years of driving, cover costs me about €500 a year.

Money's a little tight now so I'd love to know what the implications would be of sticking it on insurance

thanks

For me it would depend entirely on the value of your no claims bonus - I know you've said money is tight but would it be worth losing your no claims over a price that is relatively low for an accident?

grogi

coylemj wrote: »

Was there anybody sitting in the other car when this happened? Because whiplash claims have been lodged (and settled) for what seemed at the time to be extremely minor tips.

If there is the remotest possibility of a personal injury claim, report this to your insurance. It doesn't preclude you settling privately but will cover your ass.

That's door hitting another car, car wasn't in motion as far as I understand... But that is a sound advice.

If one wants to settle privately, there isn't much of negotiation power. You either settle for what the other side is asking for or you go through insurance. If I was kind enough to offer to settle privately, I would really get pissed when the liable party started to question how much it will cost me to fix the car.