Anyone work in car insurance? Loss assessor? Should I claim
Discussion
Hi,
Ive a car valued around 7k.
I’ve never claimed before.
We hit an animal which damaged front bumper, wing, headlight, damaged door slightly as it pushed wing back into it.
My father reckons insurance will simply write the car of, and I’d be better letting them do it, take the pay out and buy it back of them cheap and sort myself.
I can get second hand parts cheap and we are friendly with a local painter who can sort for us.
We have fixed our own cars previously outside of insurance and you get to the point where you feel why am I not using the insurance I pay for.
I guess the question I am asking is, will be premium increase be less than expected as it’s a “non fault” claim, with no other vehicles involved?
I guess I am unsure of the process to use.
Should I contact insurance and let them assess the loss?
If they don’t write it off, do I have the option to not go through the insurance and sort myself if I want.
If they do write it off, can I gauge what the buy back cost would be? A quick read of the policy says we can buy back.
On top of that, I guess I have to factor in buying a stop
Gap car if we fix ourselves, through insurance I’ll get a courtesy car.
Thanks
Ive a car valued around 7k.
I’ve never claimed before.
We hit an animal which damaged front bumper, wing, headlight, damaged door slightly as it pushed wing back into it.
My father reckons insurance will simply write the car of, and I’d be better letting them do it, take the pay out and buy it back of them cheap and sort myself.
I can get second hand parts cheap and we are friendly with a local painter who can sort for us.
We have fixed our own cars previously outside of insurance and you get to the point where you feel why am I not using the insurance I pay for.
I guess the question I am asking is, will be premium increase be less than expected as it’s a “non fault” claim, with no other vehicles involved?
I guess I am unsure of the process to use.
Should I contact insurance and let them assess the loss?
If they don’t write it off, do I have the option to not go through the insurance and sort myself if I want.
If they do write it off, can I gauge what the buy back cost would be? A quick read of the policy says we can buy back.
On top of that, I guess I have to factor in buying a stop
Gap car if we fix ourselves, through insurance I’ll get a courtesy car.
Thanks
Generally Insurers will count that as a fault claim because there isn't another car drive's policy from whom you may be able to claim.
Irrespective of that it is impossible to answer whether or not you may pay more on renewal as in reality the truth is you might ,you might not ,it might be the same or presuming you shop around it could also be less.
Irrespective of that it is impossible to answer whether or not you may pay more on renewal as in reality the truth is you might ,you might not ,it might be the same or presuming you shop around it could also be less.
Should I contact insurance and let them assess the loss?
If they don’t write it off, do I have the option to not go through the insurance and sort myself if I want.
Sorry just realised I didn't answer your other 2 questions above.
Personally I would go through my Insurance and then take it from there depending on what they then say.
However if you put a claim in you and then withdraw it ( which you can do ) just be aware there could be potential consequences of doing so including difficulties of getting the claim reopened if you find then further damage that needs repairing , a need to still advise future Car Insurers of such an incident ,and of course still the same chance of an adjustment to your premium -or not !
If they don’t write it off, do I have the option to not go through the insurance and sort myself if I want.
Sorry just realised I didn't answer your other 2 questions above.
Personally I would go through my Insurance and then take it from there depending on what they then say.
However if you put a claim in you and then withdraw it ( which you can do ) just be aware there could be potential consequences of doing so including difficulties of getting the claim reopened if you find then further damage that needs repairing , a need to still advise future Car Insurers of such an incident ,and of course still the same chance of an adjustment to your premium -or not !
Back in the 80s and 90s I used to handle motor insurance claims.
If I was planning to repair the car myself with used parts, etc. I wouldn't even report the incident to them, although there would still be a duty to disclose it as an accident at next renewal.
They might increase the premium, but probably not by as much as if you made a claim for the damage.
If you did decide to make a claim but keep the car you'd need to make sure it never left your possession or you'd probably never see it again - it would be off to Copart or a similar outfit. The downside of this would also be having a car with a Cat S or Cat N marker assuming it wasn't economically repairable which would significantly affect it's resale value. If you made no claim and got it fixed there would be no Cat marker.
If I was planning to repair the car myself with used parts, etc. I wouldn't even report the incident to them, although there would still be a duty to disclose it as an accident at next renewal.
They might increase the premium, but probably not by as much as if you made a claim for the damage.
If you did decide to make a claim but keep the car you'd need to make sure it never left your possession or you'd probably never see it again - it would be off to Copart or a similar outfit. The downside of this would also be having a car with a Cat S or Cat N marker assuming it wasn't economically repairable which would significantly affect it's resale value. If you made no claim and got it fixed there would be no Cat marker.
Mr Tidy said:
Back in the 80s and 90s I used to handle motor insurance claims.
If I was planning to repair the car myself with used parts, etc. I wouldn't even report the incident to them, although there would still be a duty to disclose it as an accident at next renewal.
They might increase the premium, but probably not by as much as if you made a claim for the damage.
If you did decide to make a claim but keep the car you'd need to make sure it never left your possession or you'd probably never see it again - it would be off to Copart or a similar outfit. The downside of this would also be having a car with a Cat S or Cat N marker assuming it wasn't economically repairable which would significantly affect it's resale value. If you made no claim and got it fixed there would be no Cat marker.
So we planned to drive this car until it died anyway.If I was planning to repair the car myself with used parts, etc. I wouldn't even report the incident to them, although there would still be a duty to disclose it as an accident at next renewal.
They might increase the premium, but probably not by as much as if you made a claim for the damage.
If you did decide to make a claim but keep the car you'd need to make sure it never left your possession or you'd probably never see it again - it would be off to Copart or a similar outfit. The downside of this would also be having a car with a Cat S or Cat N marker assuming it wasn't economically repairable which would significantly affect it's resale value. If you made no claim and got it fixed there would be no Cat marker.
It’s got higher than average miles for the year but had a brand new engine fitted recently after a timing belt failure.
This is why I am thinking, if the insurance company would write it of, we could cash in on this now?
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