insurance thoughts

[cramorra]

i confess - I had a parking ding- little damage to other car (rear bumper on one corner) a bit more on mine (nearside wing and door scraped lightly dented)- no one hurt, no police, amicable - my fault entirely
on discussion with my broker my premium will go up about a third ( full ncb, insured, 500 pounds/year) if I claim on my insurance ( the other party will anyway) - if I go to my bodyshop it'll be 700 - 800 quid- with the approved repairer poss more - there is 350 pounds excess, looks like it ll cost me the same whatever I do- any ideas how quickly rates go down again after something like this?
also not sure why I protect my ncb if it goes up regardless?

[TwigtheWonderkid]

If the other party is claiming off you, then the damage is done. Your insurance won't increase any more if you also claim. So you may as well claim.

There are two hits on the price of your insurance when you have a fault claim, the claim loading and the reduction in bonus. Protected bonus means you only suffer one hit.

[davek_964]

Plus, you've declared an accident even if you don't claim which seems to be all they need.

I had a (apparently) fault accident in 2011 with protected no claims - my premium actually went down the next year which was a tad surprising, so I guess mine wasn't affected.

[Zigster]

I had a similar parking accident within the last twelve months - my fault according to the insurer, which it kind of was but I'd argue that if the other driver hadn't been driving like a cock and trying to overtake me as I was obviously parking, it wouldn't have happened.

Anyway, I claimed through my (protected no claims) insurance and the renewal premium recently was about £240 compared with £230 last year. I was pleasantly surprised.

Just claim - it's a lot easier than trying to be clever with trying to get things fixed on the cheap.

[cramorra]

s what I will do, then