Do I claim on insurance?

[Philp]

Annoyingly I nipped my neighbours car when parallel parking my GTS. Their rear bumper has been scratached as well as my front so both will need a respray but bumpers are otherwise fine and have no cracks.

I'm guessing cost to repair both will be c£2k? Thoughts?

I have over 10 years protected NCB and have never claimed before. Not sure how this would effect premiums - is it worth claiming?

Thanks

Phil

[CharlesElliott]

I would say no.

[Ian.g]

It does depend a bit where you get it done. Someone damaged my last car bumper by not putting their handbrake on. The car drifted across the car park into mine. The bumper was scratched but not otherwise damaged. Respraying that bit cost £150 at a bodyshop and I couldn't tell where it had been done. Still looked fine 2 years later. Unless you have done a lot more damage than it sounds like from your post, it might be cheaper than you think. I would get some quotes before you decide.

[MacanArif]

From what you describe - I would first get an estimate for the two repairs - it also depends on the excess on your policy. Once you've got those pieces of information it may be easier to make a decision.

[CharlesElliott]

I agree that < £2K should be possible (especially if your neighbour would be happy with a SMART repair). But even at £2K I probably wouldn't claim....

[Paul]

^
Like Arif says.....
I had (have) protected no claims with Admiral and clumsily backed into a parking bollard in France. I put in the claim (new bumper @£1700 as it turned out,) paid the excess etc and thought no more about it.
Come renewal on our "fleet" they wanted an additional £150 PER CAR to have me as an additional driver on my wife's and 2 boys vehicles because of my "at fault" claim.
Worth checking all the possible parameters....and also getting a "smart" repair quote if both parties are happy with this...

[Rab J]

I wouldn't be claiming for something like this unless your particularly short of funds right now. Any claim you make will be repaid back to the insurance companies at least twice over the next five years no mater what type of protected bonus you have.

[VanB]

Personally I'd go down the smart repair route if possible and not claim. Insurers are very quick to put up your premium and very slow to bring them down so you could be paying extra for some time. I've had smart repairs on a number of cars where there has been nothing other than cosmetic damage (always caused by a 3rd party I might add) and they have always been flawless.

[Philp]

Thanks guys. Neighbour is an older lady who drives her car like a dodgem so thankfully she is pretty relaxed and said she cant be bothered to go to garage and would be happy with a DIY fix from me.

The scratch on mine is also very skin deep so thinking i may patch it over and if not happy with that then take to garage for a professional job as the damage is pretty minor.

Anyone used a scratch repair kit they can recommend or would you say I shouldn't waste my time? Below are a couple and attached is a pic of the damage

https://www.porscheshop.co.uk/porsche-c ... lours.html

http://www.chipex.co.uk/kit/select/

[Paul]

Scratch repair kits / touch-ups are all very well but you do need a degree of expertise and alot more time than you might imagine to get an acceptable result. The nick you show in your photo is a £50/£75 smart repair and I guess the same for the neighbour? I'd get it done by someone else....