Car accident: Should I claim insurance or pay out of my own pocket?

I am confused as to what might be a good metric, based on which we do it out of pocket or file an insurance claim.

BHPian warp_10 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

This is my first post and have tried to cover as much of information as possible.

I have a situation where my 7 year old Brezza ZDI+ has a zero dep policy (with 1k co-pay / deductible) had a hit at the rear. The other party did not have insurance but agreed to their mistake (they were some construction workers) and I was in a hurry to a hospital and so decided to let go and take care of it myself (time was crucial at that time and did not want to sit on it). I will need to use my policy for this (or should I) ?

I am confused as to what might be a good metric, based on which we do it out of pocket or file an insurance claim. The damage was on the passenger side tail light area and so not a great deal. If I take it to a body shop (Trend automotive as suggested by team-bhp fellow members) it will be in the tune of 12-13k. I am not sure if I should do it with insurance or out of pocket. Any suggestions will help.

Negatives:

  • Lose the NCB and premium gets higher, I pay my deductible.
  • Gets recorded in the car history
  • Depreciates the car valuation

Positives:

  • Insurance premium paid gets to work

My NCB is 1500 at 35%. And my deductible is 1000. So the negatives are at 2500. That puts the benefit of insurance 10k (12.5k – 2500). So will the resale amount get dented by that big a margin when sold ? If so, it makes sense to not go for the insurance. If not, I would want to. Are there other factors to consider as well ?

What is a good measure / metric folks use to decide this (especially when the amount is not too huge nor too small) ?

I did look up other posts which talks about insurance vs out of pocket. But I do not see any measure to help decide when to go for insurance vs out of pocket.

Appreciate any inputs on this.

Here’s what BHPian normaltusker had to say on the matter:

Whether you choose to get the car repaired with / without insurance claim, it will anyways impact your resale value. There are ways and means for Third Party buyers (like OLX / Spinny / Cars24) to identify if the car has been through a repair / body work. Hence, my 2 cents would be to go with Insurance and get the work done at a good body shop since that would give you peace of mind at least until you continue to own the car.

Here’s what BHPian KA01toKA03 had to say on the matter:

In such cases, I always prefer getting it repaired at a good bodyshop without insurance, especially if you are considering to change your car after a few years. Even if the difference in resale value would not be significant, you could save a big amount in insurance if you retain the NCB.

Here’s what BHPian Mustang_Boss had to say on the matter:

It always should be:

  • Prefer ASS, Claim insurance, if the amount is high or if any mechanical parts are getting replaced. This ensures you get a 6 month warranty [depending on the brand] from the brand for the workman ship & parts. Even you get a decent coverage if you get your suspension changed from ASS.
  • If it is a cosmetic repair: Most modern cars have an under body frame and cosmetic panels at the top. At the end you have your bumper. As long as you are replacing the panels/bumper, you are not going to take any hit on resale and you are free to chose where to get it fixed.

If its on the frame, try to get it done from ASS and use insurance for the same.

Peace is more important than price.

Brand assurance is more valuable & rewarding, if needed than Trust the on the local mechanic.

Here’s what BHPian RRM had to say on the matter:

I would prefer for ASC with a thought (with or without insurance) . It gives you a peace of mind including 6m warranty. Don’t worry too much on ncb. Also whether you take insurance or not it can be found out that the a specific part has been painted as while evaluating the car almost all the players use relevant tools to identify the paint thickness etc.

Good evaluator can just identify by sliding the hand over the areas where they have some doubt. I have seen it when my friends car was being evaluated and he was able to identify 60-70% of the re-painted areas without using tools as first option.

You have zero dep insurance. Use it

Here’s what BHPian shancz had to say on the matter:

At 7th year this is probably the last year you got a zero dep policy and I assume not from the big guys. I had to make a claim in the 6th year and I switched to comprehensive post that although some smaller companies were offering zero fep till the 7th year at most.

Considering this, get you claim for zero dep as you would’ve paid at least two thousand extra, in premium per year. Time to get it back

NCB would only be significant if you’re buying something new/high IDV and using this NCB. Although I have never used this option but fellow members have
Renewing this policy next year as comprehensive would be cheaper by around two thousand.

Do note that unless the damage is very insignificant in cost/nature I usually make a claim as the objective of insurance is to take care of such expenses when they arise rather than worry about NCB, IMHO.
That being said, thanks to educative posts from fellow members, I have added a rider of checking the NCB hit in case an upgrade is on the radar.

Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.

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