Ignore your Car Insurance; DIY Repair?

Are you one of the many people who prefer to arrange private repair of your car after an accident? In a survey carried out by Autotrader, it was revealed that increasing numbers of people are seeking such a repair rather than risk losing their no-claims bonus.

“Why is this?” you ask. Especially as most policy providers will allow you to protect your no-claims bonus for an optional extra fee. The answer, it seems, comes down to customer satisfaction. One fifth of those surveyed said they were not happy with previous repair work carried out and level of service they received.

Is this what things have come down to? We try in vain to keep our car insurance as cheap as possible by avoiding using it whenever possible. The reality is we will end up spending more in the long run by paying a private firm to carry out repair work.
The alternative of informing the insurance company and having them carry out the work, however much it affects your premium, will most probably not be nearly as expensive.

For example; if your car were to be involved in a collision and cost £2500 to repair it, the increase in your motor insurance premium over the next few years may only be a few hundred pounds. As for the quality of the work; if you are not happy with the finished result, you have the option to send it back to be corrected. Here I talk from personal experience, after having to send a previous car back to the repairer 3 times until I was happy with the finish. The insurance company will pay for this, as they will receive an invoice for total work costs when the repair job concludes.

Cheap car insurance can still be found even with a previous claim on the table. It just takes a pit of perseverance and use of the new breed of comparison sites will help tremendously.

Three things to remember, if you are unlucky enough to be involved in an accident, are;
1) If it’s not your fault, don’t worry, you won’t lose your no claims bonus. If you have protected no claims then you’re ok either way.
2) In the long run claiming on your insurance will only increase your premium by a small amount compared to the amount you may have to pay for private repair.
3) You don’t have to settle for a poor repair job, you can complain and refuse to take back the car until the repairs are carried out to your satisfaction.

At the end of the day, insurance is there for the pure and simple reason of saving us money in the event of it being needed.