Owning a car is always expensive, but things get a lot worse for you if you’ve been involved in an accident and you need to make repairs on the car.
Your insurance will cover the cost, but that might not be the best route to go down. A lot of people assume that they should always get the insurance to pay after an accident because it’s going to be cheaper, but that isn’t always true. In some cases, it’s cheaper and easier for you to pay for the repairs out of your own pocket instead. The key is, knowing when you should claim and when you shouldn’t, which is tough. If you’re not sure whether it’s a good idea to claim on your insurance or not, here are a few things you should consider.
SHOULD SOMEBODY ELSE PAY?
In some cases, you might be involved in a serious accident that is entirely down to somebody else’s bad driving. After that kind of car accident, you are probably entitled to some compensation, and that will usually cover the costs of repairing the car as well. Before you start calling up the insurance company, you should look into your options for compensation and see if somebody else should be paying the cost of repairs instead of you.
WHAT IS THE EXCESS ON YOUR POLICY?
This is another big question that you need to ask before you get in touch with the insurance policy. In some cases, if the damage is extensive and it will cost thousands of dollars to repair, making an insurance claim is the best way to go. But whenever you make a claim, you will have to pay the excess. In some cases, that excess might actually be more than the cost of making small repairs, so make sure to check first. Shop around and get a few quotes, then see what the excess is going to be. Often, you’ll find that it’s cheaper to handle the repairs yourself and not get the insurance company involved.
CAN YOU LIVE WITH THE DAMAGE?
If there is severe damage to the car that makes it unusable, you have no choice but to get it repaired. But if the accident was only minor and you just did some damage to the bodywork of the car, you might not need to get it repaired at all. It’s not ideal, but if you are not in a position to pay for the repairs on your own and you can’t afford the excess on the insurance policy either, why not just leave the car as it is? A few scratches won’t affect the performance of the car so you can usually live with it for a while until you are able to afford to get it fixed. This also gives you a bit more time to shop around and find a better deal.
Claiming on your insurance isn’t always the best way to go. Before you do anything, weigh all of your options and see whether you could save money by handling the repairs on your own.