Should I claim on car insurance with 1yr no claims bonus

A question about : Should I claim on car insurance with 1yr no claims bonus

I have had a license for 14 years but have only been driving for one. I recently had an accident where I served to avoid hitting a pedestrian walking onto the road and swerved into a bollard.

The quote to repair the car is Ј1,700. Should I pay the excess of Ј500 and get the car sorted properly and risk a higher insurance premium because of having lost my no claims record or should I try and pay for it out of my own pocket and therefore have no record on my insurance history? I was thinking of just doing minimum repair work but even this would set me back around Ј800.

I'm confused by the ins and outs of car insurance claims. Any advice would be really appreciated.

Crown

Best answers:

• Confused by the ins and outs? What are you confused about?
  If you claim you pay your excess and lose your 1 years no claims and then have to declare that claim for upto 5 years.
  Increased premiums are likely.
• Do dummy quotes online with and without the claim in your history to get a good ide of what difference it makes to your premium to help your decision.
  If the bollard was damaged you may end up with a bill from its owner if they know you did it, and this could be another deciding factor on whether or not to claim. Should you get a claim over the bollard in addition to the repairs they will both count as a single claim