the wifey had a little incident with her car. here are the damages. should i tell the insurance company? i just signed up with a new insurance co and would hate to tell them about this. will my rates go up? ive never been in an accident and ive never had to file a claim so any help would be great. will it be to my benefit to fix it with our own money. the body work seems like its gonna be expensive. (door, gas door, fender and rear bumper)

 

It depends on your deductable, I personally would not. Damage does not seem to be over 2K. Most insurance companies raise rates regardless of the amount of damage done to the car. Ask your insurance company how much your premiums would go up. Subtract the damage from the raise in rates and you make the choice. I got into an accident (my fault), and decided not to report it. Damages came out to 1800 but the deductable was 1000. So in order for me to save 800 bucks, the insurance company would raise my premium by 20% for the rest of the year.

 

That looks like fairly extensive work, I would let the insurance cover that.. I don't think your rates will go up very much with good history..

 

hmmm, im scared to even tell my insurance company. i got such a good deal on my rates (500 deductible) that im scared they will go up big time.

should i have them fix the body or have them remove and replace?

 

Did you get a quote on the damage costs from a mechanic or body shop?

 

nope not yet. just happened this weekend.

can i tell them about this, ask questions on rate changes, etc and it wont affect my rates. will it only affect it if i actually tell them to cover it? if so, i will call them and ask but if calling them is even a bad idea, i'll have to do some serious thinking.

 

Did this involve damage to another vehicle or to someone else's property? If so, you may have little choice. If not then, asking them won't do any harm. Only if you claim, will your record be affected. If you say, "never mind" and not claim it, they won't put it on your file. This may not be the case with government insurance systems. They'll screw ya everytime.

 

it happened with out neighbors trailor they pull on their truck. no damage to theirs and as far as i know, they werent home and she said they dont know about it. it was just a little mistake she failed to see when she was backing up. so i guess ill go to the body shop, get an estimate, then call and ask about insurance rates. thanks for the replies. they were very helpful.

 

From what my insurance company told me they keep record of every "incident" whenever you call and report anything they keep it on record as an incident. So if you call and just talk to them about it, it goes on your record.