Husband just crashed the car... Any advice please?

[YetAnotherUsernameToday]

My husband just drove into the back of someone at low speed yesterday and they drove off before he could get any details. A bit odd as it was his fault.

He took car to bodyshop today and they quoted £2k to repair. Slight crack in the bumper and slight bend in bonnet. He is devastated and thinks we need to claim on insurance as he loves the car, but I think he's being sentimental.

As it's a 2011 Skoda Octavia, I think - just leave it as long as it's safe! You can buy new bumpers on eBay for less than £100 and my BIL could help him replace it, so I think let's just do that forget about trying to make it perfect. We have an MOT already booked this month so they can make sure there is no other damage that makes it unsafe to drive.

Am I missing something here or would you do the same? I'm guessing we will need to get the bumper painted so there is some extra cost I've not factored in yet.

What would you do in this situation. We don't have £2k.

Just the increase to your insurance premiums will end up costing you more than the entire car is worth.

Not in my experience. £50 a year maybe.

I'd get it fixed professionally just in case there is serious damage that is not immediately apparent. Also I'd report it to police (driving off) and insurance co as your policy probably requires this and if you don't a future claim might be refused.

[quote YetAnotherUsernameToday]@Kazzyhoward

If they declare it a write off do you have to scrap the car or do they just pay the value of it? Sorry I have no idea how these things work and starting to worry they will write this car off now, which would be another nightmare![/quote]
You can ask to keep it and if they agree, they deduct it's scrap value from the settlement figure. When they wrote off mine a month or so ago, they said they had a fixed scrap value of £300, so my settlement was the settlement figure less £300. I think it depends on the type of write off as to whether you can repair it yourself - from my own research at the time, there are 4 types of write offs, ranging from a complete loss where it'll never be allowed on the road again (i.e. serious structural damage) through to cosmetic/non structural which is obviously a case where you can repair it, not sure where the line in the sand is as regards the two types of write off in the middle.

Categories
A - polluted (with blood/mud etc), no parts can be used. Must be crushed.
A2 - burnout. Polluted with fire 🔥 😂 must be crushed.
B - massive structural damage but there are parts that can be removed and used on another cars. This is now been sold as "green parts" also used for cars that are really old and deemed "end of life", not worth repairing. Cannot be returned to policy holder. Must only go to registered breakers with appropriate license.
S - structural damage. Can he repaired by a professional and placed on the road after the vehicle has been certified as safe and re MOTd. Log book will need to be reapplied for.
N - non structural. Purely cosmetic damage. Yours likely sits here from what you say.

Everything is at your insurances discretion with regards to buying back and/or repairing.

Even if your insurance don't let you have it back, you may be able to buy it from the salvage agent. But I don't recommend you do.

[quote YetAnotherUsernameToday]@Kazzyhoward

If they declare it a write off do you have to scrap the car or do they just pay the value of it? Sorry I have no idea how these things work and starting to worry they will write this car off now, which would be another nightmare![/quote]

Depending on the category of write off - you will be given the option of taking the full amount they think your car is worth and they keep the car or if you want to keep the car they will pay you what the car is worth minus the scrap value

Just the increase to your insurance premiums will end up costing you more than the entire car is worth

You're describing minor cosmetic damage, which you should easily be able to get sorted for max £600, and there is no structural damage there anyway.

That's not necessarily true, especially with protected NCD. It will go up a bit but sometimes that's only a slight increase, sometimes it is more but if they can't afford to fix the car themselves now there's no option.

You're assuming it's cosmetic damage - from working in motor claims, often damage that looks like it's just to the bumper and only superficial - actually turns out to be worse and a lot more expensive. There can often be internal damage/electrics etc damaged and it can all add up. She has been quoted £2k which she has said she can't afford so in this case it is the smart option to go through the insurance