Omg I've crashed the car. How much is this going to cost?

[omgnonono]

I'm in a right state and my husband is going to be furious. Is this really bad? Are we talking ££££? I'm so upset.

Personally I wouldn't claim as you will only pay it back through premiums. It looks like maybe a newish VW or Audi? You will probably need a new bumper which then needs painting and fitting. I work in the second hand motor trade and at a guess that would be about £800-1000 at non trade prices.

Sorry I missed the headlight, yeah you're probably better claiming.If the headlight is smashed there's a good chance the brackets holding it also need replacing. That's a lot of damage. I'm amending my estimate to closer to £2000 actually.

It's not that bad at all. Please don't beat yourself up. Accidents happen.

Is the car drivable? Is the light still functioning? How many parts of the car are damaged?

Well he should have protected his no claims bonus?

We're going to have to claim I've got maternity leave coming up soon there's no way I can afford £2k if people are right I feel so stupid my toddler isn't helping he keeps walking around talking about how mummy crashed the car and made him cry, isn't mummy silly. Talk about salt in the wound!!

This isn't a disaster. You have to make an insurance claim, that's all. No real harm done.

Well he's wrong about how much it'll affect the no claims. Of course you should claim on the insurance. You might find your premiums don't go up much at all.

It must have been frightening for your toddler, I'd make him the priority and claim on the insurance. These things happen. Your DH is an arse if he makes you feel bad.

"my toddler isn't helping he keeps walking around talking about how mummy crashed the car and made him cry, isn't mummy silly."

Your arse of a husband can put him to bed. Problem solved.

I'm more worried about you and how you think your husband is going to react. It's just a car, so what if not costs, that's why you have insurance. And it was an accident, he should just be glad that you and your toddler are fine. Absolutely no harm done and a year of a marginally higher insurance cost.

You are fine, your toddler is fine, it's just a car.

Everyone would have 20 years no claims if we didn't use our insurance. 🤣

Do you not have protected no claims bonus? It's a pain claiming but it's not going to bankrupt you! My mum wrote her car off a few years back, we got a decent settlement figure & went a bought the exact same car. Her insurance was barely increased!

Ncb is a load of smoke and mirrors if you are over about 25. Just claim it.

That’s not a crash, OP - it’s a ding, or a scrape at worst!

Those kind of scrapes and dings tend to be charged per panel and you've got several different panels and some parts there that will need to be replaced inc. the light and the dark trim that's badly scratched. My guess is £1-2k, but it depends a bit where you live and whether you know someone who works in an auto repair shop.

I just dinged up my car and it was £480 to get a big dent popped back out of the bumper and a scratch in the plastic touched up. The other car had two scratched panels and a chipped light, so that was another £800. It really is worth talking to your insurance company and working out which will be more expensive - the repair or the increase to your insurance.

I’d not be claiming for that. Our insurance is for if DH drives his stupid sports car into the back if another one and has a bill for as much as the cost of a nice house.

A couple of thousand pounds of cosmetic damage would just get fixed. It’s hard enough to get insured at all on some of our cars even with a perfect record.

Go through the insurance. It might look cosmetic, but there may be something underneath that isn’t immediately obvious, like interfering with the tracking. If it’s not serious, the premium won’t be hugely affected. Protect the NCD too.

I had a crash in June, the insurance company still have my car and I have a hire car because they are waiting on a headlight. I’d certainly go through insurance, it’s so much easier than finding a good bodywork garage. A cracked headlight means the car isn’t roadworthy apparently, I learned this off my insurance company after driving around for two weeks.

Husband gets it was an accident but is upset how much it'll cost he's saying we can't claim on insurance because we'll lose 20 years no claims? I

Ask him why on earth the car insurance doesn't include protected NCB. Or work it out yourself.

Do you not protect your no claims?

Your husband’s only concern should be that you’re ok.

NCB means you keep your discount for not claiming which is around £30 your premium will still go up, the two things are nothing to do with each other.

Ooooh I love a sensible answer! Also if it’s any consolation OP my son took out an entire door by opening it as we went through our gate. Fun times.

Personally I’d get some scrap quote compares for what’s broken/dented and ask my mechanic to change them, also check that nothing under the bonnet got cracked/dislodged. But the answer above is also good.

Glad you’re ok!

I feel so stupid

Don't do this to yourself.

If your DH is trying to make you feel guilty, don't let him. How would you react if it were a spouse or child?

Don't allow things to be valued more highly than people in your household. That starts with you recognising that people make mistakes and insurance is worth paying for, to protect them from the consequences of their mistakes.

I had an accident when I was driving DH's brand new car home (he was abroad). He was still grateful I'd agreed to go and get it for him.

If it makes you feel any better I crashed into my neighbours car and wrote it off. And had to wake them up at 7am to tell them that
This was my car, and it was fixable

Impossible to say for sure. If it's just bumper, plastic trims and paint then it might be ~£1500. If it's also a new matrix led headlight, damaged intercooler, radiator or AC condenser etc then it could be several thousand.

In real terms you'll claim it on insurance, pay a couple of hundred excess and maybe a couple of hundred more per year on your premiums for the next 5 years.