Small bump to my car - must we use insurance?

[Nugg]

That's it really - a neighbour has bumped my car outside my house - happy for me to get it repaired and he will pay - his car is much worse off!

Is there any reason to involve insurance companies?

Do you own your car? If it’s leased just make sure you get it fixed properly….when you hand the car back and they check it they will do so with a fine tooth comb and notice if it’s a patch up job.

We’ve had our car hit twice.
One volunteered to pay for repairs, we had no issue with this.

The other insisted on going through insurance. The insurance simple sent us a payment for the full amount of the garage quote. Seemed a bit daft for her to lose no claims and have her insurance bump up for the sake of a couple of hundred pounds but it was her choice.

Thanks both yes it's a PCP so perfect repair a must! I'll get some quotes and see what he says. Last time on my previous car the entire bumper ended up needing to be replaced so he may prefer insurance!

We got ours done a reputable local place-couldn’t see anything with the naked eye but the lease person looked underneath and spotted it. To be fair, the extra we got charged by the lease company plus the repair cost was still a good bit cheaper than going through insurance but something to bear in mind.

You have to declare it to your insurance anyway, so surely you may as well get it done through them?

Is there any reason to involve insurance companies?

No reason at all and you shouldn't unless it's absolutely unavoidable.

I do!!?? Why?

No, you don't.

@Aquamarine1029 thanks I didn't think so. I could go back to the dealer as it's only 6 months old but it would be megabucks for the same repair I'm sure! No need.

Yes you do.. you have to report any incident you've involved with, whether your fault or not, regardless of whether you're claiming.

It takes two seconds to Google and it's confirmed by Which, (and plenty of others) below:

"Should you tell your insurer about an accident?

Yes - if you've been in an accident, you do have to tell your insurer. You should send your insurer a letter telling them what's happened.

But make it crystal clear that this is for ‘information only’ and you don’t wish to make a claim.

This should ensure your insurer doesn’t settle with the other party's insurer without your knowledge.

Timeframe to inform your insurer

It will also be a condition of your insurance policy that you report the accident to your insurance company within a reasonable time, even if you don’t want to claim yourself."

And from Insure2Drive, specifically about someone hitting your parked car:

Contact your insurers. Regardless of whether or not you want to make a claim for the damage, you have to let your insurers know of any damage your car sustains. If you don’t notify your insurers, it could invalidate your policy.