[warp_10]

Dear members,
This is my first post and have tried to cover as much of information as possible.

I have a situation where my 7 year old Brezza ZDI+ has a zero dep policy (with 1k co-pay / deductible) had a hit at the rear. The other party did not have insurance but agreed to their mistake (they were some construction workers) and I was in a hurry to a hospital and so decided to let go and take care of it myself (time was crucial at that time and did not want to sit on it). I will need to use my policy for this (or should I) ?

I am confused as to what might be a good metric, based on which we do it out of pocket or file an insurance claim. The damage was on the passenger side tail light area and so not a great deal. If I take it to a body shop (Trend automotive as suggested by team-bhp fellow members) it will be in the tune of 12-13k. I am not sure if I should do it with insurance or out of pocket. Any suggestions will help.

Negatives:
- Lose the NCB and premium gets higher, I pay my deductible.
- Gets recorded in the car history
- Depreciates the car valuation

Positives:
- Insurance premium paid gets to work

My NCB is 1500 at 35%. And my deductible is 1000. So the negatives are at 2500. That puts the benefit of insurance 10k (12.5k - 2500). So will the resale amount get dented by that big a margin when sold ? If so, it makes sense to not go for the insurance. If not, I would want to. Are there other factors to consider as well ?

What is a good measure / metric folks use to decide this (especially when the amount is not too huge nor too small) ?

I did look up other posts (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...t-yours-3.html (Your view on using insurance in an accident for no fault of yours?)) which talks about insurance vs out of pocket. But I do not see any measure to help decide when to go for insurance vs out of pocket.

Appreciate any inputs on this.

[KL01toKA03]

In such cases, I always prefer getting it repaired at a good bodyshop without insurance, especially if you are considering to change your car after a few years. Even if the difference in resale value would not be significant, you could save a big amount in insurance if you retain the NCB.

[normaltusker]

Whether you choose to get the car repaired with / without insurance claim, it will anyways impact your resale value. There are ways and means for Third Party buyers (like OLX / Spinny / Cars24) to identify if the car has been through a repair / body work. Hence, my 2 cents would be to go with Insurance and get the work done at a good body shop since that would give you peace of mind at least until you continue to own the car.

[speed79]

I think it is better to get it repaired under insurance. The estimated cost of repair of 12-13k suggests that there is small damage - a fender bender at the most. For small damages (fender benders), even Spinny and Cars24 don't list it as accidental car. It won't effect resale value of the car. Also, if there is another damage in coming few weeks or few months, so makes sense to get it repaired under insurance.

[Mustang_Boss]

Originally Posted by warp_10

Dear members,
I am confused as to what might be a good metric, based on which we do it out of pocket or file an insurance claim. The damage was on the passenger side tail light area and so not a great deal. If I take it to a body shop (Trend automotive as suggested by team-bhp fellow members) it will be in the tune of 12-13k. I am not sure if I should do it with insurance or out of pocket. Any suggestions will help.

My NCB is 1500 at 35%. And my deductible is 1000. So the negatives are at 2500. That puts the benefit of insurance 10k (12.5k - 2500). So will the resale amount get dented by that big a margin when sold ? If so, it makes sense to not go for the insurance. If not, I would want to. Are there other factors to consider as well ?

It always should be:
- Prefer ASS, Claim insurance, if the amount is high or if any mechanical parts are getting replaced. This ensures you get a 6 month warranty [depending on the brand] from the brand for the workman ship & parts. Even you get a decent coverage if you get your suspension changed from ASS.

- If it is a cosmetic repair,
Most modern cars have an under body frame and cosmetic panels at the top. At the end you have your bumper. As long as you are replacing the panels/bumper, you are not going to take any hit on resale and you are free to chose where to get it fixed.
If its on the frame, try to get it done from ASS and use insurance for the same.

Peace is more important than price.
Brand assurance is more valuable & rewarding, if needed than Trust the on the local mechanic.

[warp_10]

Originally Posted by normaltusker

Whether you choose to get the car repaired with / without insurance claim, it will anyways impact your resale value. There are ways and means for Third Party buyers (like OLX / Spinny / Cars24) to identify if the car has been through a repair / body work. Hence, my 2 cents would be to go with Insurance and get the work done at a good body shop since that would give you peace of mind at least until you continue to own the car.

How would they find it ? Given that there are no major work that is identifiable nor recorded in insurance ?

[normaltusker]

Originally Posted by warp_10

How would they find it ? Given that there are no major work that is identifiable nor recorded in insurance ?

There are 2 ways they identify it.

1 - Paint Thickness. They have a meter that they use to check how thick a coat of paint is.

a) In case there has been no accident or repair or repaint on the vehicle then the thickness would be in same range everywhere.

b) They have a range a values that the paint thickness is expected to be. in case of whole body repaint, this value will be higher hence a repaint can be detected.

2 - Rivets. If you open your doors and pull apart the black beading that lines the door edges, you will see that there are rivet markings all across the edges. This comes from the factory and is not present in replacement parts. Also, in case of bodywork, you cannot recreate those rivets.

Hope I was able to answer your query.

[RRM]

I would prefer for ASSC with a thought (with or without insurance) . It gives you a peace of mind including 6m warranty. Don’t worry too much on ncb. Also whether you take insurance or not it can be found out that the a specific part has been painted as while evaluating the car almost all the players use relevant tools to identify the paint thickness etc.

Good evaluator can just identify by sliding the hand over the areas where they have some doubt. I have seen it when my friends car was being evaluated and he was able to identify 60-70% of the re-painted areas without using tools as first option.

You have zero dep insurance. Use it

[ghodlur]

The thumb rule is if the repair expenses exceed the amount of NCB, go for an Insurance claim. In your case since it does, the correct step would be to claim insurance through the policy. No second thoughts.

[shancz]

Originally Posted by warp_10

Are there other factors to consider as well ?

At 7th year this is probably the last year you got a zero dep policy and I assume not from the big guys. I had to make a claim in the 6th year and I switched to comprehensive post that although some smaller companies were offering zero fep till the 7th year at most.
Considering this, get you claim for zero dep as you would've paid at least two thousand extra, in premium per year.
Time to get it back

NCB would only be significant if you're buying something new/high IDV and using this NCB. Although I have never used this option but fellow members have
Renewing this policy next year as comprehensive would be cheaper by around two thousand.

Do note that unless the damage is very insignificant in cost/nature I usually make a claim as the objective of insurance is to take care of such expenses when they arise rather than worry about NCB, IMHO.
That being said, thanks to educative posts from fellow members, I have added a rider of checking the NCB hit in case an upgrade is on the radar.

[rpunwani]

My advice is to take the insurance and get it repaired at the ASS.

For people who transfer their NCB from an earlier car to a new car, I would strongly recommend taking NCB Protection. This means that you can claim upto 2 times a year without losing your No Claim Bonus.

I transferred my 60% NCB from my Passat to my BMW - result was that my policy was 50% of what I would have paid without NCB. In addition I took NCB Protection.

It may be noted that the NCB Protection kicks in only under certain conditions - each insurance company has different clauses under which the NCB Protect is valid. As far as I know, all of them do insist that the next renewal has to be with them only.

[anish]

You should go for insurance claim. No point paying from your pocket unless you are sure about buying a new car in next 6 months and plan to carry over the ncb claim on the new car

[shahadav]

I suggest you to get it repaired under the insurance cover. God forbid, but if you were to face similar situation before the renewal, then paying now will turn out to be a big loss. That's what insurance is for. Use it.

[Vibhanshu]

Originally Posted by warp_10

What is a good measure / metric folks use to decide this (especially when the amount is not too huge nor too small) ?
Appreciate any inputs on this.

I think you're over thinking this. Also, sir, you haven't mentioned the cost of repair. (Or did I miss?)

For a car like Brezza, I'd say anything over 10-12k use the insurance. Truth is, cars like Maruti takes more damage than what looks outside (I have Ignis). So it can look like a bumper damage and then when you open it, you'd see more damages. And prices these days are on higher side at authorised service centers.

All the best.

[BoneCollector]

I had a very bad rear ending accident in December 2020 when a truck had rear ended my 2016 Brezza ZDi+. I had zero dep insurance and car was sent for repairs under insurance. Total bill was around 1.1L and near abouts. Lots of parts were replaced.

Coming to your issue, how bad is the damage? If the bumper needs a replacement, then go for insurance route as the overall cost would be around 10K plus.

My take is that we take insurance for a car for damages. Then thinking too much over the NCB and other issues is a waste of time. Claim insurance and get over with it.