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-   -   Santro Xing Front Bumper gone for a toss - to claim or not is the question !! (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-loans-insurance/51231-santro-xing-front-bumper-gone-toss-claim-not-question.html)

So I am in Chennai now till 1st Jan. While on way from Banglore, hit a dog at 120K (followed the golden rule of NOT braking when faced with a stray dog) and ended up with a broken front bumper and a disappeared fog lamp (see pic below). (I was actually shocked to see bumper broken to such an extent by a dog hit)

I checked up with Kun Hyundai here in Chennai and he says 2K for bumper + 3K for coloring the bumper + 1.5K for fog lamp. As per him if I claim insurance (ICICI Lombard), I will get 50% for bumper (being plastic), full for coloring and nothing for fog lamps (being glass part). Last year I had 25% NCB (around 1500/-). Does it make sense to do this repair via claim (its a 2.5 year old car) or all by my own? Also is this estimate fair (3K for painting a 2K bumper !!)

PS: Can I switch my insurance company next year?

Hey DDGuy - was the dog ok?

DDGuy, go to a local bumper repair chap. He'll manage to stick/staple the bumper to a degree that might well shock you!
Of course it will not be pristine, but will be eminently acceptable.




May the dog R.I.P.

Local bumper repair shop? such a thing exist in Bangalore, anyone?

I actually saw no sign of Dog in my rear view mirror (where I saw debris flying off). There was of course no blood or any other tell-tale sign of it on the bumper. For all I know, it just evaporated on impact !!

Yup ,just get it repaired by a local denter/painter.
Will cost you less.

No chance. :(

IMO, get the work done under insurance..
And you can very well get an aftermarket fog lamp at a relatively much cheaper price.

Yes you can. IMHO nationalised players are better to deal with.

So out of a total claim of 6.5k (2+3+1.5; even fog lamps can be claimed but since they're plastic, you get 50%) you'll get 1+3+.75-excess (usually 500 or 1000) so you'll end up getting about 3.75k to 4.25k.

Now if your NCB is 1.5k, you can take it & still save about 2.5-3k otherwise you can get this job done at a good garage outside & spend less money out of your own pocket.

I would advice you not to claim from insurance. - You will save money over all.

Even if you claim you can transfer the policy on renewal.

IMO, dont go for Insurance. Go to a local garage and he can fix this up. about cooling, I dont think that there is serious damage to entire cooling system and hence the local garage can handle this.
The bumper can be repaired without replacement. We have done this on our Maruti for front and rear bumper. Cost was Rs. 250.

LOL, DDGuy, here in Delhi there are roadside chaps who do amazing repairs to bumpers. The tools of their trade are heated irons, staples, wires and touchup paint tools. Definitely worth a try.
Sure there aren't any in Bangalore?

I don't think so.:OT He was not asking this. I would advice never ever to go to any government company they are just not responsible guy's for any thing.lol:

But players like Tata AIG is notorious for paying peanuts...

Transfer of policy will get the NCB only if the previous company gives a letter stating the current NCB.

Good that you did not put the sudden brakes on the car. @ 130kph, anything would have happened if you apply brakes.

Secondly, just calculate what is the insurance amount coming to i.e., sum up how much they are giving as insurance and just calculate what NCB you will be getting. If the sum of the insurance is higher than the NCB, IMO then it is advisable to go in for insurance.

Regarding your last query on changing the insurance company, yes you can change the insurance company during your renewal.