If you have been involved in a car accident, one of the most important things you need to consider is if your vehicle should be repaired using your insurance company or local workshop. Both options have their advantages and disadvantages, but here we tell you about the benefits of opting for your local workshop.
Local Workshop vs Insurance
Choosing whether to claim through your insurance or use your local workshop is not an easy decision, so ensuring you are fully informed of the pros and cons of each option is worth your time.
Although claiming through your insurance may not always be the best option, ensuring your car is in fact insured is vital. If you think your policy is not meeting your requirements, uSwitch has a simple online tool which will provide you with instant insurance quotes.
If you are considering making an insurance claim, you must acknowledge the cost of the excess on your policy. Your excess could be anything between £100-£500. You can find out your policy details by calling your insurance company or reading your policy documents. In the event of a car insurance claim, the excess on your policy is the agreed amount of money you will be liable to pay towards any repair. Surprisingly, even if you were in an accident and it wasn’t your fault, you will still be required to pay the excess amount, and you are at risk of your insurance premium increasing. As your insurance company will not fully cover the cost of the damage, it seems beneficial to go for your local workshop instead and prevent your premium from rising.
Other than for financial reasons, your local workshop is an ideal option for its high-quality repairs and customer service. Insurance approved car repairs in Milton Keynes are an excellent alternative to using your insurance company as the team of highly trained technicians will restore your car back to its original condition for an affordable price.
Preserve your no claims bonus
Your no claims bonus, sometimes referred to as no-claims discount, refers to the number of years in which you haven’t claimed using your car insurance policy. Generally, a no claims bonus of five years or more will give you a significant discount on your insurance premium.
Your no claims bonus builds up for every year in which you are insured but do not make a claim. Most insurance companies will add your bonus after 12 months, but some offer accelerated policies which means you can earn your bonus after ten months.
If you decide to make a claim on your insurance policy, this will mean you lose some, or all, of your no claims bonus. As a result, your insurance premium will increase, and you will have to wait another five years without making a claim to utilise your no claims bonus.
When opting to use your local workshop for a car repair, your no claims bonus will not be affected in any way, and thus will not impact the cost of your insurance premium. Ultimately, your local workshop will save you money in the long term as well as repairing your car to the same high standard as your insurance company.
Convenience
The quickest way to get your car back in working order and on the road is to use your local workshop. Insurance claims tend to take a prolonged period of time for many reasons, for example, poor communication. It should also be understood that during this prolonged period, you may not even have a courtesy car to use. A courtesy car may not be provided as standard on your policy, so you could have to buy it as an additional extra.
Alternatively, if your policy does include a courtesy car, it will only be available for you to use for the time it takes to repair your vehicle. Once your insurance company sends your car to the garage to be repaired, they may not actually start working on it for several days or weeks, during which time you will not be entitled to a replacement car. Unfortunately, if the insurer thinks your vehicle if a write-off, you will not get a replacement car at all. An easy way to avoid this inconvenience is opting to use a local workshop to repair your damaged car. Compare The Market’s guide regarding courtesy car insurance will inform you of everything you need to know about your entitlement to a courtesy car after an accident.
By using your local workshop, you can have direct contact with the team that will help restore your car and therefore arrange a date and time that suits you. Local car repair garages are generally quite flexible and will accommodate to your needs, so there will be minimal disruption to your day-to-day routine.
Damage repair guaranunteed
Unbeknown to some people, your insurance company is within their right to reject your claim. Although this doesn’t happen often, it is still something you should be cautious of. Your insurer can reject your claim if you provided incorrect information, didn’t take reasonable care to answer all the questions on the application truthfully or if you missed some instalments of your premium. For more information on what can cause an insurance company to reject your claim, Citizens Advice have a useful article. If your insurer rejects your claim, it means you have wasted valuable time which could have been utilised by actually getting your car fixed.
When using a local workshop, unless your vehicle is a write-off, they will not refuse to repair the damage on your car. Car accident repair in Milton Keynes will restore your car efficiently and to the highest standard thanks to their team of experienced and dedicated technicians.
Always there to help
Opting to use your local workshop will be a great way to contribute to the local economic development and, unlike your insurance company, your local workshop will be able to advise and assist you even when you haven’t been in an accident. Whether you need a service, MOT or even custom bodywork, your local workshop can provide any service you require.