In over 90% of the cars we repair it is cheaper to make a claim on your insurance policy than to pay for repairs yourself.

It takes a lot of skill, knowledge, equipment and training to repair vehicles to the manufacturers standards and safety requirements. It's expensive to do properly.

And, as you are obliged to inform your insurer of any incident or risk being uninsured, we believe you may as well claim and get what you have already paid for.

Because we think it will be more expensive than to pay for repairs ourselves, but is it?

Our research suggests the cost of claiming on your insurance policy will be around £700. Is that more expnsive than paying for repairs yourself?

Let’s find out;

1. You need to declare any incidents or damage to your insurance company at renewal, whether you claim or not. So your premium may increase anyway, while not being totally honest could mean your policy is void. Would you risk it?

2. If you choose to pay for repairs yourself, you will need to accept the risk of additional damage being found after your vehicle is stripped down.

3. If you make a claim, your insurance company will pay the total repair costs, but you will need to pay your excess amount on completion of the repair and you may well see an increase in your premium at renewal time.

Now let's look at costs;

Confused.com has data showing the average accident claim is £3954 as of June 2023. And costs have only increased since then.

If you use the repairer your insurer wants you to use, you will have to pay your policy excess. The average policy excess (the amount you need to pay if you claim) is around £250. AX Welwyn may be able to discount this or offer you an instalment option to help.

Despite 50% increases in premiums across the industry, the Average UK car insurance premium as of July 2024 was £882, according to Confused.com.

Our research suggests that at renewal your premium may increase by 20% to 50%, if you stay with the same insurer. However that is before you try shopping around on comparison sites to get a better price at renewal.

So in the worst case, using those figures, making a claim costs an average of £690. Compare that with the average repair cost of almost £4000 and you can see why we almost always recommend you make a claim.

Most modern cars have some sort of driver aid (lane assist, blind spot warnings, adaptive cruise control and so on), which will need calibrating after almost every repair. That’s a minimum of £250 before anything gets done to your car, so it should be no surprise that in 2023 insurers paid out around £4000 for repairs after an accident.

As inflation increases and expenses rise, money is tight. Unless the damage is very minor, we’d recommend letting your insurers do what you pay them for, and have them pick up the tab.

Always remember, it is your choice who repairs your car, not your insurers. AX Welwyn will always put your needs first, because YOU are our customer, not the insurance company.

You’ve been involved in an accident, and decided to make a claim on your insurance policy. The first thing your insurance company will want to do is get one of their approved repairers to fix your car. Sounds great, but is it?

To decide, we think it is important to understand a few things.

1. What does Approved actually mean? All it means is that the repairer has agreed to give the insurer preferential rates and discounts in return for volume of work. We think it is more accurate to call them Network Repairers, because that is what they are.

2. Because of those discounts, the repairer has to fix a lot more cars per week to cover their costs. Efficiency and turnover is more important than time and care.

3. The customer is now the insurance company, not you, because the repairer needs to protect the volume, to stay in business. Whose interests are they working in?

Is it a bad thing to go with your insurers choice? Not necessarily, and it certainly seems convenient. But always remember you have a legal right to choose who repairs your car, and if it was us, we would pick the business that is going to look out for your interests, not your insurers.