Should I report my accident to my insurance or pay the cost of the repair out of pocket?

I was leaving my driveway at lunch and backed into a parked repair truck. The truck was illegally parked, but was parked. The driver of the vehicle said he was fine and the truck didn't have a scratch. My deductible is $ 1000.00, my car is less than a month old. I received an estimate of $ 1800.00 for the repair. Should I just pay for the repairs or make the claim on my insurance? Will saving $800.00 be worth the negative effects on my insurance premium?

Requiem

It really depends, if you can afford the out of pocket then it might not be a bad idea since you'll only get $800 (is this including the rental car assuming you have the coverage for that too?) back from the insurance - however depending on the state you live in they may add a surcharge if they pay you more than a certain amount (my state is $1K) to your policy for the next few years as well as increasing the rates on you. Call you agent and ask about the surcharge and how much it might be and for how long - in Texas it's 10% for 3 years. For some people that could be $100 a year for a $300 total, for others that could be much more, it all depends on how much you pay now and how much the surcharge might be.

If you've already had a few accidents in the last couple years then you may want to consider paying for it yourself even more because you might be close to them wanting to cancel you entirely.

However if you're strapped for cash then let the insurance handle it, thats what you pay them for.

The best person to talk to about this is your agent, they will be able to tell you about the specifics related to your state to help you make an informed decision.

However keep in mind - once you start the repairs on your own - your insurance company may deny the claim if you try to get them to pay later - they have the right to investigate before authorizing payment and if the repairs are already done they have no way of doing a proper investigation.

DisRuptive1

You'd be stupid to buy food and then not eat it when you're starving.

You purchased insurance (with a really high deductible) to cover any costs in excess of your self-retained exposure (aka your deductible).

It will be cheaper to have your insurance company pay for the damages.

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