Back to School season is a perilous time to be behind the wheel in Massachusetts. This is particularly true if you’re one of the legions of parents that drop the kids off at school, pick them up at school, and have to drive them back and forth for sports and other activities. While the exact numbers vary from year to year, there’s generally a slight increase in fender benders and other motor vehicle accidents at this time of year.
Bumper Repairs: Should I Tell the Insurance Company
After a fender bender or small accident, you will need to have the car repaired. While it’s important to exchange insurance information with the other party in the accident, the decision to file a claim with your own insurance company to cover any damage is up to you. Depending on the extent of the damage and other factors such as any deductible your policy may have or your personal driving history, you may want to pay for repairs out of your pocket.
Before you can make this decision, it is helpful to have an accurate understanding of how much it will cost to fix the car. You can not assume that just because damage looks minor it is minor. Bumper damage is a great example. What looks like a small hit to the bumper can do a lot of damage to the sensors that control things like park assist and lane alert technology.
The best local collision shops will thoroughly inspect your vehicle and prepare a detailed estimate covering all needed work. This estimate will tell you the type of repairs as well as the cost of those repairs. You can use these numbers to decide if you’re better off paying for repairs out of pocket or submitting an insurance claim. If you do decide to submit an insurance claim, the best auto body repair shops will help you do that.