Would you.....

Yes, certainly. Your insurance premiums will shoot up if you claim on your policy!

Yes it is a lot cheaper and will not affect your no claims bonus.

My thoughts too, however the lady had to be persuaded

Yes but only with someone connected enough to trust my word.

Check your policy....do you have a protected no claims bonus? If you have it will be cheaper to claim on your insurance.

Did you know that you should report all accidents/incidents to your insurer, whether or not you make a claim? Worth checking your policy on this. If they happen to find out later (don't know how they could , just saying...) then they are likely to bump your premiums up anyway.

or they could refuse to insure you in future

No, unless I knew the other party. I was involved in a minor scrape, which I did not believe to be my fault. As the damage to both cars was very minor and the other party said that her son would repair her car, I stupidly thought that it would be simpler for me to arrange for the repair to my own car. We exchanged details, parted amicably and it was the end of matter as far as I was concerned. Two months later I received a phone call from her husband with a demand for £500 for the cost of repairs which were apparently more extensive than first thought!! I contacted my insurer who advised me that incidents like this should be reported to them as they regularly escalate into larger claims.

Do not feel stupid ninathenana. Car parks are bad enough at the best of times. Hope it did not shake you up too much.

But beware! Someone backed into me in a car park. I reported it to the police as they didn't stop. I also told my insurance company but didn't claim. When I tried to change insurance companies I was denied as I 'hadn't informed them of a previous claim' I did manage to sort it out with the help of the great Gary ( a senior claims manager in a previous existence) but for several months I was getting legal phone calls wanting to help me with my accident ( despite TPS) they were insisting there was a record of my accident on THE COMPUTER!
By the way I was in the store not the car when it happened.

Letter will be sent tomorrow then thanks.

I've done what you did Nina. Yonks ago, and no repercussions.

It seems ok to use Claims protected car insurance for a minor claim.
But, don't forget there will be the excess to pay.
Also, claims protected only works with that insurance company. If at their next renewal you ask around for quotes at other insurance companies, the other insurance companies may take the protected claim into account.

And yes, I've reported a bump, not my fault, and then had my renewal insurance raised a great deal.... just in case something comes from it.... and then received a refund a year or two later.

The lady rang to say she'd had a quote and they're saying there is a dent and it will need the wing replaced
She's getting second quote but at this rate I think we will be claiming !!

I think you should always go through the insurance company, because of the remarks above by nina. Yes, it does make the premium go up, but you will only have to pay any excess quoted on your policy, and you do know how much that is. We had a bang, minor, and fortunately contacted the insurance company immediately, the minor bang turned out to be a £1,000 claim for a rather old car we had barely touched! After that we kept having calls from someone asking us about the claim, which became a real nuisance, so again we contacted our insurance company, who told us that any future phone calls should be re-directed to them, so perhaps that is a piece of advice I should pass on.