Hello everyone. I'm trying to figure out the optimal path to deal with a recent situation. I haven't been able to locate the detailed paperwork yet to confirm since we're in the middle of preparing for a move.
We have a shared driveway with the neighbours. Last week my wife backed our 2011 Toyota Sienna into the door of our neighbour's jeep. We were planning to just pay cash to fix it. They got the estimates back from the garage last week at about $1600, higher than we expected. I haven't taken the van in yet to assess the damage, the back right rear panel is dented in quite far, and the covering for the rear light is smashed (but the light still works). I plan to get an estimate from a garage, but I'll also look into local junkyards for replacement parts - lots of this make/model on the road. Time is a bit of a limiting factor. If done by a garage, I can see the estimated bill being in the range of $1000-3000. Not sure of the cost via the junkyard route yet.
I *think* we have accident forgiveness with the current insurance policy, but I'm not that familiar with how it works. Pretty sure our deductible is $1000. Assuming this is the case, is it worth putting through insurance? When we get to the new house (different province) we will likely be with a new provider - would we have to declare this as an accident? Any suggestions on calculating the increased premium cost (I assume that *if* it affects the premium, it won't be worth doing)?
If it makes a difference, we're in Canada.