Certified & insured electricians
Repair Cost
vs. Insurance Excess Should You Make a Claim?
Fast & trusted AI estimator available 24/7 for emergency quote, and repairs.
Scratched your car or had a minor bingle? Stop before you call your insurance company
The "Claim or Cash Test: How to Do the Math (Step-by-Step)
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Find your "Total Excess
Check your Insurance policy documents. Add your standard excess, Your Total excess is the amount you pay before your insurer pays a cent.
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Get an instant AI quote (Zero risk):
Take a photo of your car's damage and upload it to the PanelAI app. Our system gives you an instant, independent smash repair cost estimate without notifying your insurer.
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Compare the numbers:
Put your AI quote next to your Total Excess.
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Make the smart choice:
If the AI repair estimate is cheaper than your excess, pay out-of-pocket (cash) and protect your no-claim bonus. If the repair estimate is much higher than your excess, lodge the claim!
HOw AI SAVES YOU
Choose Your Scenario
I’m on my P-plates and scraped a pole. Is it worth claiming?
If you are under 25, the insurance system is stacked against you. An $800 standard excess can easily jump to $1,500+ once they add your “Age Excess.”
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The AI Solution:
Do not blindly lodge a claim for a scraped bumper. Use PanelAI to quote the damage instantly. If our AI calculates the bumper respray will only cost $450, you instantly know that paying cash is $1,000 cheaper than paying your excess
Someone scratched my door in the car park. Should I call my insurer?
Minor door dings and scratches usually cost between $300 and $700 to repair at a local panel beater. If your excess is $800, your insurance company won’t actually pay for anything anyway—you’ll just be handing them your money.
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The AI Solution
Get an AI estimate on the spot. If the quote is $350, keep the insurer out of it. We can instantly connect you with a verified local repairer to fix it quickly, protecting your premium for next year.
I backed into a wall. It looks minor, but is it?
Modern cars are packed with hidden tech. What looks like a simple cracked plastic bumper could actually mean you have crushed expensive reverse sensors or Blind Spot monitors (ADAS) hiding underneath.
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The AI Solution
Our AI is trained on thousands of modern smash repair jobs. If you upload a photo and the AI quote comes back at $3,500 due to sensor damage, you instantly know this is a major job. If your excess is $800, this is the exact scenario where you should make an insurance claim.
Advice
The Just Asking Trap
hen you lodge a claim, your insurance company will almost always try to steer you toward their “preferred” or “network” repair shops. They will make it sound like it’s mandatory or much faster.
Here is what is actually happening behind the scenes: Those network shops have contracts with the insurer to fix cars at massive corporate discounts. To maintain those cheap prices, they are often pressured by the insurer to use cheaper aftermarket parts (non-genuine parts) or skip expensive manufacturer calibration processes.
The Insider Hack:
Do not go into an insurance claim blind. Use an independent AI quoter before you talk to them to find out the true, retail cost of the repair.
If your policy includes “Choice of Repairer”, use your AI estimate to confidently choose a verified, independent local panel beater. An independent repairer works for you, not for the insurer’s profit margins, ensuring your car is fixed with the right parts and no corners cut.
Daniel Roberts, Collision Estimator
One of the biggest mistakes any driver makes is calling their insurance company and saying, “Hey, I scratched my car, how much will my premium go up if I claim it?”
Here is the insider secret: Insurance companies record every call.
Even if you decide not to proceed with a claim, the operator will often log a “Notification of Incident” on your file. When it comes time to renew your policy next year, the algorithm sees that you had a “minor at-fault incident” (even if they didn’t pay out a cent) and they can quietly raise your premium anyway.
The Hack: Keep your insurer in the dark until you are 100% sure you are making a claim. Use PanelAI as a digital shield. Get your repair cost anonymously through our AI first. If it’s cheaper to pay cash, fix it yourself and the insurer never needs to know it happened.
Elizabteh Keen, Claims Assistant
Faq
Insurance Excess vs Repair Costs
Does getting a PanelAI quote notify my insurance company?
No. PanelAI is completely independent and 100% private. Checking the cost of your smash repairs through our AI tool leaves no record on your insurance file, meaning your premiums are completely safe.
How do I find out what my car insurance excess is?
Can I get a repair estimate if I only have Third-Party Property insurance?
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