OEM Front Bumper Repair Costs?

SManZ

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Fauquier County, VA
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2020 F-250 Tremor XLT 7.3L
I ejected two of the dumbest deer on earth from the gene pool this morning. They started this half-assed trot in front of my truck from opposite sides of the road. I ran right over the smaller one on the left but the one on the right knocked out my fog light and tweaked the bumper a bit.

I'm intending to replace this with a plate steel bumper. Maybe catch a holiday sale. I have a $250 deductible.

Does anyone know what repair costs or claim value might be? Wondering if its better to file a claim and take a payment or just replace the bumper out of pocket.

Thanks!
 

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The light will probably be expensive. I had a buddy dent my fender in my old Tacoma (hit a mail box backing in the trailer). It barely scratched the light and pushed the fender back into the door. The headlight alone was $1k. Total damage was $3,800. Out of pocket without fixing the light was still going to be over $1,500 so I just filed a claim and paid my deductible.

Thankfully yours is just a fog light so hopefully it'll be a lot cheaper, maybe $200ish and then the cost for the bumper.
 
I ejected two of the dumbest deer on earth from the gene pool this morning. They started this half-assed trot in front of my truck from opposite sides of the road. I ran right over the smaller one on the left but the one on the right knocked out my fog light and tweaked the bumper a bit.

I'm intending to replace this with a plate steel bumper. Maybe catch a holiday sale. I have a $250 deductible.

Does anyone know what repair costs or claim value might be? Wondering if its better to file a claim and take a payment or just replace the bumper out of pocket.

Thanks!
I previously owned a multi-line insurance agency in Colorado Springs CO for 24 years. Underwriting Guidelines can vary from company to company. Most consumers are not even aware that insurance companies have NON-RENEWAL Guidelines for property casualty policies (auto - fire - commercial).

For the auto product, the industry norm is premium surcharges for 'accidents' which include claims made on the LIABILITY and or COLLISION coverage. Hitting a bird or an animal is not considered an 'accident', therefore, any claim made is paid from the COMPREHENSIVE coverage. I always told my clients not to swerve to miss the deer and then hit a tree or a boulder. Hitting an object is considered an 'accident'....and most likely will result in a future surcharge on premium.

The above covers the immediate situation. However....IF an additional 'accident' or 'accidents' occur in the future, primarily within a 3 to 5 year window from the first 'accident', resulting in any claim on the LIABILITY or COLLISION coverage, companies can and most likely will not only surcharge the premium, BUT set up the policy for NON-RENEWAL.

To put it simple, it is wise to make any and all claim(s) count. This means be very careful about filing small dollar claims, even claims over the deductible. The Underwriting Department not only looks at the "dollar amount" paid on previous claims....but also "claims frequency".

Why? Claims Frequency is a greater predictor of future loss or losses. This is the same general reason, but much more complex, why insurance companies use "credit scoring" as a rating variable on property / casualty insurance. statistically, people who "take risk with money" are "risk takers in general".....and actually file more claims...noticeably more.

Example: Policyholder 1 files a claim for $1200 above the deductible and 24 months later files another claim for $12,000. Policyholder 2 filed a claim 30 months ago for $45,000. Most insurance companies would choose to keep Policyholder 2 insured verses Policyholder 1 insured.

Over the years as an agent, I found it profoundly interesting the insurance client seldom (virtually never) knew what questions to ask their insurance agent...unless they had a claim. Very Few questions were asked at the point of sale. This included clients in every imaginable career, job or profession, even attorneys, unless they had a Personal Injury practice. Property Casualty Insurance
 
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Thank you all very much for your replies! Claim has been filed.

@OTG-Tremor-CG thank you for that great information about the workings of the insurance industry! Very interesting about how claim value and frequency are viewed. Cross my fingers but I'm one of the low value and low frequency folks with good credit and hope it stays that way!
 
Thank you all very much for your replies! Claim has been filed.

@OTG-Tremor-CG thank you for that great information about the workings of the insurance industry! Very interesting about how claim value and frequency are viewed. Cross my fingers but I'm one of the low value and low frequency folks with good credit and hope it stays that way!
Your Welcome!

Couple more comments regarding claims frequency. The insurance consumers definition of "frequent claims" can be and is quite often different than the underwriting department's definition. General Rule of Thumb...with most insurance companies. Two (2) or more claims in a Three (3) period and / or Three (3) or more claims in a Five (5) year period will generate a non-renewal notice from the insurance company.

Again, claims frequency is a greater predictor of future loss. This underwriting variable is more strongly considered than dollar amounts paid on claims. statistics show policyholders with one or two small dollar claims ($1,500 and $5,000) will have a large (maybe $150,000) to very large (maybe ($375,000) dollar claim in the next 3 or 5 years. The large loss is lurking around the corner. To put it simply, people getting lax in their driving attention.

EDIT: Insurance Companies do not necessarily want consumers to be educated in the claims filed and how that might affect their non-renewal procedures. The companies want to know about each and every 'incident'. They do not want consumers to be very knowledgeable with regards to not filing "small claims". They want the statistics left untouched in regards to risks each customer represents. Insurance Companies file their underwriting guidelines with the Department of Insurance in each state. However, the details of how they operate and how they may or may not view a particular policyholder are not published. Another variable with some insurance companies is customer longevity / tenure.
 
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