89-325isport wrote:she's insured fully comp but i'm not gonna bother with insurance because it'll likely bite me in the arse next year just gonna cut my loses.
You'll need to inform the insurance wether you claim or not... I don't 
think you need to inform the police though as no-one was hurt.
I'd ring up and say "
just mangled my car but not sure wether to claim or not, please can you give me next year's quotes based on (a) having claimed and (b) not having claimed so I can decide? ".
If you don't claim...then you keep your "no-claims"! The fact you crashed is almost seperate, the only other thing they'd hurt you on is if the police gave you points, which they haven't.
Anyway, glad you're ok, too close to nutting the lamp post for my liking, especially as the door is softer than the pillar. Always best to stick lamp posts/trees etc into the other side of the car from you if possible, that's why the navigator always gets it in rally crashes!