I recently made my first insurance claim (that's right, I'm 30+ and just made my first claim!) thinking the same. I'd blow my rating and the excess would be as much as the claim itself. Pleasantly surprised to find out that my rating will stay the same and the excess was f*ck all compared with the damage. To top it off, if I did the repair thru the insurance company the panel beater said there was a few other things he could do for me, such as replace the rear bumper with a new one rather than a second hand one etc