As I've explained in a previous post, I recently scraped and dented my car's back passenger door, wheel arch and mouldings against a post. I now have a few quotes for the repair averaging at about £1200. The cheaper quotes involve repairing the door, however, three bodyshops have insisted that the door cannot be repaired satisfactorily and has to be replaced.

This now leaves me with three options, none of which is ideal, so I'd very much appreciate some advice.

1) Repair and respray, including blending into adjacent panels. If go for this option, I’ll still have to part with a very substantial sum of money without any guarantee that the repair will be invisible. In fact, one of the bodyshops that proposed this kind of repair warned me that it’d be pretty much impossible to return the door to its original shape.

2) Replacing the door. This is not only very expensive, but what if I have another accident/mishap further down the line?

3) A temporary repair. I could conceivably get someone to repair the wheel arch damage, replace the mouldings, and touch up the paint where it has broken (to prevent rust) but leave the dent as it is. I could consider a more thorough repair at a later date when it comes to selling on the car. However, in that case I'd have to let the insurance company know, wouldn’t I, even if for 'information only', because in the event of an accident in the future, the earlier damage will be visible to any assessor. My premiums will then go up but my (relatively new) car will still be damaged.

What to do? It seems I'm in a tight spot right now, so I'd be grateful for any help. I’ve even thought of putting in a claim and getting the insurance company to pay for the repair given the expense. Any idea of how much I can expect my premium to increase? Will it go up every year for the next five years and by what percentage?