Insurance advice

Ok so the other morning I had an off on my other bike.  A highside on a left hand bend leaving a mini-roundabout (about 20-25mph).  Too much gas and totally my fault, not respecting the conditions.  I got "ejected" off the bike but didn't flip and as far as I can tell didn't bang my head (not a mark on my lid).  The bike went down on its right-hand side.  Fortunately bike and I stayed in our lane and no other vehicles were involved.  Someone stopped and helped me pick it up.  I checked myself and the bike over and considered it rideable (and only a few miles from home).  Then made the very steady journey home.

Now, the damage is looking fairly expensive to fix, as the fairing has a massive crack and the tank has a nasty graze, plus all the other "usual" crash damage (levers, indicators etc).  I haven't told the insurance company yet (is there a time limit?  I can't find anything in my policy booklet) and I'm wondering whether I should bother, or whether I should just buy the bits I need and get on with it.

I'm not really sure how the insurance thing would work.  Do they just make an assessment based on fitting brand new OEM parts?  And if thats "not economical to repair" then offer me the market value of the bike?  How would I go about buying the bike back, as I know that can be done, and what sort of pay out would I get if I took that route?

Would really appreciate some advice.  It's not a CB question as such, but you guys on here are always really helpful.

If it was my fault and i had not caused any damage to anything other than my 2005 bandit (assuming thats the bike you mean), i would count myself lucky for being unhurt and pay for(or do) the repairs myself as i wouldnt want to enter into the unknown costs of future policy increases.
But if its was much more expensive bike with very expencive repairs needed i might reconsider...

Theres also the compulsory and any voluntary excess to consider as part of the hidden costss. Decent second hand parts from a good breakers could make a self repair rewarding and a lot cheaper as long as you are confident the forks are straight and there is no hidden frame/subframe damage. Even though it was relatively slow you need to know the bike is straight before yiu start spending any money imo. Good luck mate. Hope you were unscathed

If you go the insurance route as mentioned look at your excess and have you got protected no claims?
If your bike is written off you can buy it back for a quarter of the value and use the payout to repair it. I'd say only do this with a CAT D though, and you will need to get it MOT'd again.
http://www.rac.co.uk/community/blog/rac-blog/september-2011/what-is-an-insurance-write-off

I wouldnt bother claiming unless u have no claims protection , if ur with likes of mce insurance they have high excess so u lose out in end. fix bike back with second hand parts . i got fired off bike on 02, 4 months out of work and 6 pins in wrist and hand, now only 80 percent movement in wrist. Only few scrapes on bike! Ur fairing can be plastic welded back together, ive see vfr 750 fairing shattered into pieces put back together. New parts not way forward

Unless the bike was very new and expensive, I'm pretty sure I would just fix it up myself without telling the insurance.

To me this would have a number of benefits:

* Not losing my no claims, no paying an excess

* Not having to deal with endless insurance company bureaucracy (it does go on for ever IME)

* I would (probably) enjoy fixing the bike up and/or modifying it as required