To cut a long story short, while changing lenses I put my 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM lens into what I thought was an empty photovest pocket and it fell out and landed on tarmac. It still autofocuses fine but the IS no longer works at all. I can still use it and it will faithfully record every shake of my hands.
The lens is still within its warranty period but, wouldn't you know it, I hadn't yet got around to insuring it. So I realise that my best option is to send it to Canon for repair. However, at the moment I'm not sure whether I can afford the repair or not so I'm going to have to ask Canon if they'll give me a quote and return the lens if I can't afford the fee.
I don't have time to deal with this until Wednesday but I thought I'd ask for some thoughts from fellow forum members, especially those who live in London. Will I have to package up the lens and send it by mail or will I be able to hand-deliver it to Canon? Do lens repair costs amount to a significant percentage of the original cost of the lens? Or do they perhaps cost more? Any advice from more experienced members will be much appreciated.

