Whether you have recently been involved in a minor car accident or your car has just taken a beating, you might be puzzled over the question “can i claim insurance for car scratches”? In most cases, you would likely need to scratch that is worthy and also a comprehensive insurance coverage that would help in filing your claim but before you go ahead to file a claim for a car scratch, you might consider taking it to a body so you can be able to get a quote. There is a great possibility that the quote in question here might just be lesser than your deductible.
Take a look at it this way, if what you have is a zero dollar deductible or your deductible is really low as it falls in the range of one hundred dollar to three hundred dollar then it might just be okay for you to go ahead and file a claim. One thing we also want you to be aware of is going through all options that you have available to you because most insurance companies nowadays are known for giving their clients a lot of hassle mostly when it comes down to cosmetic claims. In other cases, it is very difficult to deal with any of these insurance companies and that is why we always advice clients in our guides to go ahead and get an attorney that would guide them through the process.
Can I Claim Insurance For Car Scratches
If you have liability coverage then any scratch on your car would not be covered and to be very honest, it is going to cover up for any damages done to your car. The essence of liability coverage is to ensure that you are protected against lawsuits if you were involved in a car accident and you are the driver at fault. However, if you have collision insurance coverage then every dent, ding, scratch and all other cosmetic scratchwould be covered by insurance whether they occurred as a result of an accident or was caused by debris. You would actually need comprehensive insurance coverage if these things were caused but not by a wreck.
In addition, such insurance should already be in your insurance plan even before there is a scratch on your car. For example, it is impossible for you to walk to your car from a grocery store only to find a scratch on your car then you rush to upgrade your insurance to comprehensive coverage so the scratch can be fixed. Most times, when you carry out an insurance coverage, the insurance company has a period of time where you would not be able to make any claims or what they would want is to see the condition of the car first.
What you would have access to is cosmetic repairs if your insurance plans involves comprehensive and collision coverage. Collision coverage might get to cover things like scraping or road debris and in some cases, such accidents might cause your insurance rates to increase. In the case of comprehensive coverage, accidents to vandalism can be covered and take for example, if someone actually keys your car then such vandalism is going to fall under comprehensive policy. A shopping car that is damaged by wind wouldn’t be referred to as vandalism but it is still covered by comprehensive plans if you have it.
Proving That The Scratches On Your Car Were Not There Before
To be fair and honest, proving that a scratch on your car wasn’t there before is very difficult to do. Most policies do not really care if you have had the policy for a while. When you suddenly switch from liability and the scratch is looking like what happened as a result of a wreck then the insurance company might have to question the coverage extent. It is always a good idea to discuss with an attorney about these things but if you car has scratches without any accident then you probably don’t need to get a lawyer.
There are scratches that might occur on your vehicle without being caused by a car crash and if you have comprehensive coverage then you can file a claim and have your car back in good shape.
Leave a Reply