Can I claim car insurance for dents and scratches? (Top 3 things to remember)

Indian roads and Indian traffic is notorious for being difficult on cars. The sub-standard quality of roads may affect the suspension system of the car, and the bumper to bumper traffic may lead to scratches and dents on your vehicle.

This is the reason why even the best maintained Indian cars have a slight amount of scratches and dents at any given time.

Naturally, the question then arises “Can you claim car insurance for minor scratches & dents?” The answer is “Yes.” If you have a comprehensive car insurance policy, you can make a claim to the insurance company towards minor dents or scratches.

Let us discuss this briefly below.

Should I make a claim for minor scratches & dents? (Top 3 things to remember)

Having a comprehensive motor insurance policy gives you the ability to make a claim even on minor issues, but the policyholder should be cognizant on some of the pitfalls of doing so. Here are some of the reasons why you should not make a claim for minor issues:

Increases premium

If you continuously make claims for minor issues, your insurance company will likely increase the premium rate during policy renewal. This may not make it worth your while to make minor claims.

Erodes No-Claim Bonus (NCB)

Insurance companies provide an incentive to policyholder to not make claims by providing policyholders a No Claim Bonus (NCB). For instance, if an insurance company provides an NCB of 20% for not making a claim in the calendar year, the policyholder will get a discount of 20% on his renewal premium payment. Making a claim for minor issues will erode this NCB for the policyholder.

Deductibles

A deductible is the amount the policyholder has agreed to pay out of pocket in the event of a claim. For instance, if a motor insurance policy has a deductible component of 3000, that means that the policyholder will need to at least make a payment of 3000 up front for his damages. The rest of the payment will be borne by the insurance company.

There are instance where it would not be worth for the policyholder to pay a deductible. For instance, the damages can be worth 3000 and the deductible could also be 3000. In this case, the policyholder will essentially be making the entire payment himself despite making a claim with the motor insurance company.

A motor insurance claim should be made after taking into account the following aspects; the NCB, deductible, and the expected hike in premium. It should be worth it for the policyholder to make a claim. He should ideally not make a claim if the above factors are not favorable in the long run