Insurance hassle with motor vehicle repairs after storm damage
Cars wrecked by stormy winds find their way on top of vehicles, causing a headache for their owners and ensuring some busy days at the repair shops. To deal with this mess, these owners will need to collaborate with insurance companies.(New window) In a garage bustling with repair work, around forty damaged vehicles are being fixed. To ensure coverage, each owner had to report the incident within five days. The insurance company then sends over an expert to inspect the damage. But how do you find out if car insurance covers repairs?
Unraveling the Insurance Mysteries
It all boils down to the type of insurance policy you've got, mate. With a basic third-party insurance plan, disasters like these aren't covered, unless you've opted for a "Medium" plan. In case of a comprehensive insurance package, the insurance company covers the repairs. According to seasoned experts, it's crucial to go through your policy carefully before making a claim. Thanks to last month's hailstorm, insurers shelled out an eye-watering 196 million euros on repairing their clients' vehicles.
Digging Deep into the Fine Print
- Comprehensive Coverage: This bad boy pays for the damages your car sustains due to events you can't control, such as natural disasters like earthquakes, wildfires, floods, hail, wind, falling trees, and other weather-related mishaps. Keep in mind that you need to explicitly opt for comprehensive coverage to protect your vehicle against natural disasters; it's not an automatic thing.
- Collision Coverage: While collision coverage covers damages resulting from crashes and collisions, it doesn't cover natural disaster damage.
- Liability Coverage: This lad covers the damages you might cause to other people or property. But it doesn't protect your vehicle from natural disasters.
Staying Prepared
- Earthquake Damage: Comprehensive insurance covers it, but not liability or collision. Also, if you're changing your policy or adding coverage during a disaster warning or event, better think again. Insurers usually won't let you do that.
- Fire Damage (Including Wildfires): Also covered under comprehensive insurance, including fires caused by natural occurrences like wildfires and lightning strikes.
- Flood and Water Damage: Often covered under comprehensive insurance, with the "peril coverage" handling flood damage caused by natural disasters. However, flood damage is not covered by standard homeowner policies but is covered by auto insurance comprehensive policies for vehicles.
- Other Weather-Related Damage: Hail, wind, and tree damage are also covered under comprehensive insurance.
The Finer Details
- Timing: Adding comprehensive coverage after a natural disaster warning or onset isn't an option; you need to have it sorted long before a potential disaster unfolds to ensure protection.
- Deductibles: If you make a comprehensive claim, you'll need to cough up a deductible before the insurance mates chip in for your repairs or losses.
- Location: If you move to a high-risk area for certain natural disasters, your comprehensive coverage likely keeps on protecting your car without much fuss, though insurers might have slightly different policy terms.
- What's Not Covered: While comprehensive covers many natural disasters, it doesn't cover mechanical breakdowns or component failures not related to the disaster event.
Bottom line: To get your repairs covered following natural disasters, you'll need comprehensive insurance in your auto insurance contract. This coveragescape includes damage from earthquakes, fires (including wildfires), floods, hail, wind, and falling trees. Collision and liability insurance don't cover these natural disaster damages. Make sure you read your policy carefully, and keep comprehensive coverage front and center in your insurance policy before any potential disaster hits your horizon.
To ensure that car repairs due to natural disasters like storms are covered, it's crucial to have comprehensive insurance coverage. In contrast, collision and liability insurance do not cover damages resulting from such disasters. On the other hand, managing financial aspects after such environmental disasters can be complicated, as you'll need to work closely with insurance companies to determine coverage and collaborate on repair costs.
