Car insurance covers you for some of the costs of repairing damage to your car. But is it worth claiming car insurance for a dent?
The simplest way to estimate if repairing a dent is worth claiming on insurance is to compare the excess that you will need to pay on the insurance claim to the repair cost of fixing the dent.
The “excess” on your insurance policy is the amount that you agree to cover when making a claim on the policy. The insurer agrees to cover the cost of insurable events in excess of the listed amount.
For example if your excess is $200, and your repair bill is $1000, making an insurance claim would mean you’d pay the first $200 and the insurer would cover the remaining $800.
You may be able to choose your excess when applying for or renewing your insurance policy. Choosing a higher excess can often mean paying lower insurance premiums, and vice versa.
If someone bumped a shopping cart into your car, this may leave your car with a minor dent. A panelbeater’s quote for fixing a small dent like this may be much lower than the excess listed in your car insurance policy. While your insurer could cover the repair, the higher cost of the excess may mean it’s cheaper to avoid making a claim and instead pay for the repairs out of your own pocket.
However, if your car’s panels are dented by an intense hailstorm, the repair bill for fixing all of these dents may be much higher than your excess. In a case like this, making a car dent insurance claim may cost you less than paying for repairs yourself.
It’s important to remember that if you’re making a car dent insurance claim for damages that have accumulated over a long time, you may be required to pay an excess for each separate insurable incident that dented your car. This could blow out your insurance costs, making the claims less affordable than paying for the repairs yourself.
Also, it’s possible that making a car insurance claim to fix car dents could mean missing out on a no-claims bonus or other incentives offered by the insurer, depending on how your car was dented and who was at fault.
Consider checking your policy before making a claim, and comparing car insurance when your policy is due for renewal to make sure it suits your needs.
This article was reviewed by Peter Terlato before it was published as part of RateCity's Fact Check process.
