Claim minor scuffs on cosmetic car insurance or not?

[wyson]

I'm a few months into a 2 year lease on a Peugeot. I recently put a couple of minor, pinkie thumbnail sized scuffs on my door mirror and alloy wheel.

I'm wondering if its worth claiming on the scratch and dent AKA cosmetic car insurance cover I took out with the dealer?

On one hand, both scuffs look like they would be classified as fair wear and tear in the BVRLA guidelines.

On the other hand, I've read on Pistonheads that PSA (Stellantis Financial Services) are strict and charge for every little thing.

I've also read I'd have to tell my main insurer that I claimed on the cosmetic cover, which might affect my main insurance premiums going forwards.

On balance, I'm starting to think it might be better to not claim.

I was wondering if people have claimed on their cosmetic cover, if they told their main insurers and if it affected their premiums?

If a scratch and dent claim does start affecting your main insurance premium going forwards, is it worth it at all for what it covers? Surely you'd be better off paying out of your own pocket for minor repairs?

Edited by wyson on Thursday 13th June 18:05

[Ham_and_Jam]

wyson said:

I was wondering if people have claimed on their cosmetic cover, if they told their main insurers and if it affected their premiums?

You’re overthinking it.

I’ve just had 2 x scratches repaired this morning. Perfectly removed by a scratch and dent man on my drive. Claim was on a S&D policy.

Why would I tell my main car insurance. No claim made on their policy. It didn’t involved anyone else. Same with stone chips. Would you ring your insurance and tell them you’d filled a couple in on your drive?

[wyson]

Agree completely. I thought the cosmetic car insurance was totally separate from the main car insurance but then read this:

https://www.carwow.co.uk/guides/running/what-is-sc...

"Make sure you tell your main car insurer about any claims you make on your scratch and dent insurance – they do count as claims and your motor insurance policy could be made invalid if you don’t disclose scratch and dent claims when asked."

If you dealt with a scratch privately, your main car insurance company won't be able to find out. Why would you tell them?

However, if you claimed through the scratch and dent insurance, wouldn't it be logged on a central database somewhere so all insurance companies can see you made a claim? They probably won't check without reason, but my worry is, if you do need to claim on your main car insurance, they might start doing their homework, find the scratch and dent claim and refuse to pay out for non disclosure.

Edited by wyson on Sunday 21st April 10:21

[wyson]

Just read my main insurance policy fine print, they want to know about any claim involving the car.

I’m going to cancel my scratch and dent insurance and get a partial refund.

I can’t see the point in it, if it has to be declared as a claim on your main car insurance. It isn’t cheap either. I think I’d be better off putting that cost towards private repairs and not building a claim history.

Edited by wyson on Sunday 28th April 09:16

[VSKeith]

You don't know how much it will affect your premium come renewal. Some experience no effect at all. Withdrawing the claim doesn't mean you don't have to declare it, it will just become a zero claim/notification only

[Foss62]

VSKeith said:

You don't know how much it will affect your premium come renewal. Some experience no effect at all. Withdrawing the claim doesn't mean you don't have to declare it, it will just become a zero claim/notification only

It’s not just your straightforward renewal premium though. On the comparison sites etc. you need to tick a box regarding accidents ‘losses’ etc. and it’s logical to assume that what is initially offered you changes accordingly (you will never know).
Certainly when looking for insurance for my newly test-passed daughter, entire insurers refuse to quote if you tick the box (I was experimenting). That “loss” could presumably be a door ding at a supermarket on the sort of insurance the OP is talking about - if (and it is a big if) you take the view that it is included as ‘real’ insurance.
It’s really high time that insurers addressed these sort of issues from their end, either refining the definitions or making individual’s ‘insurance records’ easily available online to check - preferably both.

[wyson]

My main insurer Admiral told me they would need to be informed of "any incident". I got the impression the customer service rep hadn't been given any specific training about this issue however.

When I called to cancel the scratch and dent insurance with GardX, they said it that it was completely separate from the main car insurance policy, and they hadn't heard of anything regarding my concerns about building a 'claim history' off the back of scratch and dent claims. I asked if they would be logged on some insurance database somewhere, they weren't sure, and wanted to kick that up to their superiors.

Seeing they didn't get specific training on this either, it seemed to a bit of a grey area, and I didn't want a question mark hanging over my head about it constituting a 'claim' nor not, especially when I could put a refund into private smart repairs, so cancelled.

Edited by wyson on Thursday 13th June 13:33

[HTP99]

Interesting this has popped back up as we had training a couple of weeks ago regarding a new smart repair and tyre and alloy insurance supplier.

I asked if any repairs were logged on the insurance database, I was told nothing is recorded on the database.

[bobsavage789]

For what it’s worth, I claimed on a wheel/tyre policy I once had, and have never declared it on subsequent insurance policies. No comeback (yet; touch wood).

[swisstoni]

Seems I’ve been a fugitive from made-up insurance law for 9 years!

Bought a separate wheels and tyres policy when purchasing new car in 2015 and absolutely rinsed it for the 3 years it ran for.
(I didn’t mean to but it just worked out that way).

Never even considered my main insurers would want to know about every little ding on a wheel. I don’t think they actually did.

Admiral Group have a reputation for being ‘creative’ with their small print.

[wyson]

I do think the pork and condiments fellow had it right and now HPA99 has said it doesn't go on the claims database, so its probably nothing, but on balance:

1) BVRLA guidelines allowing minor damage.
2) Cost of scratch and dent policy (mine was £160 a year!) vs paying for your own smart repairs (can do 1 or 2 repairs a year with £160?).
3) Is it, or isn't it a 'claim'? (leaning towards it isn't a claim but not 100% sure)

Makes me wonder what value there is in such insurance.

Of course every ones mileage may vary, but I wouldn't take out such a policy again.

Edited by wyson on Thursday 13th June 13:44

[VSKeith]

Personally I'd be cautious about not declaring it in the OP's situation, even having withdrawn the claim. I'd be doing a DSAR request on the insurers database (can't remember the correct acronym for the database off the top of my head).

You put in the request based on your personal and vehicle details, pay a small fee and get back everything they hold on you in a few weeks

That may be over cautious but worth it IMHO as they could start adding the scratch/wheels stuff at any time