Insuring The Paintwork On Your Car

Poorly maintained South African roads will play havoc with your car’s paintwork.

From smashes and pot holes to vandalism and general wear and tear, the paintwork starts deteriorating from the moment you drive off the showroom floor.

Usually comprehensive insurance covers paint damage but not when it is accident related.

They will cover paint damage if your car was vandalised or if it was stolen and incurred paint damage or if the paintwork was damaged in a fire.

Your Car is an Expensive Item Which Needs regular Maintenance

If your car is your treasured possession it pays to do research to find out which insurer will offer the best deal regarding your car’s paintwork.

Hollard is South Africa’s biggest privately-owned insurance group and their SMART policy protects your car from general wear and tear. They will repair the exterior paintwork damaged because of hail damage or other knocks. The cover includes dents which don’t exceed 15cm in diameter and scratches which don’t exceed 15cm in length. They will also remove tar from your car’s paint surface.

Comprehensive insurance doesn’t cover everything and if the paint damage has not been caused by a qualifying event, you don’t qualify for normal wear and tear paint damage. If someone were to damage your car by scratching it deliberately with a key on the exterior paint, your insurance is likely to cover the repair if you have comprehensive insurance.

Fading Paintwork is Not Covered

Naturally paint on your car will fade over time and this is considered as normal wear and tear. For instance if your car stands outside all day and it is subject to rain, hot sun, or it is a car that is just aging, then comprehensive coverage is not likely to pay you if you want to go and have your paintwork repaired. This is because normal wear and tear is expected in the normal run of life.

If you were involved in an accident and your car got scratched and dented and the paintwork is damaged, your insurance is also not likely to repair these damages under comprehensive cover. You would need to have covered yourself for collision coverage in instances like these. Then you would be protected against damage from crashing into another car or even from rolling your car.

Sometimes Repairing the Paintwork isn’t Worth It

You need to realise that when you take out an insurance policy regarding your vehicle, you select a deductible. This is the amount you need to pay towards costs to have the car repaired before your insurance company will pay the balance.

Generally speaking the higher your deductible,the lower your monthly premiums will be. If you want to have the paint damage on your car repaired and it costs less or a little more than your deductible, it might not be worth it to you to hand in a claim to your insurance company. This is because you might risk incurring higher rates in the future.

Scratch and Dent Cover

Cars that are well taken care of are always worth more and easier to sell. There are a lot of malicious people around who like nothing more than to scratch your car.

Scratch and Dent cover is perfect insurance when you live in South Africa. Remember it doesn’t replace car insurance, but rather takes care of those minor damages to your car, saving you from having to make a claim with your insurance company and losing out with your no-claims-bonus.

Do your research because there are a number of insurance companies offering scratch and dent cover. This is a whole lot cheaper than what you would have to pay if you had the damage fixed privately, and the added bonus is that most times the repairs are fixed for you at home.

Please request your car insurance quote by completing and then clicking to submit the form on this page. Act now!

All info was correct at time of publishing October 5, 2018