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Would I be able to claim on my car insurance for this?

About 18 months ago I went abroad on holidya for two weeks, leaving my car ('52 reg Vauxhall Corsa) at home.

When I returned, my car had been vandalised. The full length of both sides of the car had got a very deep scratch (more like a screwdriver than a key). Also part of the bonnet is scratched in a similar way.

I had built up 2 years no claims by this point, and as I didn't want to destroy my no claims I didn't get this fixed on the insurance (at the time I was thinking of upgrading to a newer, more powerful car in the near future, so thought losing the no claims would outweigh putting in a claim). I did log it with the police, getting a crime reference number, but they couldn't do anythiing about it (I also got a quote from a bodyshop for £1200!).

As a stop-gap measure, I bought a touch up set from Halfords, filling the groove of the scratch and painting over with the touch-up paint. It still looks bad, but at least the scratch is covered in black paint the same colour as the car (as opposed to a big white scratch against the black car!)

Things have now changed a bit. Within the next few months I should ne getting a company car. This means I will be free to sell my car. The problem is, who is going to want it with the scratches on it? And if I could sell it, the value will be rock bottom.

Would I still be able to put this through the insurance go get it fixed? Bear in mind (i) it has been 18 months since the incident happened and (ii) I have done my own bodge/fix to it! I am not bothered about my insurance premiums going up, as I will be getting a new company car at some point, which means I will then be on company insurance.

Comments

  • Hi there

    The short answer is "no".

    The long answer is:

    You are required to notify your insurers of all incidents when they occurr, not 18 months later. You have also renewed your policy and have an obligation at that time to confirm that all the information about the renewal (such as there have been no incidents you could claim for) is correct. You have absolutely no chance of a successful claim now.
    In the beginning, the universe was created. This made a lot of people very angry and was widely regarded as a bad move.
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  • wj209980
    wj209980 Posts: 40 Forumite
    Hi there

    The short answer is "no".

    The long answer is:

    You are required to notify your insurers of all incidents when they occurr, not 18 months later. You have also renewed your policy and have an obligation at that time to confirm that all the information about the renewal (such as there have been no incidents you could claim for) is correct. You have absolutely no chance of a successful claim now.

    Okay, I thoughtg this would probably be the case.

    Many thanks for replying to my question, it is much appeciated :D
  • i think what Oscar is saying is that not only you can't claim, but also you have acted fraudluently by not telling your insurer about this incident at the time of your last renewal.

    they may have charged you extra and your policy may have been invalid in the meantime.
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