What to Do When Your Parked Car Gets Scratched?
2 Answers
If your parked car gets scratched, follow these steps: 1. Surveillance Footage: Check the surveillance footage to identify the responsible party. 2. Insurance Claim: Scratch insurance is an additional coverage that can only be purchased if you already have comprehensive car insurance. The coverage applies to 'malicious acts by others causing artificial scratches on the insured vehicle's body.' However, damages caused intentionally by the policyholder, their family members, or the driver and their family members are excluded. Scratch insurance covers only paint surface scratches. If there are obvious collision marks, it falls under the comprehensive car insurance claim. If the car has isolated scratches without any signs of collision or scraping, scratch insurance will cover it. However, scratches caused by collisions or scrapes during driving are not covered by scratch insurance.
Last time my car got scraped in the parking lot, I immediately took photos as evidence - clearly capturing the scratch locations from all angles along with the entire parking space environment, even documenting the skid marks on the ground. Then I contacted property management to check surveillance footage, which revealed it was a out-of-town vehicle that scraped my car while reversing. I immediately called 122 to report to traffic police, who arrived within half an hour to issue an accident liability determination. After obtaining the accident report, I contacted my insurance company who sent an appraiser to assess damages and handle all repairs including bodywork and repainting. When parking, always try to choose spots under surveillance cameras. If you can't identify the responsible party, remember to get a property management certificate - this ensures insurance covers 70% of losses. Most importantly, never move your vehicle before documentation as it may compromise accident scene evidence and make liability determination difficult.
