Does Car Insurance Cover Vandalism?
When you think about car insurance, you probably think first about coverage that will come in handy if you are involved in some type of accident. That’s a primary use for an insurance policy, of course, but it might also be used in other situations. In this article, we’ll answer the question: Does car insurance cover vandalism? Read on to learn more.
At Carport Kingdom, we are proud of the role we can play in helping people protect the condition of their vehicles. With durable metal structures that can easily be customized by using our Build & Price tool, we make it easy to keep your vehicle in great condition moving forward. Have questions? Contact us at your convenience for help!
Checking Your Policy
Determining if the vandalism that occurred to your vehicle is covered by insurance will require taking a look at the details of your policy or asking your insurance agent to check for you. The key here is whether or not you have comprehensive coverage as part of your policy – if you do, the vandalism will likely be a covered event.
You can think of comprehensive as the portion of your car insurance that covers things that might happen to the vehicle outside of getting into an accident. While you don’t have to carry comprehensive, it’s commonly included in many auto insurance policies, and it is sometimes needed if you are leasing your vehicle, or if you purchase it with a car loan.
If your research reveals that you don’t carry comprehensive, that will settle it – you’ll need to deal with whatever repairs are required on your own. However, even if you do have this component as part of your policy, it’s still worth thinking carefully about whether or not you want to file a claim before moving forward.
Is It Worth It to File a Claim?
Filing an insurance claim is always a little bit tricky, in large part because of the deductible that exists on your policy. For something like vandalism, the cost of repairs might not rise to the level of your deductible, meaning it wouldn’t make much sense to file the claim when you’ll still be paying for everything out of pocket. Filing a claim in this situation would at least bring down your deductible for the year, so another event may be covered if something else happens, but there is no guarantee that you’ll need to file again.
The risk that you run when filing a claim on your policy is that your premium may go up moving forward. Let’s say, for the sake of an example, that your deductible is $1,000 and the damage to fix your vehicle is $1,200. You could save that extra two hundred bucks by filing a claim, but what about a change to your premium in the months ahead? If your premium goes up by any significant amount, you’ll quickly wipe out that $200 of savings, and the whole experience will wind up costing you more in the end.
A Preventive Solution
The best way to deal with vandalism on your vehicle is to prevent it from happening in the first place. While you can never completely eliminate the possibility that your vehicle will be vandalized, you can make it far less likely if you think strategically and do what you can to keep the vehicle safe. In this case, that means thinking about having a garage added to your property so you can park your vehicle inside each night.
With a metal garage in place, you can park inside and close the door at the end of the day. Now, your vehicle will be out of sight until you are ready to use it again, and it will be physically separated from anyone who might want to do damage. Not only is this going to make the chances of vandalism far lower, but you’ll also be able to use this garage for countless other purposes.
Carport Kingdom Has You Covered
Building a metal garage might sound like an intimidating project, but it is made easy when you work with Carport Kingdom. No matter what features you want to see in your new garage, it’s likely that we can make it happen. And, when you select 12-gauge materials for your new structure, it will be backed by a 20-year warranty for your peace of mind.
If you’re ready to start building your new garage, start by exploring our free Build & Price tool. Thank you for taking the time to visit our blog. We hope to serve you soon!
