When to claim on dents and scratches
Consider the excess provision and effect on insurance premiums
The question of whether to claim for minor vehicle damage from your insurer boils down to the size of your excess payment, your no-claim bonus and whether another vehicle is involved in the accident. At the heart of the decision to put in a claim for minor dents and scratches is the amount of excess on your policy. The excess is an amount of money that will come out of your pocket when you claim from your car insurance. Marius Steyn, technical underwriting manager at Santam, says should the expense of repairing your vehicle exceed the excess amount by only a small margin, you need to consider whether you can afford to carry the repair cost yourself because claims do affect your premiums and the insurer may, if it considers you a riskier client, increase them. If the repair cost to your vehicle is substantial, you should submit a claim to your insurer because the reason you take out insurance is to transfer the risk, he says. Sumarie Greybe, co-founder of artificial intelligence-base...
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