BIG scratch on car/insurance question

[SavingMon(k)ey]

So I parked my car on the street and someone put a big scratch along the entire driver's side. It's a 2009 Subaru Impreza. If I make a claim with GEICO do they count that as an accident? Does my premium go up? I feel like I should get it fixed to avoid rust, and that's one diy I don't want to do myself.

[Rebecca Stapler]

That's covered if you have collision. Depending on your deductible, it might not be worth it to go through your insurance to get it fixed. I have Geico and had them cover something under my comprehensive but not until after they told me that it wouldn't raise my premiums. If it's not your fault, I don't see the problem with asking your insurance if they would raise your premiums for making a claim -- the only downside I see is if they cover something in the future and you haven't gotten the scratch fixed, they will know that it was there before and might deduct the cost of fixing that particular scratch from your covered event.

[MountainFlower]

I had $6600 worth of hail damage a few years ago.  My policy was not affected. 

Paula

[Jack]

Do you park on the street regularly/not have a garage? And if so, did the insurance company know about it?

If the answers are "yes" and "no" respectively, your insurance might go up for that reason.

[MissStache]

It depends.  It will go on your policy as not-at-fault, but depending on how long you've been with them it may or may not increase your premium.   Generally only at-fault losses increase premiums, but that depends on your claim history as well.  You can always call them and report it.  They can tell you then if it may have an impact and you can choose to file or not.  It won't go up just for filing a claim. They don't look at premium increases unless there is a payout on the claim.

You may also be able to file under uninsured motorist coverage depending on your state and your coverages, which usually has a lower deductible and shouldn't impact your policy.

[MakingSenseofCents]

How much would it cost to fix? How much is your deductible?

When someone hit my car, they had really bad insurance and it took weeks just for them to accept fault (even though the police even confirmed that it was their fault). My insurance said they could pay everything upfront so that I could be in my car quicker, but that my insurance would go up no matter what since they would be paying out of pocket first.

[Frankies Girl]

If it's a really clean scratch, I'd actually attempt to fix myself - all it takes is a little paint touch-up that you can get for under $20 at the dealerships (and probably cheaper online). I wouldn't expect it to be perfect, but at least not as noticeable and the touchup will protect the underbody from rust.

You can google how to repair and see if it's completely out of your comfort zone, but to avoid paying out the deductible (I've got mine set to the maximum allowed) it would be worth the effort to me personally, not considering the possibility of a rate hike.

[SavingMon(k)ey]

I do have collision. I park in a garage at home, but at work I have to park on the street. The only claim I ever made was a broken windshield. I will give them a call.

[chasesfish]

I'm of the opinion that this is what you purchase insurance for.  If the premiums go up, then shop around.  If you don't plan on making a claim, then drop collision.

[lackofstache]

If it's clearly a scratch from someone keying it or the like, it'll be covered under comprehensive and as such won't affect your premium. If it looks as though you could've scraped against something, it'll fall under collision. Collision payouts can increase premium. So can overall claims history. You can be subject for cancellation even if all claims are not-at-fault, if your insurance credit score are low enough and you file too many claims. Someone said uninsured may pay; IT WON'T. Unless you can prove the driver of a vehicle that hit you did not have insurance, this portion of the policy won't pay.

Yes, I do this for a living and deal w/ it daily.

[SavingMon(k)ey]

Well, it definitely happened while it was parked. Who determines what the scratch looks like? To me, it's pretty clear it wasn't a scrape while driving.

[lackofstache]

The repair shop/insurance company can determine cause of the scratch.

[Spork]

An aside: depending on the depth, it might just buff out.  If it goes clear to metal, it won't.  But if it is "generally the color of the paint but scratched" it might buff out with a buffer and rubbing and/or polishing compound.

If you're worried about submitting to insurance... you might try buffing a really small portion of it and see what happens.  Try polishing compound first (it's less abrasive) ... and if that doesn't work, rubbing compound, followed by polishing compound.   After either one, a nice coat of wax will also help.

[Forcus]

Agree with Spork. A pic might help us just to see. If it is really light it might buff out. Sometimes too it looks like it's to the primer but it's really the light hitting damaged clear coat. In that case, touching up with clear coat specifically for the purpose, light wet sanding, and buffing, and you'd never know.

[Mr.Macinstache]

If your fingernail gets hung up on it, it wont buff out. I would get the insurance to cover it, that's what it's for.

If it's minimal, there is scratch remover on the market from Mothers or Meguires that will take it out. Rubbing compound might be a little too harsh and will scratch the surrounding paint.

[SavingMon(k)ey]

If your fingernail gets hung up on it, it wont buff out. I would get the insurance to cover it, that's what it's for.

If it's minimal, there is scratch remover on the market from Mothers or Meguires that will take it out. Rubbing compound might be a little too harsh and will scratch the surrounding paint.

Yes, this is why I'm not comfortable with DIY in this case. It's a looooong scratch (actually two) and it is deeper than just the clear coat. I'll go ahead and call the insurance.

[Spork]

If your fingernail gets hung up on it, it wont buff out. I would get the insurance to cover it, that's what it's for.

If it's minimal, there is scratch remover on the market from Mothers or Meguires that will take it out. Rubbing compound might be a little too harsh and will scratch the surrounding paint.

Yes, this is why I'm not comfortable with DIY in this case. It's a looooong scratch (actually two) and it is deeper than just the clear coat. I'll go ahead and call the insurance.

That's a decent solution (for those that carry comprehensive coverage.  I don't.). 

But if you try to DIY ... I was only suggesting doing an inch or so of the scratch to see if it was even do-able.  If it isn't... that's still fixable by who repairs the rest of the car.