28 July 2010 - Car insurance
In the last few weeks, exceptionally strong storms have been sweeping across Switzerland. Other than three years ago, the damage due to hailstones is limited. However, the season has not yet finished. If you are clever, you will take precautions – for damage can get expensive.
The Swiss Insurance Association (SVV) estimates the amount of damage caused by the two huge storms in June 2007 to a total of CHF 190 million - of which CHF 40 million were related to motor vehicles affected by hailstones.
Damages to the car due to forces of nature are a case for the partial cover insurance. It is recommended – also for older vehicles – as partial coverage damages can quickly get expensive. Especially in the case of hail storms the amount of damage is often high.
In the case of damage due to hail, the damage must be reported to the insurance company as fast as possible. The insurance company has the right to take a look at the bumps before reparation. Depending on the circumstances, the insurance company gives instructions and sends the concerned party to the garage or seeks the advice of an expert. In the case of large-scale hail damage, some car insurers arrange for service centers where the damaged vehicles can be examined.
Instead of carrying out the reparation, the policyholder can request to have the amount of loss paid out. Hereby has to be taken into consideration that in the case of other damage due to hail the insurance company will not cover the full damage. For who can tell which bump was caused by which hailstorm? Also, in the case of a future insurance change, existing hail damage has to be reported.
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