Damage to a parked car: What does my auto insurance cover?

If you’re lucky, the person who damages your parked car will leave a note, or you’ll be able toidentify theculprit some other way. You can then file a claim with the perpetrator’s insurance company. If the perpetrator caused the damage with a vehicle, you can file a claim with that vehicle’s insurance company. If the damage was caused in some other way, you can file a claim with the perpetrator’s liability insurance.

There’s a good chance that if your parked car is damaged, you won’t be able to identify the person responsible right away. In this case, it’s important to always file a police report and try to track down the person responsible—for example, by looking for witnesses or requesting surveillance footage. To recover the cost of the damage when the person responsible is unknown, there are two things you can do. First, you can contact the Motor Vehicle Guarantee Fund. This fund compensates for car damage when the perpetrator is unknown. However, it must be established that the damage was caused by another motor vehicle. In some cases, it may not be possible to determine that the damage was caused by another vehicle. In this case, the damage can often be covered by your auto insurance.

As discussed above, if you wish to claim compensation from the Motor Vehicle Guarantee Fund, you must prove that the damage was caused by another motor vehicle. This can be done by showing paint marks from another vehicle on the car, or by consulting an expert. It often happens that a claims adjuster has doubts about whether the damage was actually caused by another vehicle. Previously, a second expert had to be called in. But recently, this is no longer necessary because claims adjusters use Spurfix to determine this. Spurfix is an adhesive film that captures invisible paint marks. Although Spurfix costs 300 euros, it is still cheaper than hiring a second expert.

Damage to a parked car is also frequently caused by cyclists. Here, too, damage to your parked car caused by a bicycle cannot be covered by your auto insurance policy with third-party liability coverage or limited comprehensive coverage. Do you have comprehensive auto insurance? In that case, the damage can be covered.

The law protects cyclists in traffic. This protection does not apply when a cyclist collides with a parked car. In this case, the car is not part of traffic, so the cyclist is liable for the damage.

Once the cyclist has provided their information, you can hold them liable and recover the damages from them. Perpetrator unknown? Then file a police report as soon as possible so that the police can potentially identify the person using surveillance footage. Unfortunately, in this case, you cannot claim compensation from the Guarantee Fund. This applies only when the damage was caused by another motor vehicle. You cannot claim compensation from the Guarantee Fund for damage to a parked car caused by a cyclist.

Has your parked car been damaged? If so, there are a few things you need to do. For the purposes of this guide, we’ll assume you know who caused the damage.

• Take photos of the damage
• Write down the date, time, and license plate number
• Fill out the accident report form together right away
• Are there any witnesses? Write down their phone numbers.
• Send the completed accident report form to your insurance agent or insurer

If you return to your parked car and find it damaged, but the culprit is nowhere to be found, always file a police report. You can also see if there are any witnesses who might have seen something. That way, you might still be able to track down the culprit.