Car insurance for drivers with vandalism claims

Car insurance claims for vandalism are common, especially in high crime areas. Insurer Go Shorty compiled national crime figures from all regional reports and found that, putting speeding to one side, theft from a car was the top crime, with criminal damage to a car in second place. 

Go Shorty said there were 192,824 thefts from cars while car vandalism - called criminal damage to a vehicle - topped 158,041. There were only 89,016 car thefts, meaning you are nearly twice as likely to have your car vandalised as stolen.

Go Shorty described criminal damage to a vehicle as “when someone knowingly causes damage to another person’s vehicle, such as scratching the paint or breaking a window.” And it said: “This damage is often caused in response to arguments between the owner and the offender, as an act of mindless vandalism, or is done during an attempted robbery.

Accident claims are grouped into "at-fault” and "non-fault” categories — put simply any repair or replacement costs will be paid by the insurer of the "at-fault” party, which is usually the driver deemed to be to blame for the accident.

Although you may not be to blame if your car is vandalised, insurers usually treat vandalism as an at-fault claim. This is because they will be unable to recover any costs from the guilty party. 

You will be unable to claim any repair costs from your insurer if you only have third party insurance, as this does not cover any damage to your vehicle.

As vandalism is treated as an at-fault claim, it’s likely you’ll lose some or all of any no-claims discount you’ve accrued when you make a claim. However, some insurers will protect your no-claims discount in the event of a vandalism claim, so check your policy documents. 

Your no-claims discount should also remain intact if you had no-claims discount protection on your policy at the time of the incident, but you may still have to pay an excess. 

Even if your no-claims bonus remains in place, your policy premium could still go up at renewal time (your no-claims discount is applied after your premium is calculated). Insurers may see you as more of a risk as your car has been identified as a target for vandals.

If there were a spate of vandalism claims in your area, insurers could add a general weighting to your postcode.

Go Shorty reported that the worst county in the country for car vandalism was Cleveland, with 430.33 cases per 100,000. In second place was Gwent (380.81) and in third place was West Yorkshire (375.79). The top 10 was completed by Northumbria, South Yorkshire, Kent, Durham, Humberside, Lancashire and then Avon and Somerset.

You will need to declare any claims when you take out car insurance for the next three to five years, but any impact on your costs should be minimised over time as your no-claims bonus is rebuilt.

As your annual premium is partly based on risk, you could be rewarded with lower premiums if you take steps to prevent your car from being vandalised again. For example, if possible, keep your car on your drive or in a secure garage, plus add an alarm if you don’t have one.

You can also take measures to avoid unnecessary costs if you need to make another claim in the future. Consider taking out a policy that includes a vandalism clause, so your no-claims bonus will be protected in case it happens again. 

You might also want to take out no-claims bonus protection so you don’t risk losing your discount just as you’re building it back up.

Finally, remember that shopping around is the best way to save on car insurance costs after you’ve made a claim. See a range of car insurance quotes in just a few minutes by comparing car insurance with Uswitch.