Australians’ cars are getting dinged up like crazy
Many of the accidents wouldn't be covered unless the owner had insurance.
A significant percentage of Australians have had their cars damaged by other people without any way of getting compensation from the culprit, according to new research from finder.com.au.
finder asked more than 2,000 Australians about car damage that was claimable on insurance and found that 39% had someone scratch their car and not own up to it, 25% had their cars broken into and 15% had their cars keyed.
With the exception of theft, none of these would be claimable without comprehensive car insurance, the highest level of cover possible. Theft can be covered under third party fire and theft (TPFT) insurance, which is a step down from comprehensive.
The number one cause of claimable damage was from rear-ends, with 42% of drivers affected. In those cases, the culprit's insurance would take care of it as long as they had at least third party property insurance, which is a step down from TPFT.
Unfortunately, 15% of drivers have been hit by an uninsured driver, which means they'd have to go after the other driver personally for compensation – otherwise their own comprehensive cover would have to kick in. That is if they had comprehensive cover.
Here are the top claimable accidents reported by Australian drivers
Western Australians are most likely to have their car broken into, with 35% having experienced a break-in at one point or another. Queensland is the lowest at 20%.
A staggering 50% of South Australians have reported being rear-ended, compared to only 36% for Tasmania. Tasmania has other hazards to worry about, like hitting an animal – an accident 36% of Tasmanians have experienced.
Picture: Shutterstock
