Car parking gives rise to interesting car insurance claims

It seems car parking is a hazardous activity judging by the car insurance claims – including for damage from rogue shopping trolleys and collisions with trolley shelters and barriers.

80% of people surveyed in the latest AA/Populus poll said their car had been damaged in a car park.

Alarmingly, over 10% said they would just drive away if they hit an unattended, parked car.

The number of car insurance claims for damage in car parks is rising with 3.24 million claims in the first half of 2009 alone.

But as Simon Douglas, director of AA Insurance, says ‘Because it would affect their no claims bonus, many people wouldn’t bother to claim for a small dink unless it was caused by someone else and they could claim against them. But often they can’t even do that because whoever caused the damage ‘did a runner’.

Most carefully guard a no claims discount as if it has been built up over a number of years of claim free driving it can mean a significant reduction in the cost of car insurance.

You can compare car insurance no claims discounts offered by providers using comparison websites such as Confused.com, Comparethemarket.com and moneysupermarket.com.

On a slightly more positive note, 66% said they would leave a note if they did accidentally hit an unattended parked car.

As Simon Douglas adds ‘Car parking is a hazardous acitivity and our claims experience shows that hitting or being hit by another vehicle is by far the most common car park claim, followed by collisions with walls, pillars, trolley shelters or barriers. There are also regular claims for rogue shopping trolleys.’