Car vandalism insurance – do I need vandalism cover?

For a car owner, being the victim of an act of vandalism can be frustrating and infuriating. 

Putting the emotions aside, it can also be expensive. You may end up having to pay out a significant amount of money to replace tyres that have been slashed, bodywork that has been scratched or damaged, or a windscreen that has been completely smashed and shattered.

Even a door mirror that’s been torn off and left hanging from the car can be expensive to replace. If it’s an electric wing mirror, this could run into hundreds of pounds.

If your car has been vandalised, you may be tempted to make a claim on your car insurance policy to help fund the repairs. However, not all car insurance policies will include vandalism cover. If your policy doesn’t, you may not be able to claim for any repairs.

Vandalism can be a grey area in terms of car insurance. Having a door mirror smashed off your car in an act of vandalism is different to having it accidentally damaged by another motorist, who may drive too close to your vehicle when parked at the roadside and clip it off through carelessness.

In that scenario, the damage is accidental and providing you have the contact details of the other driver involved, you will be able to make a claim. Your insurance provider should be able to recover the costs from the other driver’s insurance.

If your car has been damaged through an act of vandalism, it becomes more complicated. The likelihood is that you won’t know who was responsible for the vandalism - it may have happened overnight, while you were asleep, or during the day if you parked your vehicle somewhere unfamiliar and less secure. In this case, your insurance provider won’t be able to recover the costs from the third party involved.

• My car’s been keyed, what should I do?
• 10 driving habits that are secretly damaging your car
• 7 car insurance myths debunked

The chances are that you will either have to foot the cost of the repairs yourself, or make a claim on your insurance, which could affect any no claims discount (NCD) you may have built up. This may then affect the price of your policy at renewal time.

Unless you have car vandalism insurance.

Vandalism cover is a feature of car insurance that enables you to make a claim in the event of your car being vandalised. It’s not included in all RAC Car Insurance policies - it’s not part of our third-party, fire and theft or comprehensive policies. However it is a key feature of RAC Car Insurance Plus.

The RAC’s vandalism promise means that if your car is damaged by an act of vandalism, we’ll cover the cost of the repairs required - and protect your NCD. After all, vandalism is not your fault, so why should you pay for it?

It works in a similar way to our Uninsured driver promise, which also protects your NCD if your car is damaged through an incident with a driver who isn’t insured, and doesn’t have a policy we can recover costs from.

With vandalism being hard to prevent, having the right level of protection and cover in place could prove invaluable.