Finding Out If Auto Insurance Companies Will Pay For Slashed Tires
Finding out if auto insurance companies will pay for slashed tires can be as simple as looking at a company's comprehensive insurance policy. Comprehensive insurance policies cover losses to a vehicle that occur outside collisions, such as damage by flooding, fire, or vandalism, as would be the case with slashed tires. However, even if a policy holder has comprehensive insurance, he or she should then take into account deductibles and adjustments due to betterment to find out if the auto insurance company will pay for slashed tires.
The amount of the deductible is important when making an insurance claim. The policy holder is responsible for this deductible, and if the deductible is too high, the auto insurance company may not pay the claim for slashed tires. For example, if a comprehensive auto insurance policy has a deductible of $500 and the tires cost less than that, the insurance company would not pay for the slashed tires.
Depending on state laws and the particular company, some insurers may raise policy rates after a claim is made. Therefore, the cost of a potential rate raise by the insurance company should also be weighed into the decision to make a claim. For instance, if the comprehensive policy has a deductible of $500 and the cost of the tires is $550, then it may be more cost effective to pay the extra $50 rather than risk a raise in policy rates due to making a claim.
Auto insurance companies are typically not obligated to pay betterment on slashed tires, which is another important factor in finding out if the insurance will pay a claim. Betterment is defined as making improvements for property loss that end up better than the property started. In the case of slashed tires, a new set of tires will likely replace the old vandalized set. The new tires are inherently better than the old tires because they have not been used. The insurance company is entitled to adjust their payment of a slashed tire claim based on things like mileage and wear on the old tires. So if the new set of tires costs $550 but old tires are determined to be halfway worn out, then the insurance company may only consider their responsibility to be $225. If the policy holder's deductible is higher than that, the auto insurance company would not pay for the slashed tires.
Because slashed tires are considered vandalism, auto insurance companies will in some circumstances pay for slashed tires if the policy holder has comprehensive insurance. Finding out if they will is determined by factors like the deductible and the adjustments based on betterment of the old tires.
