Does insirance cover Paint Protection Film?

[PhilDavid]

Does anyone know if god forbid you have an accident and the Paint Protection Film needs to be reinstalled if the car insurance policy would cover that?

I'm thinking about having PPF installed in my car (SunTek Ultra Defense) and would like to make sure the film is covered by the insurance since it is such a major expense.

 

[DOCAL]

You should probably ask your own insurance company what their policy is with that sort of thing.

In my case, someone ran into the side of me, they/their insurance took the blame, and paid for replacing PPF on 2 panels after the repairs.

 

[cookie99]

every insurance policy is not the same..only 1 person(company) can answer that for you

 

[PhilDavid]

every insurance policy is not the same..only 1 person(company) can answer that for you

Absolutely true.

I just checked with my agent and she wasn't sure though she said she had PPF in her own car!

She's checking with the underwritier to see if any endorsement or notation needs to be made in advance.

If anyone has PPF, you might want to call your agent to make sure the PPF is also part of the policy.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Often depends on who is at fault.

 

[kev1n]

Often depends on who is at fault.

why would it matter who is at fault? it depends on the insurance/policy you paid for.

for example, my policy with AAA covers up to $3000 in aftermarket parts

 

[PhilDavid]

why would it matter who is at fault? it depends on the insurance/policy you paid for.

for example, my policy with AAA covers up to $3000 in aftermarket parts

You are right. It should not matter so this is why everyone should check with your agent, as I found out today.

Even if you are not at fault, if the person who hits you does not have insurance or the damage is under the Comprehensive Portion of the policy, you need to make sure the PPF is covered by your own policy.

I'll find out tomorrow how it works with State Farm and will report back!

 

[krsgio]

State farm covered my ceramic coating so would assume they should cover the PPF as well. From my understanding they should make it back to the way it was prior to the damage. Just make sure you have receipts and stuff and get quotes for getting PPF reapplied and just submit it as supplemental and they should cover it.

What I did was email [email protected] with the policy number as the subject line then attached my detailers estimate he emailed me. I just said that this wasn't included in the estimate that adjuster gave me for repairs. if you already had you adjuster come this prob the best way or ask the adjuster to include it possibly.

 

[Slow2k]

I had a Range Rover before my model s and it got totaled. I had ceramic coat on the car and they gave me the depreciated value of it. I think they worked it out to be 15% a year

 

[aerodyne]

Pretty sure insirance does not cover anything...

But seriously, State farm and others have long covered similar items such as trailer hitches, aftermarket parts, wheels and sound systems to some degree...

 

[drklain]

Insurance has a requirement to restore the car to the condition it was in PRIOR to the accident. The question is whether or not they will pay for all of the reinstallation of the PPF or pro-rate the amount. This will be dependent on how your policy treats this as well as how long ago the PPF was applied.

In my case, car was purchased in Mar 2017 and PPF applied one week after taking delivery. Accident was in May 2018. Another car hit me while I was stopped at a red light...the other driver was 100% at fault and his insurance company (GEICO) did not dispute he was 100% at fault. All repairs to my car were processed through my insurance (USAA) and they went after GEICO for reimbursement. I was asked to provide the receipts for the PPF installation (which I had) as well as an estimate to replace the areas that would have to be replaced (which I obtained and provided to the adjustor). It was totally covered and I received a check for that amount and I took the car to the PPF shop once repairs were complete at a Tesla-certified body shop.

Obviously your mileage may vary, but there was:
(a) no issue from the insurance company about covering new PPF application for the affected area even though the cost was higher than the original installation cost (for those sections) due to increases in cost for film and installation
(b) no issue on having the PPF shop do the work
(c) no issue from the insurance company trying to depreciate the cost of the film for time

I was told that this was just like the cost to repaint a body part that gets replaced due to an accident. They don't depreciate the paint for wear and tear. They have an obligation to restore the car to how it was (fully painted) prior to the accident. The fact your new paint will not have wear and tear scratches is NOT a factor.

As others said, your mileage may vary, but I had no issue with this and would have fought with my insurance company (or GEICO) had it not been covered.

 

[Aarons12]

i'm a 40 plus year insurance agent and can't explain it better than @drklain above. insurance companies are willing (and contractually required) to give you back what you had as long as you can show the receipts and proof.

 

[vapor trail]

PPF was 100% covered in my accident (other drive at-fault).

 

[drklain]

@Aarons12 Thanks for the kind words. Not an insurance agent and (thankfully) have rarely had need to contact an insurance agent for a claim. Glad you validated that my experience was not unusual or "out of norms" for the US insurance industry.

 

[Aarons12]

@Aarons12 Thanks for the kind words. Not an insurance agent and (thankfully) have rarely had need to contact an insurance agent for a claim. Glad you validated that my experience was not unusual or "out of norms" for the US insurance industry.

that sort of thing sounds better coming from the customer side anyway, so i was glad you took the time. and there are insurance companies who try to cut corners like any other business. but in general, auto physical damage is pretty standardized these days. we don't generally have problems with estimates and such because there are national databases they all use to calculate hours, parts costs and such and many legal precedents as to what is and is not covered.

we usually find that when people have a long drawn out bad story, there is another side like they couldn't prove what they had or didn't respond when requested.

 

[PhilDavid]

Okay I heard from my insurance agent. For the benefit of everyone else here's a summary of what I learned, god forbid your baby is hurt:

• If someone else causes damage, you can find them, they have insurance, and you can prove they are responsible for the damage you can have the insurance of the at fault party to cover not just repairing the damage, plus PPF reinstall cost but likely also Diminished Value and a similar (Tesla) rental.
• If the damage is caused by someone uninsured you will have to depend on YOUR OWN insurance. Read on.
• If the damage was caused by someone else and you can't locate who caused the damage, it goes under your Comprehensive portion and you will again depend on YOUR OWN insurance. Read on.

If you have installed PPF on your car, call your insurance agent and send them a copy of the bill and confirm the PPF is also covered. Since a full PPF install can easily cost over $5k, you should protect this investment. In my case, after some research, the State Farm Agent told me they located a special form they have to file under my policy that will cover PPF/after-market modifications. This way god forbid you have to make a claim, PPF coverage is already on your policy and they have it all on file.

TL;DR: If you install PPF on your car, call your agent right away to confirm it is covered under your policy. In the case of State Farm, they have a special form that needs to be filed under your policy.

 

[cookie99]

Okay I heard from my insurance agent. For the benefit of everyone else here's a summary of what I learned, god forbid your baby is hurt:

• If someone else causes damage, you can find them, they have insurance, and you can prove they are responsible for the damage you can have the insurance of the at fault party to cover not just repairing the damage, plus PPF reinstall cost but likely also Diminished Value and a similar (Tesla) rental.
• If the damage is caused by someone uninsured you will have to depend on YOUR OWN insurance. Read on.
• If the damage was caused by someone else and you can't locate who caused the damage, it goes under your Comprehensive portion and you will again depend on YOUR OWN insurance. Read on.

If you have installed PPF on your car, call your insurance agent and send them a copy of the bill and confirm the PPF is also covered. Since a full PPF install can easily cost over $5k, you should protect this investment. In my case, after some research, the State Farm Agent told me they located a special form they have to file under my policy that will cover PPF/after-market modifications. This way god forbid you have to make a claim, PPF coverage is already on your policy and they have it all on file.

TL;DR: If you install PPF on your car, call your agent right away to confirm it is covered under your policy. In the case of State Farm, they have a special form that needs to be filed under your policy.

side rant: insurance is so crazy to me. if they have insurance and is at fault, no problem they'll take care of it. if they dont have insurance and they're at fault.. UMMM they should take care of it?? Send them a monthly bill to cover my car just like a hospital would if they dont have insurance??

 

[PhilDavid]

side rant: insurance is so crazy to me. if they have insurance and is at fault, no problem they'll take care of it. if they dont have insurance and they're at fault.. UMMM they should take care of it?? Send them a monthly bill to cover my car just like a hospital would if they dont have insurance??

The benefit of having your own insurance in such a situation is you don't have to waste your life and energy suing someone and trying to collect money. You can have your insurance company make you whole and your insurance company can always go after the person who caused the damage.

Sometimes it is better to have someone you pay (your insurance company) do the fighting for you so you can keep your sanity and move on.

 

[jz788]

Okay I heard from my insurance agent. For the benefit of everyone else here's a summary of what I learned, god forbid your baby is hurt:

• If someone else causes damage, you can find them, they have insurance, and you can prove they are responsible for the damage you can have the insurance of the at fault party to cover not just repairing the damage, plus PPF reinstall cost but likely also Diminished Value and a similar (Tesla) rental.
• If the damage is caused by someone uninsured you will have to depend on YOUR OWN insurance. Read on.
• If the damage was caused by someone else and you can't locate who caused the damage, it goes under your Comprehensive portion and you will again depend on YOUR OWN insurance. Read on.

If you have installed PPF on your car, call your insurance agent and send them a copy of the bill and confirm the PPF is also covered. Since a full PPF install can easily cost over $5k, you should protect this investment. In my case, after some research, the State Farm Agent told me they located a special form they have to file under my policy that will cover PPF/after-market modifications. This way god forbid you have to make a claim, PPF coverage is already on your policy and they have it all on file.

TL;DR: If you install PPF on your car, call your agent right away to confirm it is covered under your policy. In the case of State Farm, they have a special form that needs to be filed under your policy.

Happen to know what the name of the special form is?

 

[PhilDavid]

Happen to know what the name of the special form is?

All I know is it took them two days to find out.