i found a scratch on my car and the fenderboard half-way falling, when i drove it back home tonight.

i am pretty sure it was not there this morning when i left home, and i didn't hit/wasn't hit by anybody today when drving it. so i guess it happened when the car was parked, but i don't know where it happened because i parked car at many different places during the whole day.

so, other than spending some time and money to repair it, is there anything i can do? will my car insurance cover something? i think there is an item called parking damage in my insurance, but i don't know how exactly it works, because i certainly have no evidence to show that the damage is not my own fault.

any tips would be really appreciated.
thank you very much.

If you have that cover, you can claim, regardless of fault. Check how much the excess/deductible is, though, as it may not be worth claiming if the excess is close to (or greater than) the repair bill!

Your best course of action is to ask your insurance company ...

Worth checking whether the garage has any closed circuit TV. It's a long shot here, not like the UK, but you might be able to see who has caused the damage.

If you've got full insurance, you should have coverage for the damage. Get an estimate for the cost of repair, and weigh up the pros/cons of claiming for damage. If the payout will be really small, it's probably not worth claiming, as you may lose your no-claims bonus and face higher premiums in the future.

Many insurance companies charge a heavy premium for parking damage to your car (It is wide open to abuse) and it is likely you don't have it! You can get a quote from a small car repair shop, if it is just a scratch it won't be too expensive.

Regarding a camera in a garage, the Swiss privacy laws on TV cameras are very strict, and most unlikely anyone will give you any information. Especially if no crime has been committed.

I work for Swisscom and I wanted to know whom was in a Swisscom computer room on a Thursday afternoon. The advice I received was that the Swiss privacy and data protection laws also cover the Swisscom (Private) property and are so strict it is better to forget that line of enquiry!

But in this case, a crime has been committeed (failure to report an accident / negligent damage / vandalism etc). And while they may not release the tapes to a private individual, they will certainly release them to the police to assist an investigation.

Claiming on parking insurance will not affect your no claims bonus; it is not a reflection of your driving skills/judgement.

Check your minimum self-payment level to see if it's actually worth making a claim or whether you're going to end up paying more for the potential loss of a no-claim bonus. I had a case with Zürich insurance last year for CHF 650 parking damage, but as my self-payment limit was CHF 1K, I just paid for it myself.

Read the contract you have with your insurance company or cal them.

thanks all for your kind replies.

i am afraid that i am not able to check the garage camera, even if there is no law restriction, coz I drove all the way from zurich to geneve (ironically to the auto-salon), parked my car in the openair carpark there. i also stopped at two rest stations on the highway on my ride there and back, one time each, for a cup of coffee, the rest time is long enough to commit such a damage, and i don't even remember which rest stations they were.

anyway, as stupid as i am, i completely forgot the self-responsible part, coz i had no such experience before. i think the damage is definitely lower than that amount and not worth reporting. i just worry about the scratch is not repairable. it is not a big deal, but just looks ugly and makes me unhappy...

on the other hand, i have a 'bonus schutz' program in my insurance, which will not increase the premium for any accident. i think it also applies to the parking damage, yeh?

now, what i am more interested in is, in case of a more serious damage in the future, does it seem that we can do nothing about that, but swallowing the bitter pill all by outselves? i mean even the insurance covers something we still need to pay part of it, and there will be some inconvenience and time-waste for repairing a car. i know it is probably always the case in every corner of the world for such a situation, but hopefully it would be OK to get a confirmation from here, thanks.

-the insurance should cover the parkschaden (if you have taken up that option), but only above a certain deductible.

-if you know the offender, then it is all covered by the offender's insurance, and you don't have to pay anything.

I have had both experiences. The second one was a lady who was kind enough to leave me a note on my windscreen. Big thanks to her!

So if there is a parkschaden, you should really try to figure out who did it...

I haven't used these guys in Switzerland, but I used them in the UK to deal with minor damage and was VERY impressed with the result, particularly given the low price:

http://www.chipsaway.ch/index.html?links.htm

Fantastic advice, wonder why nobody else though of this !

All insurance companies I believe pay in to a pool for cases where they can't find the guilty driver. An idot drove in to my parked car, leaving the side mirror hanging and scratching and denting the whole side. One has to pay the first 1000 and the pool covers the rest.. Better than nothing I guess

I know the pain. But believe me, finding the perpetrator who is unwilling to cooperate could be much worse for your state of mind.

Check your insurance - if you have the parking damages covered. If yes, then follow the procedure if it suits you or fix it yourself if it doesn't.