Is Paintless Dent Repair Covered by Insurance?

While there’s no such thing as dent insurance as a standalone policy, your auto insurance may cover ding and dent repair when it’s done by a professional auto body shop.

To be covered by insurance, dent repair must relate to damage caused in a covered incident. You also need to have collision or comprehensive coverage to get such damage covered by your own insurance. In cases where someone else is liable for the damage, whether their insurance policy covers paintless dent repair, also known as PDR dent removal services, can be a coin flip. 

Find out more about when car insurance covers paintless dent repair below. We’ll walk you through the different types of insurance and how you can work with Caliber Collision to ensure dent removal work is handled quickly and professionally.

Liability Coverage vs. Full Coverage Car Insurance

To understand whether your car insurance might cover paintless dent repair, you first need to understand the different aspects of car insurance. When you purchase car insurance, you can choose whether you want liability-only coverage or whether you want to add other types of coverage, including collision insurance. 

Liability insurance doesn't cover damage to your vehicle. It would only cover damage to another vehicle if you were liable for the accident that caused that damage. People sometimes choose to carry liability-only coverage when they own their car outright, if the vehicle isn’t worth that much, or if they want to save money on their car insurance premiums.

If you don’t own your car outright — meaning you’re still making payments to the lender on a car loan and the title isn’t clear yet — you typically have to carry full coverage. This helps protect the lender’s interest if something happens to your car in an accident that you’re liable for. 

Carrying full coverage may also be a good idea even if you own your car outright. After all, it makes sense to protect your own interest. This type of insurance is sometimes known as dent and scratch insurance, meaning it will help you cover accidental damage to the car’s overall appearance, not just mechanical damage. When you have full coverage, you don’t have to come up with all the money yourself to fix any damages or replace your vehicle if an accident happens.

Understanding Auto Collision Insurance

Collision insurance is part of a full coverage auto insurance policy. It is the part of your insurance policy that covers damage to your car that happens if the collision is your fault or there is no other party that could be held at fault. Some examples of when collision insurance might help pay for dent repair include:

• The dents occurred during a collision on the road and you were at fault for the accident.
• The dents occurred when your car struck another vehicle in a parking lot or driveway, even if the other car was not in motion at the time.
• The dents occurred when you ran into a stationary object, such as a tree or mailbox.

Understanding Auto Comprehensive Insurance

Collision insurance doesn’t cover damage unless it happens in an actual collision. But you know that dents and dings can occur due to incidents that happen even when you’re not driving your vehicle. Examples include damage from hail, a baseball hitting the side panel, or the branch of a tree falling on the hood.

Comprehensive coverage, or comp, is also an option with a full-coverage policy. This is the type of coverage that helps pay for damages that occur in non-collision incidents of this nature.

In many cases, you can’t pick and choose between comp and collision. Your insurance company may offer these options as a part of your policy package. 

Will Your Auto Insurance Cover Paintless Dent Repair?

Your auto insurance will only cover paintless dent repair (PDR) if you have comp and collision insurance, and the damage was caused in a covered incident. That includes collisions that you were responsible for, and what are referred to as “acts of God,” such as hail or a falling tree.

If another person is at fault for damage to your car, the liability portion of their car insurance should cover the costs. This is why it’s so important to ensure you file a police report when you are in an accident on the roadway, as the police report can document that the other person was at fault. You should also exchange insurance information so you know whom to contact to start the claims process.

In some cases, you may be involved in an accident with someone who doesn’t have an active car insurance policy. You may be able to rely on your own insurance to help cover the cost of dent repair in these cases if you have uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage.

You should also be aware that if you are at fault in an accident and cause dents or dings to another person’s car, your car liability insurance typically covers the bill for those damages as well. 

What is Your Deductible?

Another factor in what portion of paintless dent repair costs your insurance will cover is your deductible. The deductible is the amount of money you have to pay out of pocket before your insurance company will cover costs. 

Some common comp and collision deductible amounts include $250, $500, and $1,000, but they can be higher depending on your insurance agreement. The lower your deductible, the higher your premiums may be, which is why many people opt for a higher deductible. 

When considering how much you might pay for PDR car repair services, check your deductible and compare this number to the estimate. If the estimate for dent removal is $450 and you have a deductible of $500, you will still have to pay the entire amount of $450.

Should You Make a Claim with Your Insurance?

If your deductible is high enough that you might have to cover the entire cost of dent repair yourself, should you even file a claim with your insurance company? 

There are pros and cons to both sides, and you’ll need to make an educated decision for yourself. Consider some of the factors below when doing so:

The Costs of Paintless Dent Repair

The actual cost of any dent repair work done on your vehicle depends on how extensive the damage is, what type of dent repair process is required, and where you get the work done. 

Paintless dent repair is typically less expensive than dent repair that requires sanding and painting work. On average, costs for PDR can range from $100 to $700, but complex jobs or severe dents might drive costs higher.

Reasons Not to File a Claim with Your Insurance Company

Filing a claim can take time and effort. It may increase the amount of hassle you have in dealing with paperwork related to your dent repair. 

Your insurance company may have a list of approved providers for auto body work. Filing a claim can mean you have to use one of those providers, even if you have a different preference. 

The cost of your auto insurance can go up if you make a claim. Whether this is true and how much the increase might be depends on your policy and your record of claims. 

One claim, especially a small one that doesn’t require the insurance company to pay anything out, usually doesn’t cause an increase in premiums. However, several of these claims over a short period of time might.

Reasons to File a Claim with Your Insurance Company

Filing a claim for damages to your car even when you know the cost will be less than your deductible can provide some protection for you. You may have more peace of mind dealing with an auto body shop that is approved by your insurance, for example.

Letting your insurance company know about the damage now could also protect your right to a claim for other related damages in the future. For instance, you might get a dent repaired after a collision, thinking that it was only cosmetic damage to your car. You avoid telling your insurance company, but a few months later, you realize that there is other damage to your car that probably came from that accident. Your insurance company may not cover those damages because you could have known about them earlier and didn’t file a claim. 

Working with Caliber to Reduce Insurance Hassles

The paintless dent repair technicians at Caliber conduct a full inspection to ensure they are addressing all damage to your car. You’re provided with a transparent quote, and we can answer any questions you have about costs and insurance claims.

Caliber has worked hard over the years to create relationships with most major insurers across the country. We can slip into the driver’s seat of your dent repair claim to help ensure fast processing. We even have auto-approval status with many insurance companies, so we can get to work on the dents and dings on your car as soon as you say go.

When Will Someone Else's Car Insurance Cover Dent Repair?

If the dent damage on your vehicle comes from a collision that was someone else’s fault, their insurance company covers the cost of ding and dent repair. 

That does mean you have to work with the other insurance company. Start by copying down all the information on the other person’s insurance card at the site of the accident, if possible. Another option is to snap a picture of their insurance card and license.

You’ll then need to file a claim with the insurance company. You can call the insurance company in question to do so. Many companies also offer an option for starting the claims process online. If you’re not sure where to start and have your own insurance agent, you may be able to speak with them and get guidance or assistance in beginning the process.

What is an Insurance Adjuster?

An insurance adjuster is the person who investigates your claim. They often inspect the damage to your vehicle, either in person or via photos and videos. The purpose of this inspection is to determine the value of your damages, which means the adjuster is responsible for determining how much the insurance company will cover for damages.

PDR Car Repair with Caliber Collision

Working with Caliber Collision can provide great peace of mind when you’re faced with ding and dent repair after an accident. We help you initiate paintless dent repair insurance claims, and we can even work with the insurance company to ensure every detail is considered for a holistic repair that gets your car back into pre-collision shape.

That peace of mind doesn’t end with the insurance process, though. We back our PDR and other dent repair services with limited lifetime warranties and satisfaction guarantees. We want you to get back on the road again with a smile that comes from confidence in our repairs.

To start the process of PDR car repair with Caliber Collision, find a location near you. We have 1,500 locations across 40 states for your convenience, and you can also research dent repair options by getting an estimate online.