Speaker 1: Seven o two the Car feature time for the car
Speaker 1: feature on seven o two afternoons and in our car
Speaker 1: feature for today, we are chatting about the costs of
Speaker 1: scratches and small dents on Dance rather and what they
Speaker 1: really really do cost and share your stories and experiences
Speaker 1: Audible one w A three oh seven o two in
Speaker 1: the WhatsApp line oh seven two seven oh two one
Speaker 1: seven o two. We're joined in this conversation by Tundo
Speaker 1: and Gibet, senior manager at Budget Insurance. Tundo, welcome to
Speaker 1: the show. Thank you so much for joining us.
Speaker 2: Thank you very much, and welcome hello to seven listens.
Speaker 1: Yes, you can welcome them to as well. Right, it's
Speaker 1: our home together now.
Speaker 2: I love that. I love that.
Speaker 1: Okay, So let's talk about scratches and dents. And I
Speaker 1: never want to assume everybody can tell the difference. So
Speaker 1: from an insurance perspective of how are scratches and dents
Speaker 1: differentiated in that world?
Speaker 2: Yes, so I think maybe if I just give you
Speaker 2: a sentence for each you know, a scratch would usually
Speaker 2: be defined as a thin or shallow, lengthy mark on
Speaker 2: the top coat of the vehicle's paint. So that's what
Speaker 2: we're called a scratch, and then you nobody have a dent,
Speaker 2: which is a hollow indent on the surface of the vehicle.
Speaker 2: So in a difference that the scratches usually really get
Speaker 2: into that paint layer, and then the dents usually actually
Speaker 2: get into the surface of the vehicle without necessarily damaging
Speaker 2: the paint.
Speaker 1: I got you, I got you, okay, So why is
Speaker 1: it important to know these costs? I see many people
Speaker 1: who are ensured driving around with little dents and scratches
Speaker 1: on their vehicles. I'm probably one of them. Yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: one of them.
Speaker 2: And then well, feel that the reason it's important to
Speaker 2: the two things. It's important to fix these scratches when
Speaker 2: they happen, and if you are in a position where
Speaker 2: you can afford to fix them, you want to do that.
Speaker 2: But otherwise, the specific covers that are available in the
Speaker 2: market that deal specifically with scratch and dents. And let
Speaker 2: me tell you why it's important. Cosmetic damage on a vehicle,
Speaker 2: which is what we're talking about, devalues the value of
Speaker 2: the vehicle at the point of selling. So what happens
Speaker 2: is that the dealers that offer to buy your vehicle
Speaker 2: need to get that vehicle looking as close as possible
Speaker 2: to show room condition, and whatever money they have to
Speaker 2: spend after purchasing your vehicle to fix those scratches and dents,
Speaker 2: they will gut that from the offer that they make you,
Speaker 2: so it never to be you actually get less money
Speaker 2: for your vehicle if it has multiple scratches and dents.
Speaker 1: Why do you think it is that people don't take
Speaker 1: you head over and repair some of these scratches and
Speaker 1: dents immediately if they do have access. And I will
Speaker 1: speak for myself to say, sometimes the scratch or the dent,
Speaker 1: if I look at it and say, this is probably
Speaker 1: going to be the same amount as my excess, or
Speaker 1: it's not that big of a deal. I'm just also
Speaker 1: not trying to put too many dents on my relationship
Speaker 1: with my insurer. What are the reasons that you've also
Speaker 1: heard people speak of.
Speaker 2: I think, really you've actually you've touched on the most
Speaker 2: important one. I think most people when the scratch or
Speaker 2: the dent happens, or the chip, people tend to think,
Speaker 2: oh jeez, I've got an insurance policy which has got
Speaker 2: generally an excess that is quite a sizeable amount. And
Speaker 2: I don't want to ruin my relationship with my insurer.
Speaker 2: Now that is very true as far as your comprehensive
Speaker 2: insurance cover goes, because that is there to protect you
Speaker 2: usually from the bigger incidence the accidents, the thefts, et cetera,
Speaker 2: where we have to replace parts and do big repairs.
Speaker 2: These products that we are speaking about, which I think
Speaker 2: some people might not know of, are specifically designed only
Speaker 2: to deal with these covers and don't affect what happens
Speaker 2: with your comprehensive insurance policy. So it is understanding. It
Speaker 2: is understood when these products are made that customers are
Speaker 2: going to get a lot of tips and dents. Therefore,
Speaker 2: it does not impact whatever is going on your main policy,
Speaker 2: which would be your comprehensive vehicle insurance policy.
Speaker 1: Okay, and I think many people do sadly find themselves
Speaker 1: in some of those situations. Is there a risk that
Speaker 1: dents and scratches outside of the windscreen and I'm not
Speaker 1: sure you'll have to clarify if you speak of scratches
Speaker 1: on a windscreen in the same way or you only
Speaker 1: refer to them as cracks, But is it possible that
Speaker 1: leaving them can actually make them worse?
Speaker 2: Sure? So, when we dealing particularly with scratches, I think
Speaker 2: there there is an opportunity that when the paint gets damaged,
Speaker 2: it exposes that it'll the neat to moisture and to oxygen,
Speaker 2: and those are really the ingredients for rust. And if
Speaker 2: you're in the coastal areas, that problem is exacerbated because
Speaker 2: the salty air and the high humidity in those regions
Speaker 2: can accelerate that rust. So, unlike in a windscreen where
Speaker 2: a chip can can become a crack, in this particular space,
Speaker 2: what we normally find is the risk of getting rust
Speaker 2: onto your vehicle, which is more expensive to fix later
Speaker 2: down the line.
Speaker 1: I did not know that at all. Excuse me, I
Speaker 1: did not know at all that you that that scratch
Speaker 1: would expose it to start rusting quickly, just in terms
Speaker 1: of you know, you're saying that you want your car
Speaker 1: to be in its base condition. If a person has
Speaker 1: already the decided that I'm going to be keeping this
Speaker 1: car forever, they would probably have less incentive or interest
Speaker 1: to do that.
Speaker 2: Yes, that is definitely the case. We normally see that
Speaker 2: with with consumers, But I think it's important to highlight
Speaker 2: their religilated that even though you might not want to
Speaker 2: spend a lot of money because you're going to keep
Speaker 2: the car for a long time. But not all of
Speaker 2: these damages actually require paint to fix. So we usually
Speaker 2: see that some of the small surface scratches that happen
Speaker 2: on the metal parts and plastic parts of a vehicle
Speaker 2: can actually be polished out. So there are other solutions
Speaker 2: for people out there. So if you take it to
Speaker 2: a car wash or to a place that polishes vehicles,
Speaker 2: always ask them to have an attempt, and usually they're
Speaker 2: quite telling you what they can just polish out. And
Speaker 2: then in that way it's a much more cost effective
Speaker 2: way to still take care of your vehicle without spending
Speaker 2: too much money.
Speaker 1: All right, we're going to take a break, Tundle. When
Speaker 1: we come back, we take all of your questions and
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Speaker 1: one seven two seven O two the car feature twelve
Speaker 1: minutes two three o'clock. We continue with our car feature
Speaker 1: on double one double A three oh seven O two
Speaker 1: and the WhatsApp line oh seven two seven O two
Speaker 1: one seven O two. We are chatting about the real
Speaker 1: cost of scratches and dents with ton don't give a
Speaker 1: senior manager at Budget Insurance on oh double one double
Speaker 1: three oh seven oh two and the WhatsApp line oh
Speaker 1: seven two seven oh two one seven two, And now
Speaker 1: we open up the lines. We've got a voice.
Speaker 3: Note, Lay, my car is scratched. The scratch is you know,
Speaker 3: a one rand coin. That's how big the scratch is.
Speaker 3: But it's okay. The surface level paint is off, but
Speaker 3: it's like a one rand coin. And the quotation to
Speaker 3: fix that was four thousand, seven hundred. Does that make sense?
Speaker 3: Why is it so expensive four thousand and seven hundred, Tao, No,
Speaker 3: I know, now, how must I not have it? How
Speaker 3: can I have a relationship with my insurer with the
Speaker 3: four thousand and seven hundred quotation for a fifty cent scratch?
Speaker 1: No, my goodness, Sam, thank you so much. Sam Tunder
Speaker 1: Maybe chat to us about when vehicles go for assessments.
Speaker 1: I'm sure majority of the time customers are shocked at
Speaker 1: how expensive it is.
Speaker 2: Yes, we're gonna you see it on a daily basis,
Speaker 2: And I think maybe this paint example is a good
Speaker 2: one to explain some of the reasons why it is
Speaker 2: so expensive. So let's say you drive a red vehicle
Speaker 2: when you come into my panel beating shop. I don't
Speaker 2: have that specific paint for your vehicle ready and waiting
Speaker 2: for you because these vehicles have got different paint coats.
Speaker 2: That is how we identify the different colors. So usually
Speaker 2: if you've owned the car for let's say two, three,
Speaker 2: four years, depending on where you parked the vehicle in
Speaker 2: the sun damage, it also happens that even your original
Speaker 2: paint code is no longer accurate for your car because
Speaker 2: it has experienced damage because of the sun. What that
Speaker 2: needs to happen is that the panel detail, which they
Speaker 2: usually would have a painting department, those guys would have
Speaker 2: to make multiple paints in order to get to the
Speaker 2: exact paint of your vehicle, and that is a very
Speaker 2: cost exercise. Paint work vehicle pods goes out every single year,
Speaker 2: and I think most customers who don't deal in that
Speaker 2: industry are only short just to why it is so expensive.
Speaker 2: But that's some of the realities that are out there.
Speaker 1: I love that you mentioned the color matching because that
Speaker 1: is quite a big deal. Whereas for drivers you just
Speaker 1: assume how red is red, green is green, but it
Speaker 1: becomes very specific. But outside of for example, the color matching.
Speaker 1: What are some of the other things that you can
Speaker 1: share with us are a part of that process of
Speaker 1: repairing a scratch that, like you said, has gone beyond
Speaker 1: the paint level.
Speaker 2: So I think again, it will just depend on what
Speaker 2: is going on with that particular vehicle. So another example
Speaker 2: is the panel Beetles will do their best to keep
Speaker 2: costs low by stalking the most common colors of paint
Speaker 2: so that they are ready to mix. But if, for example,
Speaker 2: you arise and they don't have a color for you,
Speaker 2: it is not as if because the scratch is a
Speaker 2: one grand coin they can from their supplier order the
Speaker 2: amount of paint you need to paint a one grand
Speaker 2: coin area. They need to order the smallest bottle they
Speaker 2: can fight, which could be three hundred miles four hundred miles,
Speaker 2: in order to do the mixing process, and then they
Speaker 2: can only fix that little portion for you, and they
Speaker 2: might never be able to use that paint again. So
Speaker 2: beyond how expensive it is to just match, it's also
Speaker 2: expensive to buy small amounts of paint because you are
Speaker 2: not always certain that you'll be able to use that
Speaker 2: paint again, and that increases the costs.
Speaker 1: Okay, and I think that makes sense in terms of
Speaker 1: after the let's say the filing down if I can
Speaker 1: use that term that U s Lave people would understand,
Speaker 1: and then doing the painting. There are other layers obviously
Speaker 1: that need to go on top of that.
Speaker 2: Yes, So what we find with vehicles is that there's
Speaker 2: a lot of prep work that goes into painting. So
Speaker 2: as you were mentioning that the finding down process where
Speaker 2: they have to prepare the car for paint, and often
Speaker 2: they prepare that vehicle for painting. Only then can the
Speaker 2: painting start. And I think what's important to you to
Speaker 2: mention here. Chill is a concept that they usually referred
Speaker 2: to as blending, depending on where the dentists, for example,
Speaker 2: the dentists on your door close to another part like
Speaker 2: a fender. Sometimes baby to paint across both areas in
Speaker 2: order to get that color matching looking the way it
Speaker 2: should be, because sometimes if you just paint one specific
Speaker 2: small spot, no matter how good you are trying to
Speaker 2: match that paint, it becomes very visible that some work
Speaker 2: was done on at one point, So you normally end
Speaker 2: up needing to paint a bigger area than just the
Speaker 2: scratch in order to measure. There's the lived in well.
Speaker 2: Otherwise the customer is not going to be satisfied with
Speaker 2: the job if they can see what you've worked on.
Speaker 2: They want the car to look the way it looked before,
Speaker 2: which means you usually end up covering a way bigger
Speaker 2: area than just the damage to the vehicle.
Speaker 1: We've got another voice.
Speaker 4: Notehilaire, mine is not insurance related. But when I sold
Speaker 4: my previous vehicle, I took it into a repair shop
Speaker 4: to touch up the scratch, scratches and tents. When I
Speaker 4: traded in that car, I received tenfold back and what
Speaker 4: it cost me to repair that scratches and then so
Speaker 4: it was worthwhile for me to spend that money to
Speaker 4: repair the scratches and thence because I got it back
Speaker 4: ten times on the that the dealer gives me. So
Speaker 4: I think it's a very good thing, and it makes
Speaker 4: your call look better and you feel much prouder of
Speaker 4: your car.
Speaker 5: Seel pretoria harle will Yo cas crashes So my car
Speaker 5: was it by a hail? But then the damage is
Speaker 5: just on a bonnet, Yeah, on a bonnet. Luckily the
Speaker 5: san rufe is fine, so I.
Speaker 6: Claim with my insurance and then the quotation comes back
Speaker 6: as twenty four thousand, twenty four thousand, just tosk to
Speaker 6: fix the bonnet. Then I went to these other guy's
Speaker 6: in partorial wast I said, guys, yes, my car, can
Speaker 6: you assays and give me a quotation? The quotation was
Speaker 6: six thousand, So why then Sara quotation was twenty four thousand?
Speaker 1: Really all right, so Tonto maybe help us understand why
Speaker 1: it is that the preferred suppliers of insurance companies are
Speaker 1: sometimes more expensive than other people.
Speaker 2: Sure, I definitely would love to explain that to you.
Speaker 2: So there are multiple factors that creates that condition. So
Speaker 2: one of them is that insurance companies would usually use
Speaker 2: panel beaters that have to meet certain criteria. So, for example,
Speaker 2: when you buy a vehicle from your manufacturer, your manufacturer
Speaker 2: will give licensing to certain panel beaters to have permission
Speaker 2: to work on that vehicle. And for panel beaters to
Speaker 2: attend that licensing, they have to buy very expensive equipment.
Speaker 2: So if you look at their splay food area, it
Speaker 2: is very expensive. Some of this equipment costs millions. So
Speaker 2: essentially the operating costs of a panel shop that intends
Speaker 2: to do work for an insurance company is much more
Speaker 2: expensive than if tundor opens up his own operation with
Speaker 2: the intention to only service you know, his own customers,
Speaker 2: because they're the requirement for me to have all the
Speaker 2: certification or the equipm for me to have a qualified
Speaker 2: spray painter, qualified panel better, I would not have that requirement,
Speaker 2: but unfortunately the guys on the insurance panel have that
Speaker 2: requirement and as a result, it costs them more to
Speaker 2: run their businesses. Jency would normally find that when it
Speaker 2: comes to quotes, the air quotes can sometimes be higher
Speaker 2: than what you are able to find if you go
Speaker 2: in to search for your own supplier.
Speaker 1: And that makes sense because obviously insurance companies want to
Speaker 1: retain the best services for their clients, so if a
Speaker 1: person wants to go out and fix it themselves, it
Speaker 1: is at their own risk. A Tondle, thank you so
Speaker 1: so much for chatting to us about this. And there's
Speaker 1: so many questions that were coming through on this and
Speaker 1: we'll revisit them in another car feature.