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SMARTCARE COSMETIC INSURANCE

3 in 1 Alloy Wheel, Minor Bodywork Damage and Interior Repair Insurance

 

Smartcare Cosmetic Insurance is a combined package of traditional Alloy Wheel Insurance, Minor Bodywork Damage, plus Interior Repair Insurance.

 

All are designed to protect you against the costs of minor cosmetic repairs to your vehicle. Damage, if left, can not only be unsightly and potentially unsafe in terms of an alloy wheel which has been damaged and subsequently corroded but also have a detrimental effect on the value of your car. 

 

Total Loss Smart Care is cost-effective and has many features that are hard to find elsewhere.

  • Covers Diamond, Laser Cut, standard and Painted Alloy Wheels
  • Covers damage up to 30 cm in length
  • Covers damage on up to two panels
  • There is no excess to pay when you make a claim.
  • Interior damage covered
  • Uk-based Call Center
  • Uk-based Claims Teams
  • Cash Settlements
  • No waiting period - terms and conditions apply
  • Cover for up to 4 Years
  • Choose either up to 3 or 6 claims per year.
  • Transfer Options avialible
  • 30-day cooling off period. 

  Your Smart Care policy can cover damage up to 30cm in length  Up To 5cm interior damage cover 

 

Our policy terms were amended in March 2023. If you have purchased your policy before, please see your policy documents for a full list of terms and conditions. For your convenience, a copy of new and old documents is available at the bottom of this page.

 

Smartcare Cosmetic Insurance is comprised of three elements:

 

Alloy Wheel Insurance. 

 

This provides cover against the cost of a cosmetic repair to your alloy wheel following damage sustained in everyday road use. Typically, this would happen when you contact a kerb, leaving a nasty scrape on the alloy wheel surface. 

A mobile repairer can undertake repairs (as arranged by the claims team with a nationally franchised repairer). If it requires more in-depth repair, with the claims team's authorisation, you can nominate your local repairer to drive in, have the repair completed and drive out. You can claim up to £250 per repair, which is done on a pay-for-claim basis. 

If the alloy wheel is not repairable, then a £150 contribution can be claimed against the cost of a replacement alloy wheel. 

 

Minor Bodywork Repair/Scratch and Dent Insurance

 

This type of Insurance protects you against the costs of cosmetic repairs to minor damage to your vehicle's bodywork. Typically, this would be a scuff, scrape or dent to your vehicle's bodywork. 

The damage would be repaired by a mobile repairer, appointed by the claims administrator, who would come to your home or place of work. 

 

Interior Repair Insurance

 

  • The third type of Insurance included is designed to cover the costs of minor repairs to your vehicle's interior. These would typically include tears, abrasions, damaged plastic or trim. 

          What is covered?

 

Smartcare Cosmetic Insurance provides cover against the cost of performing cosmetic repairs to your vehicle. This is where the damage is repaired by a specialist repairer using the ''smart'' (Small And Medium Repair Technique ) repair process. 

 

Why buy a ''combined'' Smartcare Insurance product?

 

Better value - At Totallossgap.co.uk, we offer a ''stand-alone'' alloy wheel and cosmetic ''Scratch and Dent'Dent' insurance cover. However, the cumulative costs can be much higher when adding these products than when buying the combined Smartcare Insurance product. 

Also, you can spread your claims across the various types of cover. If you bought a 'stand-alone'' alloy wheel policy, you may only need some of the claims it permits. However, with our Smartcare' Smartcare' 3 in 1'' Insurance, you can mix and match to maximise your claim potential. 

 

Hand-back charges - many vehicles are secured on various lease agreements. At the end of those lease agreements, there can be financial penalties if you hand back the vehicle with damage. By repairing these types of damage during your contract, you can avoid these expensive hand-back charges at the end of your term.

Cash contributions if a repair is not possible

One additional feature of this product comes with the cash contributions available where a repair may not be possible for the claim you may make. 

These work in the following ways

  • Where an Alloy Wheel is not repairable, there is a £150 contribution towards the cost of a replacement alloy wheel. This may occur when the alloy wheel is cracked or perhaps buckled and cannot be repaired. 
  • Where a bodywork repair falls within the policy limits but a repair is impossible, there is a £450 towards damage on two panels and up to £250 on one panel. 
  • If a suitable local repairer cannot repair an interior repair, we can provide £100 as a cash settlement instead of the repair. 

In all cases where a contribution is paid:

  • The claims must fall within the terms and conditions and policy limits.
  • Once an invoice is received to show the repair has taken place

Transferable cover

We know that you may buy a policy intending to keep the vehicle for the full term of coverage, but plans can change. We have designed the policy to provide options for transferring the cover. 

There are two options:

  • If you sell the vehicle in a private sale, we can transfer the policy to the new, private owner, subject to a £35 administration fee. 
  • We can transfer the cover to your new vehicle if you sell the vehicle and buy a new one from a dealer. The first transfer you request is free of charge, with all subsequent transfers subject to a £35 administration charge. 

All transfers are subject to the agreement of the policy administrators. They may also ask for evidence of the new vehicle's condition, for example, a set of photographs of the alloy wheels.  

 

Smart Care FAQ

 

Do Smart Care policies payout when you make a claim?

Yes, repairing alloy wheels and bodywork has never been so expensive, with labour, raw materials, and environmental implications pushing prices constantly higher. Data taken from the underwriters ( data taken from August 2023 - December 2023 ) showing claims frequencies and amounts paid showed that during the last five months, just under 35% of smart care claims have cost under £400 per claim.

 

Real Life Smart Care claims which show when the policy was purchased, how quickly the policyholder claimed and how much they were paid in settlement.
Start Date Type of Vehicle Length of Cover Premium Paid Date of Claim Settlement
2nd September 2023 Audi 4 Years 399.27 2nd November 2023 £84.00
14th September 2023 Mercedes-Benz 2 Years 260.62 14th November 2023 £400
10Th October 2023 Volvo 3 Years 249.45 22nd November 2023 £400
16th August 2023 Audi 3 Years  299.43 16th November 2023 £400
5th September 2023 Jaguar 3 Years 299.43 6th November 2023 £400
15th September 2023 Range Rover 3 Years  299.43 23rd November 2023 £400

 

What Guarantee do I get with the repair?

Our claims team will nominate a repairer for your claim, and the work they do is guaranteed. The largest national franchise we use is called Revive. They offer the following guarantees for the work they provide: 

  • Minor bodywork damage - A Lifetime Guarantee for as long as you own the vehicle
  • Alloy Wheel Insurance - One year guarantee on the repair

 

How many claims can I make? 

The combined number of claims you can make either up to 3 or 6 claims in any one year. 

 

How many years of Smart Care do most people buy?

This can vary; however, most policyholders buy a policy in line with the length of time they plan to keep their car.

In the last six months, 52% of policyholders purchased a three-year policy, and 37.5% bought a four-year policy, with a minority buying two and less than 0.3% buying one year.

 

  

Is there a maximum number of claims for any one element of cover?

Only with the alloy wheel section capped at a maximum of four in one year.

 

Who does the repairs?

The insurer has a list of approved repairers. The largest is Revive, which is a nationwide franchise for SMART-style cosmetic repairers. There can be options to nominate your repairer with the prior agreement of the claims team. This circumstance may be agreed upon if one of the approved repairers cannot provide a suitable repair or the repair is more specialist than the repairer can provide, e.g. a diamond cut alloy wheel that needs a unit-based repair. 

 

Is a ''factory finish'' guaranteed?

No, the only way to get a factory finish every time is to send the repair back to the factory. The repairs are to a highly professional standard that would be hardly noticeable to the naked eye. 

 

Can I carry over any ''unused'' claims to the following year? 

No, the policy allows for up to 3 or 6 claims per year of cover (with a maximum of 2 of the four being for alloy wheels). The first year starts on the day the policy begins. If you make only 1 claim in that first year, you cannot carry over the remainder to the following year. 

 

What happens if you cannot repair the damage? 

If the damage falls within the permitted eligibility terms of cover, e.g. you get damage of less than 30cm on your door. Still, if the repairer cannot match the paint finish, or you get alloy wheel damage that cannot be repaired as the wheel is cracked, then cash contributions are available. 

This would mean you could take the vehicle to a body shop or buy a replacement alloy wheel, as in our examples above. 

To claim these cash contributions, you must provide a receipt to show a bonafide repairer has done the work.

If the damage is outside the terms laid out in the policy, e.g. the body damage is 40cm, then no cash contributions can be claimed. 

 

What type of damage cannot be covered by this Insurance?

An example might be when you have a large scratch across the bonnet of your car. Large, flat panels normally have to be repaired with a full paint spray at a body shop. That is not covered by this policy. 

 

What type of alloy wheels can be covered?

We can cover standard, manufacturer-fitted alloys of up to an including 22 inches in diameter. We can cover diamond, laser-cut and standard-painted alloys in most cases. 

Types of alloys we cannot cover would be ones with a chrome finish, those with a split rim or any aftermarket alloys. 

If you are concerned about whether your alloys would be covered, please send us a photo of the alloys, and we can ask the underwriters to check for you. 

 

Can the policy be transferred? 

Our underwriters will consider a transfer request if the new vehicle qualifies for cover. They may require evidence of the condition of the new vehicle (for example, photographs of the wheels on the new vehicle). 

Providing the underwriters agree to the transfer, we can perform this request once, free of charge, during the policy term. Any subsequent transfers are subject to a £35 administration fee. 

If you sell the vehicle privately, we can apply for a transfer to the new vehicle owner (can be a great tool to help sell the vehicle!). This would be subject to a £35 administration charge. 

 

Do I have to buy Gap Insurance from you to be eligible for Smartcare Cosmetic Insurance, too?

No, we allow you to buy the Smartcare Cosmetic Insurance as a ''stand-alone'' product without having to buy Gap Insurance. 

 

Why not click for an instant Smart Care quotation or call and discuss what a Total Loss Smart Care Insurance policy could do for you?

 

  Total Loss Smart care covers diamond, laser cut and painted alloy wheels  No waiting period Terms and conditions apply

Please see your policy documents for a complete list of terms and conditions.

Pdf IconIPID - Key Facts Before March 2023            Pdf IconT&C - Policies Purchased Before March 2023

Pdf IconCurrent IPID - Key Facts for new policies     Pdf IconCurrent T&C - Terms and Conditions