My car is about 4 months old now and I got free first class insurance with it (which expires in Dec). By now there's a few bumps, deep scratches and even a cracked rear skirt (most of which were done by someone else while the car was parked and with no note left by the perp). What I want to do is get it all fixed using the insurance. Is this a wise move and what could be the consequences of such an action on future insurance renewals/claims?

In our neighbourhood it seems to be the popular thing to do. Our dealer reminded us a month before the insurance expired and recommended we have the touch ups done on the insurance.

They also suggested we renew with another insurance company as the dealers insurance was based in Bangkok and we'd get better service from a company with local offices. We took their advice, had the car done and bought insurance through another company at a cheaper cost with no penalties to us.

Edit: spellin

In our neighbourhood it seems to be the popular thing to do. Our dealer reminded us a month before the insurance expired and recommended we have the touch ups done on the insurance.

They also suggested we renew with another insurance company as the dealers insurance was based in Bangkok and we'd get better service from a company with local offices. We took their advice, had the car done and bought insurance through another company at a cheaper cost with no penalties to us.

Edit: spellin

Maybe the dealer get more comission from the other insurance company.

^ Nope, they had no input into who we chose. Our new insurance company had no affiliations with the dealer.

If you can supply a name & address for the person who is at fault for the damage (assuming that's not you ), you can claim anything without it having an adverse effect on your no-claims bonus.

However, if you can't do this, the claim will effect your no-claims bonus. whether it's your fault or not - the onus is on you to identify the culprit.

No-claims bonus can vary, but is typically 10% per year, up to a maximum of 60% - applied as a discount to your annual insurance premium.

So:

* If you expect to have an accident every year, go for it.

* If you're not going to renew the insuarance, go for it.

* If you are going to renew the insurance, and don't expect to be making claims each year, figure out what the "damage" will eventually cost you in increased premiums, and work out if it's worthwhile to make the claim from that.

Personally there's no way I'd claim anonymous damage of anything less than 20,000 Baht or so, but I am on the maximum 60% discount and I am insuring 2-3 cars per year.. YMMV!

Sooner or later this will be over. In Europe all Insurances are linked together, so you can't just claim a new paintjob and go for another insurance next year to avoid the malus. The bonus=malus system would be transfered as well, to the new insurance company. It will be changing here soon.