A simpler way to distinguish wear and tear from damage
While your car’s out living a useful life, it may get some wear and tear along the way. Under the Car Next Door community rules, wear and tear is treated differently from damage. It’s not covered under the insurance policy (just as it wouldn’t be under your personal comprehensive insurance). And while Borrowers are charged for repairing any damage to your car, they won’t be charged for repairing wear and tear.
From time to time, Owners and Borrowers have been unsure whether certain scratches, scuffs or dents were ‘damage’ or ‘wear and tear’. To reduce confusion and make it easier to resolve discussions, we’ve updated and clarified the description of wear and tear in the Damage Policy.
The new wear and tear policy is deeply informed by the Code of Practice for the car rental industry, with adaptations to reflect the peer-to-peer nature of our sharing community.
We’ve spent the past couple of months reviewing and refining the policy with Car Next Door owners in the Facebook group. With over 1,300 Owners participating in that group, it’s a great forum for us to have transparent and direct discussions about issues that affect our Owner community. We’d like to thank the Owners who have given extensive feedback and comments on the three versions of the policy that preceded this final version.
The new Wear & Tear Schedule, which takes effect from 26 June 2020, is as follows:
Area of Vehicle | Wear and Tear Includes |
---|---|
Any surfaces not specified below | Any minor:
Any minor:
|
All cargo areas | Dent, scuff, scratch, crack, or other wear less than 50mm in diameter |
Underbody - including ground-facing bumper surfaces | Cosmetic damage not affecting the car’s function |
Windscreen, windows, lamps and external mirrors | Minor scratching and/or minor chipping to any windscreen, window glass or lamp that does not affect roadworthiness, electronic elements or watertightness |
Wheels and wheel trims/rims | Minor scratches and scuffing less than 25 mm in diameter |
Surfaces, adhesives, mechanical (movable), and electrical parts. | Malfunction, failure, dislocation, or cracking due to age and normal use Change in appearance, including surface cracks and threadbare fabric, due to age, normal use, elemental exposure or contact with other substances (e.g. cleaning solvents). See “Responsibility for Damage to Mechanical Components” section of the Damage Policy for more details. |
Wear & tear does not include:
- damage that is due to misuse
- hail damage