Lesson 3 of 3 · 8 min
Add-ons, and the day you claim
What zero-depreciation actually changes, why a new vehicle carries two clocks that end on different dates, and the order a claim has to go in.
An own-damage claim is not a voucher for a brand-new vehicle. When a panel or a mirror is replaced, the insurer pays for the value of the part that was lost — a two-year-old part, not a showroom one — so a share of the replacement cost is cut for wear and age.
Depreciation is the same idea that pulls the IDV down every year, applied to individual parts at the moment of a claim. That cut is what a zero-depreciation add-on removes. It is not new cover for new events; it is the same events, settled without the wear cut, for a higher yearly cost.
| Add-on | What it changes | What it leaves alone |
|---|---|---|
| Zero depreciation | Replaced parts are settled without the cut for their wear and age | Your deductible, and everything the policy excludes |
| Return to invoice | A total loss is settled against the vehicle's invoice value rather than the IDV | Anything at all on the third-party side |
| Engine protection | Brings in damage to the engine from water or oil loss, which the base cover leaves out | The rule that ordinary mechanical breakdown is never covered |
| No-claim bonus protection | Lets an agreed number of claims go through without ending the bonus | The claim itself, which the insurer still counts when it prices next year |
Put these in order
A minor collision, nobody hurt. Put the claim in the order that protects it.
- Take the vehicle to a garage on the insurer's network for a cashless repair, or pay and claim it back
- Report to the police where anyone is injured or another person's property is damaged
- Tell the insurer — helpline or app — before any repair begins
- Photograph the damage, the other vehicle and the place, before anything is moved
- Get everyone clear of traffic, and the vehicle too if it can move
What the third-party-or-comprehensive question turns on
If the vehicle vanished tomorrow with nothing coming back, how much would that hurt?
Just for you
Where is your household's motor policy right now, and what IDV is printed on it? If nobody can answer the second question, that number is still the one an insurer would pay on the worst day of the year.
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Kabir asks
What does a zero-depreciation add-on actually do?
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