1. The other party is fully at fault and offers to settle privately for 1,500. You refuse outright, insist on going through insurance, and make a big fuss—damage assessment comes to 2,200, the repair shop asks for 2,400, and you pay 200 out of pocket. But if you had agreed to the private settlement, taken the 1,500, then reported the accident as your own fault, your car would still be fixed, you’d pay nothing, and earn 1,500. Your next year’s premium might go up by 800, but you’re still up 700.
    2. You hit someone, take them to the hospital, get yelled at and beaten by their family, and advance 8,000 in medical fees. You go home and wash the blood off your face. Later, the family demands an extra 10,000 to settle privately, or they won’t give you the medical receipts. The insurance company says no receipts, no reimbursement. Tragedy. Actually, you could have skipped the hospital, waited at the scene for traffic police instructions. If asked about medical fees, just say you lost money in stocks and are in debt. Wait until the family sues you—the insurance will cover everything, everyone’s happy, and you might not even need to show up.
    3. After a collision, a line of cars piles up behind you, horns blaring. The other driver says it’s all their fault, suggests pulling over to handle it. You move to the roadside, but then they suddenly change their tune, blaming you instead. That’s when you remember you should’ve taken photos with your phone first.
    4. Your husband is guiding you while reversing, you get excited, hit the gas instead of the brake, and smash your husband’s legs. You call the insurance company and honestly report it—but they tell you, sorry, your husband isn’t covered... Actually, you could have hit a friend’s car instead... you get the idea.
    5. Your car is freshly serviced at the 4S shop. You’re happily picking it up when—oh no—you hit the gas instead of the brake again (why again=.=!), crash badly, causing over 4,000 in damage. You go to the insurance company, dejected, only to be politely told that accidents in repair shops aren’t covered... Actually, you could’ve had the accident somewhere else—like gently bumping into a tree in your neighborhood. You know what I mean.
    6. On a rainy morning, you head out happily to get your car from the garage, only to find it flooded. In despair, you start the engine to save your car from the water—but it won’t start. Not only is your car still stuck, but now the engine’s fried. The 4S shop says it’s 50,000 down the drain due to water damage. You rush to the insurer, who looks at you sympathetically: “Ma’am, the engine was damaged because you forced a start. We don’t cover that.” ——If you hadn’t started the engine, the water wouldn’t have gotten in, dear.
    7. You’ve got tons of toys in your car—pagodas, perfume bottles, teddy bears, little piggies. One day you nearly hit an old lady, slam the brakes, and a perfume bottle flies up, hits the windshield, then bounces off and smacks you in the forehead. You need eight stitches. Total cost: 3,800 for glass, lost wages, medical bills, and emotional distress. The insurer’s rep smiles sweetly and tells you: “We don’t cover damage caused by items inside the car. If something from inside the vehicle or the roof hits and damages it, we still won’t cover it.”
    8. It’s a great weekend, you’re speeding happily when a big truck suddenly swerves into your lane and sideswipes you. You jerk the wheel and scrape into a flower bed. Your heart pounds for five minutes before calming down. By then, the truck’s long gone. You call your insurer, rant about the truck, and ask to fix your car. The agent regretfully informs you: “If you let the at-fault party flee, we can’t compensate you. When the other driver is at fault, giving up your right to pursue them means giving up your right to claim from us, dear.” ——Actually, you could say the sun blinded you, you veered into the flower bed, and hey—no truck? Didn’t see one... didn’t notice...
    9. You get a flat tire, steer carefully to stay in control—no need to call your insurer. They won’t cover it.
    10. You park your car downstairs, go upstairs to watch an episode of Kangxi Lai Le, come back down, and your four wheels are gone—just some bricks propping it up. No need to call your insurer. They won’t cover it.
How to Squeeze Every Last Drop Out of Your Insurance Company
Introduction: Many car owners still don’t know much about auto insurance. They only deal with it after an accident, and as outsiders, they have no clue how deep the rabbit hole goes—or how to maximize their benefits. Don’t worry, seasoned drivers have already shared their hard-earned wisdom. All you need to do is read, save, and keep it for a rainy day. Plus, this is an auto insurance guide written in plain language for everyday drivers, guaranteed to give you a deeper understanding of insurance and claims—so you can “squeeze” every last bit from your insurer. Who’s to say it’s wrong? You buy insurance for savings and peace of mind!
Insurance Clause Breakdown (1): Collision Insurance vs. Third-Party Liability Insurance
Let’s start with the two most important types: collision insurance and third-party liability insurance. These are the basic covers for your vehicle, mainly compensating for damage to your insured car and any harm your car causes to third parties during use!
You might think your insurance covers vehicle damage even from natural disasters. Half true—most natural disaster damage is covered, except for one thing: earthquakes!
Example 1: If your car is unfortunately smashed by falling debris during an earthquake, haha...
Solution: Don’t rush to file a claim right after the quake. Wait a few days before submitting it.
Claim description: Say the wall was loosened by the quake and eventually collapsed one day, damaging your beloved car. Remember: never mention the earthquake when reporting the incident.
Example 2: If your car’s windshield cracks because something inside flew up during sudden braking, what do you say?
If you honestly tell the insurer, “My tissue box flew up and hit the windshield...” (Whoa, impressive inner strength, lol—I’m just using the tissue box as a joke example.) Then you’re doomed. The claims adjuster will point to their mouth and say, “Watch my lips—NO!”
Solution: Tweak the facts slightly...
Claim description: A friend of mine who practices
Case 3: What should you do if your car is involved in a collision with another vehicle while being towed?
Solution: Ignore some of the actual circumstances...
Claim statement: Don’t mention that you were towing a vehicle or being towed. Otherwise, regardless of whether you were at fault, the insurance company will not pay any compensation.
Case 4: If you broke your own windshield during an accident but didn’t have windshield insurance, would you file a claim with the insurance company?
Is it possible to claim compensation from the insurer without having windshield insurance? Yes, absolutely possible! The full name of windshield insurance is: separate glass breakage insurance, which covers damage to the windshield caused while parked or during use. However, damage to the windshield resulting from an accident should be covered by comprehensive vehicle insurance.
If you don’t have windshield insurance and wake up one morning to find your car’s windshield smashed by some jerk, what should you do?? Heh, here's the old trick: claim it was caused by sudden braking while driving—blame it on your head again!(Remember to find a friend of similar height to act as your scapegoat), and if it’s the side window that’s broken, just say your head hit it during a sideslip, heh!!
Case 5: What should you do if your car hits something and breaks a small light?
Call your insurance company — they definitely won’t dare refuse to compensate you. So do you think you’ve come out ahead? No, actually, you’ve probably lost out.
Didn’t get that? Let me tell you, the full insurance premium for each car is generally between 2,500 and 5,000 yuan (higher-end cars cost even more). If you don’t make a claim during the one-year insurance period, you’ll get a 10% no-claims discount when you renew next year. Do the math yourself — if the claim amount is too small, well, just let it go. A 10% discount is more worthwhile.
Insurance Clause Breakdown (Part 2): Car Theft — How to Minimize Your Losses?
It’s inevitable that you’ll run into annoyances while parking or using your vehicle, and among them, having your car stolen is the worst. But if you follow my advice, you can minimize your losses.
Remember, what’s the first thing you should do when your car is stolen? Call the police? Wrong. The car is already gone — how easy do you think it is to find it right away? You’re overestimating the abilities of Chinese police. Think about how to reduce your losses instead.
Reduce losses? How is that so easy? The car is already gone — how can you reduce anything? Don’t forget, I’m here for you!!
First, check whether you have comprehensive theft insurance on your policy. What, you don’t? Then consider yourself unlucky. There’s no use coming to me — just buy another car.
If you do have theft insurance, first of all, congratulations — your losses can be minimized. But you still need to be careful. What you need to do now is keep your mouth shut and read my post carefully. Otherwise, you’ll definitely regret it.
Case 1: Theft insurance stipulates that if the insured loses the vehicle registration certificate, original purchase invoice, or vehicle purchase surcharge voucher, there will be an additional 0.5% absolute deductible for each item. Losing the car keys adds a 5% absolute deductible. These rules are printed in the lightest font on the insurance policy. Don’t believe me? Take out your policy and take a close look — you’ll definitely find this clause tucked away in some inconspicuous corner.
So whether you’ve ever lost a spare key or there’s a key left in the stolen car, remember to forget about it. Otherwise… you’ll have to bear that 5% loss yourself.
Case 2: If your car is stolen from a paid parking lot or a commercial repair shop, will the insurance company cover the loss?
The answer is: no!! Because those places are responsible for safeguarding your vehicle. If the vehicle is damaged or lost due to their negligence during custody, the custodian is liable. The insurance company is not responsible for compensation.
So the correct approach is to seek compensation from the parking lot. Therefore, always keep the parking receipt every time you park — even though it says “no liability for loss,” according to China’s Contract Law regarding standard-form contracts, this constitutes a unilateral disclaimer of responsibility. Go ahead and sue them if you want. Oh, and here’s some good news: someone has already won such a lawsuit. Based on the principle of case precedence, future cases can be judged by referring to this precedent. Haha.
Case 3: What if the parking lot is run by a friend of yours, or you’ve heard through the grapevine that the lot simply can’t afford to compensate you for your beloved car? Might you consider changing the location where the car was “stolen”? Haha, I didn’t say anything — you think it over.
Case 4: Also, if you’re a boss who had a falling out with a friend over some accounting issues, and that friend is a bit of a scoundrel who secretly stole your car — you suspect it was him, would you ask the insurance company for compensation?
Let me tell you, the insurance company won’t cover it. Because the policy states: losses caused by civil or economic disputes between the insured and others, resulting in the vehicle being robbed or stolen, are exempt from liability.
So you might as well forget about your financial dispute and go straight to the police station and court to report the incident. Remember, don’t mention your suspected culprit, or else the financial issue will get dragged in. Given the efficiency of Chinese courts, you’ll probably be taking taxis for the next six months.
Case 5: If you’ve just bought a new car, have full insurance, but haven’t had time to get the license plate yet (current traffic regulations state that you can only get the license plate 15 working days after inspection), will the insurance company compensate you if an accident occurs?
No compensation. Because at the time of the accident, the insured vehicle must meet two conditions: first, it must have a valid vehicle registration certificate or license plate issued by the public security traffic management department; second, it must have passed inspection by the public security traffic management department within the specified period. However, under special agreement, newly registered vehicles that are required by public security regulations to have insurance before inspection and license issuance may be covered for vehicle damage insurance and third-party liability insurance. Therefore, the theft insurance, which covers compensation for car theft, is not yet effective — naturally, you won’t get any compensation.
Looks like unless you dare to fudge the time of the theft, your brand-new car is as good as given away. I didn’t say anything, okay?