What happens if your vehicle is damaged by a car valet service?

Standard car insurance policies usually do not cover such a situation, say lawyers

- Ian Cheng

A man who engaged a car valet service had a "nightmare experience" after the driver allegedly hit a car-park kerb minutes after starting his vehicle, causing the bumper to fall off.

Recounting the Nov 28 incident in a post on his profile page on Dec 1, Facebook user Patrick Tan said: "My friends and I have always assumed that when you hire a valet service to drive your car home, any accidents along the way would be covered by the company's insurance.

"Unfortunately, I recently learnt the hard way that this isn't always the case."

He did not name the company or the driver and was initially unable to receive any compensation from either party, although he said in a later comment in his post that the company has since reached out to apologise and assured him that the issue would be resolved.

The experience prompted him to caution: "If you think valet or drive-home services come with insurance or accountability, think again.

"Engaging such services doesn't necessarily mean your vehicle is protected, and you may end up bearing the costs if anything goes wrong."

The Straits Times contacted valet services, lawyers and insurers to find out what recourse drivers have in such cases.

Drive Home Valet Singapore, also known as DH Valet, told ST that if a valet has damaged a vehicle, it would try to assess the damage first.

"If we are able to estimate the cost of the damage done on the spot, we will pay the customer. If we can't, we will advise the customer to take the car to our partner workshop for assessment," said a spokesman, adding that customers would be provided with a replacement car while repairs are done.

The company said it would pay the workshop up front for the repair costs, and then split the cost with the customer evenly, or a sum they have agreed on.