Nobody saw what happened and there is no other driver. Is a claim still possible?

Often yes, depending on the cover in question, and what decides it is the quality of the record rather than the account. Damage found on an unattended vehicle is a normal situation here. Photographs from departure and return, plus written confirmation of the dates and the place, carry the case.

I only noticed the damage after driving home. Is it too late?

Not necessarily, although it makes the timing harder to show, so do not wait any longer. Photograph everything as it is now, find the parking ticket and note the dates you were away. If you happened to photograph the car when you parked it, that picture is now your most important document.

Can the vehicle be inspected while I am still on the coast?

Yes. Tell us where the car stands and when you travel on, and we arrange the appointment around that, because we come to the vehicle. If your route home is already fixed, an inspection near your home address also works, provided the car is not repaired or cleaned in the meantime.

Islands you cannot drive to: where the car waits while you are away

Most damage on a holiday happens to a moving car. <b>Not here.</b> On these islands the vehicle never arrives: it is left at the harbour on the day you sail out and collected on the day you sail back.

What is different about these islands

A number of inhabited islands on this coast do not admit private motor vehicles at all. Silba, Zlarin, Prvić, Krapanj, Susak and Ilovik are the ones most visitors meet. Goods move by handcart; visitors arrive on foot.

So the car spends the whole stay unattended — a week or a fortnight in an open harbour car park a few metres from the sea, in full sun, with nobody able to move it.

Boundary: the islands reached by vehicle ferry, the crossings themselves and the coast road along the mainland each have their own entries. This one is about the days when the car does not travel at all.

What tends to happen to a car left at the port

Salt, sun and what falls from above. A harbour car park sits in the open with spray reaching it in any wind, and pines drop needles, cones and resin onto whatever stands below. Damage from above looks nothing like an impact.

Contact from other vehicles. These car parks fill and empty with every sailing, usually in a rush before departure. Door edges, mirrors and bumper corners take most of it, and almost nobody leaves a note behind.

Standing time and wildlife. Cats shelter under a bonnet that is warm on arrival and martens work on a car nobody has started for a fortnight. All of it is found at once, on the return, by someone in a hurry.

What to do before you sail out

Photograph the car where you leave it. All four sides, both ends and the roof, from a step back so the surroundings are visible. Two minutes at departure is the most useful thing you can do for a claim you do not yet expect.

Record where it stands and how it is paid for. The name of the car park, the bay or row if there is one, and the ticket or booking. That is what later fixes the period during which the vehicle stood there.

Leave nothing visible inside and ask the operator what they confirm in writing. Ask at the moment of parking rather than on your return, when the office may already be closed for the day.

What to do on the day you come back

Photograph before you load and before you drive. The same views as at departure, from the same distance, plus close-ups of anything new. Two pictures taken a fortnight apart from one position settle more than any description.

Photograph the surroundings as well, including what stands beside the car and what hangs above it. A resin-covered bay under a pine explains a bonnet that a close-up on its own never will.

Do not clean it first, and ask for two written sentences confirming the dates and the place. Then send us the pictures: we say what is damage, what is deposit and what needs an inspection.

Frequently asked questions

Nobody saw what happened and there is no other driver. Is a claim still possible?: Often yes, depending on the cover in question, and what decides it is the quality of the record rather than the account. Damage found on an unattended vehicle is a normal situation here. Photographs from departure and return, plus written confirmation of the dates and the place, carry the case.
I only noticed the damage after driving home. Is it too late?: Not necessarily, although it makes the timing harder to show, so do not wait any longer. Photograph everything as it is now, find the parking ticket and note the dates you were away. If you happened to photograph the car when you parked it, that picture is now your most important document.
Can the vehicle be inspected while I am still on the coast?: Yes. Tell us where the car stands and when you travel on, and we arrange the appointment around that, because we come to the vehicle. If your route home is already fixed, an inspection near your home address also works, provided the car is not repaired or cleaned in the meantime.