Does Insurance Cover AC Repair?
A full-coverage insurance policy should cover your AC damages if they were caused by a collision, vandalism, or some other covered event.
Written by Amber Reed
Reviewed by Kathleen Flear
Your policy should cover damages to your air conditioner if they were caused by a covered event like a car accident, crime, or road debris—as long as you have the right type of
car insurance
. Getting into your car on a warm day to discover that your air conditioner is on the fritz is never a welcome experience. Before you start to sweat too much, your
car insurance may cover the repairs
—as long as you have comprehensive and collision coverage. But if you don’t (or the damage was caused by normal wear and tear), then you’re unfortunately looking at paying for the car repair
out of pocket. Read on for everything you’ll need to know about using car insurance to cover AC repairs.
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4.7/5 rating on the App Store | Trusted by 5+ million customers and 7 million cars4.7/5 app rating | Trusted by 5M+ driversDoes car insurance cover broken air conditioning?
In some cases, yes! Essentially, it boils down to the reason why your air conditioner is broken and the type of car insurance policy you have. Generally, a
full-coverage insurance
policy will cover broken air conditioning if it’s the result of impact damage, vandalism, or a natural disaster. Let’s look at a few examples. Say that ill-behaved little kid down the street took a stick and jammed it into the front grille of your
BMW
, damaging your air conditioner’s condenser. This would be considered vandalism—as well as grounds for a long time out—so repairs would be included as part of your comprehensive insurance
. Another scenario is if the damage was caused by an impact of some kind, like in an accident. Let’s say you pull into a parking space a little too quickly and smash into the trailer hitch of the raised truck in the opposite spot. Any damages to your air conditioner that arose from that would be covered under your
collision coverage
.In both of these scenarios, you would first need to pay your
car insurance deductible
. Then, the rest of the repairs would be paid for by your car insurance company.However, if your air conditioner is broken due to normal wear and tear, then you’re probably out of luck. A newer car might be covered under the manufacturer’s warranty, which is usually around 3 years or 36,000 miles for the AC. Similarly, an extended warranty may be able to cover your AC repairs for a used car—check the fine print of your warranty agreement to be sure.
Finally, a broken air conditioner that’s not covered by your full coverage policy might be covered if you have
mechanical breakdown insurance (MBI)
. This kind of insurance does protect against wear and tear and provides protection beyond standard insurance or warranty. However, it’s important to determine if the policy’s cost is worth it before you purchase MBI.What A/C parts may be covered in a car insurance claim
Here are a few damaged air conditioner parts that are the most common subject of car insurance claims—either from a comprehensive or collision policy.
- Air conditioning compressor: this part circulates refrigerant throughout the air conditioning system and compresses it into a gas that the air can cool and turn into a liquid
- compresses your AC’s refrigerant into a liquid, which makes it able to absorb the heat of the air that’s being blown over it by the fans. It lives on the underside of your vehicle, which makes it vulnerable to damage from things like bottoming out or running over large objects.
- Air conditioning condenser: this helps to circulate the refrigerant, and is found behind the front grille of your vehicle. This can be damaged by frontal impacts or by scraping the front of your car on a high curb.
- Air conditioning lines: these are the thin tubes that carry the refrigerant between the various parts of the air conditioning unit. It’s less common to see damage to these covered by an insurance provider, but it still happens.
This isn’t an all-inclusive list, so if you have a broken air conditioner that you suspect might be the result of a covered event, make sure you ask the dealership or repair shop to take a look and see what caused the damage before you pay for repairs.
How to file an auto insurance claim for broken air conditioning
You can
file a car insurance claim
for a broken air conditioner by contacting your insurance provider. Tell them what happened and what the mechanic found, and be prepared to supply supporting documentation like pictures, an accident report, or a write-up of the mechanic’s findings. Your insurance provider will probably send out an
insurance adjuster
to verify the claim and make sure that the damage falls under a coverable event. If the claim is approved, then you just have to pay your deductible and schedule your repairs. Your provider will likely supply you with a list of approved repair shops, and sometimes they’ll even schedule the repairs for you.“Jerrymakes insurance buying as easy as possible! It was my first time buying and I did almost everything in the app. Even talking to John on the phone was easy.” —Sai E.
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FAQs
Does car insurance cover a leaking AC unit?
It depends on why it’s leaking! If it’s due to damage that’s covered under your comprehensive or collision insurance, then yes. But if it’s due to normal wear and tear or a factory defect, then no—unless you have MBI.
How much does it cost to fix broken air conditioning?
If it’s a minor fix, it can be as little as a few hundred dollars. But if it’s a major repair, you could be looking at $1,000 to $2,000—possibly even more if it’s a luxury car.
