Seesam has added a new type of added cover to its casco insurance, enabling clients to choose more environmentally friendly options – like second-hand spare parts and spot-painting rather than full repainting – when having their vehicles repaired.

To date, people’s choice of casco insurance has mostly been based on the price and scope of the cover being offered. This new add-on enables customers to take the environmental impact of their choices into account.

“We’re seeing that for lots of people, being environmentally minded isn’t limited to just electric cars, sorting their waste and reducing their energy consumption anymore,” said Viljo Kokla, the product manager for Seesam’s casco insurance. “More and more, people want to make sustainable choices when it comes to the services they use, too. Environmentally friendly casco insurance isn’t substantially cheaper; its selling point is that it’s designed for those who care about the environmental footprint they leave behind, even after getting into accidents. It gives them the chance to align their values with the decisions they make about insurance.”

Kokla says that when repairs are arranged under environmentally friendly casco insurance, the idea is that the damage should be fixed in a way that has as little environmental impact as possible.

Where feasible, repairing parts is preferred to replacing them, and reconditioned or second-hand parts are used if new spare parts are required. In both cases, the parts meet all quality and safety requirements.

“As a result, damage that’s merely cosmetic – which is to say it doesn’t affect the vehicle’s safety or roadworthiness – might not be fully repaired,” Kokla explained.

This means that in the case of plastics and paintwork, spot repairs are carried out; while for dents, professional dent-removal solutions are used. All of this helps to reduce emissions and the use of materials. Efforts are also made to combine smaller repairs into one job so as to lessen the associated resource costs.

“Who you choose to partner with plays a key role in this,” Kokla added. “We prefer to work with repairers who operate under an ISO 14001 environmental management system or equivalent principles.”

The insurer says this additional cover will help to reduce the environmental footprint of car insurance without compromising on quality or safety.

Environmentally friendly repairs form part of Seesam’s updated range of casco insurance, which also includes added cover for filling your vehicle with the wrong type of fuel, and reduced excess where dashcam footage exists of an insured event. Cover for optional extras and modifications has also been extended to include the likes of home chargers for electric and hybrid vehicles, vehicle wrapping and ceramic coatings. Moreover, the supercasco package being offered by Seesam includes cover for breakdowns, replacement value cover for vehicles up to two years old, cover for car replacement costs and cover for the excess on hire cars when travelling.