Claims That Raise Insurance Rates
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Can an Auto Insurance Claim Raise Your Insurance Rates?
I had a minor accident last summer which was, I admit, my fault. In a momentary lapse I backed into a large truck in a parking lot. The truck had almost no damage, but I lost the back window of my mini van, plus the back gate had to be replaced as it was bent beyond repair.
After my car insurance deductible, the insurance company covered about $1,100 in damages, and then paid the other driver about $100 to repair scratches. I ended up paying about $750 out of my pocket. Of course, the nasty surprise the next time I had to renew my car insurance is that it had increased $60 a month because, as the car insurance company told me, and accident is an accident.
So over the course of 1 year, that minor accident would cost me $720 in additional premiums. Over the three years it would take to get that accident off of my record, it would cost me, at least, $2160! All this, so the insurance company could pay about $1300 for the accident. Was I right to report the claim? It’s hard to say. On the other hand, if I would have handled the claim myself, the car insurance company may have examined my driving record with the state and found the accident anyway, and I would have been dinged as an accident causer anyway. But the car insurance industry does contribute to claim databases, and only actual claims, not accidents, are recorded there. Those claims can be used to raise rates, or even to deny coverage.
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I did, certainly, shop around for better car insurance quotes, and managed to cut about $25 from the additional premium hike with a more forgiving insurer.
My situation was a tough one because I had no way to predict how the claim would affect my premiums in advance, the actual amount of damage. Besides, we do buy auto insurance to protect ourselves in case of an accident, and that’s what I intended ot use it for. In a perfect world, I would not have had the stupid accident in the first place, and I am certainly more careful about checking my “blind spot” when backing out in parking lots!
car insurance, car insurance claims, auto insurance
Technorati Tags: car insurance, car insurance claims, auto insurance
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