Will Having an Accident Increase My Auto Insurance?
If you are in an auto accident, your insurer may raise your premium even if the accident was not your fault. To protect yourself from unnecessary rate hikes after a crash, review your policy for any information on accident penalties and switch to another insurer, if necessary.
Other People Are Reading
-
Time Limit
-
Auto accidents mar your driving record and heighten your risk for a higher insurance premium. Your insurer can only raise your rate for three years from the time of the first accident-related rate-hike, however. If you get into another accident during those three years, your rate may rise again and the three-year period re-starts.
Amount of Increase
-
MSN Money states that if you are at fault in an auto accident, the auto insurance industry standard for a premium increase is 40 percent, although not all companies follow this rule. Some insurers have what is known as a "forgiveness policy," which allows a first at-fault accident to be ignored. To find out if your policy has forgiveness, or to request a change to your current policy, contact your insurer. Insurance.com reported that the average accident-related premium increase in 2008 ranged between $157 and $458 per policy.
-
Types of Accidents
-
If the accident was not your fault, or the damage was only minor, your auto insurance company may not raise your rate at all. The worse your auto accident, however, the higher your premium increase will be if your insurer penalizes accidents. If the accident was caused because of a DUI charge, your insurance rate will assuredly rise. A rate increase also depends on whether the accident occurred in a no-fault or tort state, the type of traffic citation issued at the time of the accident, and the amount of damages claimed at the time of the accident.
Warnings
-
When you purchase auto insurance, you are insuring your vehicle and any damage it causes, and not yourself or your family members as drivers. For this reason, if you loan your car to a friend for the weekend and he causes or is in involved in an accident, your premiums will still rise because your car caused the damage. The only exception is if your friend took your car without your permission, which means you are not liable for damage. If you are given a rate increase after any accident, the actual amount changes during your next renewal cycle or when you change auto insurers.
-
