March
1, 2008
Know When to File an Auto Insurance Claim
By
Alandale Insurance Agency
If your car has become damaged in an accident, through vandalism
or from another cause, filing a claim with your auto insurance
company isn’t always the best course of action. For example, if
your deductible is more than the cost of the damage, it’s a good
idea to pay for the repairs yourself and not report the claim. Each
time you do decide to file, even if the damage is less than your
deductible, the report goes on your insurance record. Although small
claims don’t affect your individual premium, insurance companies
use information from policyholders to establish the overall premium
rates they charge their entire customer base. The more accidents
reported, the higher the premium rates the company charges.
Legally, you aren’t required to report an accident to your
insurance company. The reason your company requests that you report
every accident is so that it can protect itself against possible
fraudulent claims. Documenting each accident helps an insurer spot a
current claim for damages that really happened in an earlier
accident.
If you already have a speeding ticket on your record, and your
car is damaged at a later time, you have another reason to think
twice about filing a claim with your insurer. That’s because in
some states, if you file a claim for an at-fault accident and you
have been previously ticketed, you may not be able to renew your
auto insurance policy.
However, if there’s another car involved in the accident, or
someone else in the car with you at the time, it’s important to
report the accident. You never know if the passenger or other driver
will file a claim on your insurance, and you should report the
accident to make sure that your side of the story is documented with
both the police and your insurer.
Another reason to report an auto accident involving another car
or passengers is that injuries are not always immediately apparent.
Your carrier should have a report on file in the event you, or
someone else involved in the accident, sustain injuries that show up
the next day and which require medical treatment.
While you should always consider carefully before you file an
auto accident claim, you should never stockpile comprehensive
claims. It may seem logical to file a number of small damage claims
together; however, insurers watch for excessive repair estimates for
comprehensive claims and your carrier may question the validity of
the claim.
There is a growing trend toward nonrenewals and tighter
restrictions on what is covered across the industry. Save your car
insurance for expensive damage, and plan ahead so you can pay for
the smaller repairs yourself.
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