Disadvantages to filing claim on insurance?

[okeydokey]

My 17 year old son was hit while driving last week. Thankfully there were no injuries. The police report states the other driver was at fault and issued a warning for careless driving.

We can file a claim on the other drivers insurance to avoid the 500 deductible or we could file on our own and our insurance will try to recoup the deductible. My question is if there is any penalty to using our own insurance, such as increased premiums, as I think our insurance is more responsive and moves faster to get the claim worked.

The accident happened Wednesday of last week, and my husband and I were out of town for a death in the family. My son joined us Thursday, amd we talked to our insurance then and they got in touch with the other guys insurance on Friday. Today I called them again as I hadn’t heard anything from them, amd an appraiser is supposed to get back to me in 1-3 Days.

 

[Skippy918]

If you file with your own insurance, there’s a chance your rates can go up. I had an accident that wasn’t my fault (I was rear ended) and I filed with the other driver’s insurance.

 

[Marchand63]

File with the other insurance first, if denied sic your insurance company on them

 

[tvguy]

I would suspect your insurance would require you to file with the other insurance first.

 

[okeydokey]

I would suspect your insurance would require you to file with the other insurance first.

We have Geico and they said it was our choice.

 

[mrsstats]

Since your company knows about the accident, go with your company. They will then get back the money they paid plus your deductible. This is as long as the story stays the same and the other company accepts responsibility. You should not be surcharged for the accident.

 

[SteveH]

I'll toss this in since very few people know about the C.L.U.E report. The C.L.U.E. Inc. maintains information on insurance claims histories. You can get a copy of that report once a year for free.

https://personalreports.lexisnexis.com/fact_act_disclosure.jsp

 

[wgeo]

Someone ran into mean - police wrote up the report as 100% their fault. I called my insurance (state farm at the time) and they said I was welcome to file with them, but that they strongly recommended I only file with the other persons insurace. So I just filed with the other persons - process was easy even if it was a pain to be without the car.

Husband was hit a few months ago - and the same story, except that we have Geico now, we were told we could file with either but it was recommended to only file with the other driver's insurance. We did and again the process was easy other than the wait.

In both cases no money out of our pockets, no rise in our insurance rates.

 

[tvguy]

We have Geico and they said it was our choice.

My only experience was years and years ago. My insurance, Allstate, said to file with his insurance, Farmers, but if they did not settle within a week, Allstate would pay and wait for Farmers to pay them back. But my car was legally parked and unoccupied so there was zero question about liability. There was, however an issue between other guy and Farmers. He hadn't paid premiums in months, but they had issued him a proof of insurance card good for 6 months.
I did have issues with Farmers at the start. I got 3 estimates ranging from $800 to $1,200 for repairs, and Farmers wanted to pay $150 according to their adjuster. He wanted to know why I was insisting on a new door skin instead of bondo. I hadn't, but all three body shops said the dent required a new door skin, not bondo

 

[mom2rtk]

I personally would do anything possible to avoid filing with my own insurance company. I don't believe they won't use it to justify a rate hike at some point. Even if they don't now, what if your son has an accident in the near future that is his fault? No way to know they won't look back and add that into the mix.

If the other company won't pay, that's a different matter. But at least give it a try.

 

[Klayfish]

You do NOT have to file with the other insurance company first, it's your choice. It sounds like your car is drivable, so there may not be any harm in waiting to see what the other carrier decides to do. Keep in mind, the police do not make liability decisions, the insurance company does. So just because the other driver got a warning does not mean they are liable. Often, they do go hand in hand, but not always, so don't necessarily rest on that alone.

If you do go to your own carrier, a rate hike will depend on so many factors that we really can't answer that here. But yes, it's possible. Not guaranteed, but possible.

tvguy, FYI...when repairs are done properly, the body filler layer is thinner than a piece of paper. The bad rap comes from shady shops that just slap the stuff on instead of taking the time to repair the panel properly. Sometimes, reskinning a door is actually just as bad, if the shop has no clue how to weld.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I would suspect your insurance would require you to file with the other insurance first.

Nah. You have coverage for a reason. Most insurance companies will work as the middle man so to speak. You file with them and they contact the other party involved, etc.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

My 17 year old son was hit while driving last week. Thankfully there were no injuries. The police report states the other driver was at fault and issued a warning for careless driving.

We can file a claim on the other drivers insurance to avoid the 500 deductible or we could file on our own and our insurance will try to recoup the deductible. My question is if there is any penalty to using our own insurance, such as increased premiums, as I think our insurance is more responsive and moves faster to get the claim worked.

The accident happened Wednesday of last week, and my husband and I were out of town for a death in the family. My son joined us Thursday, amd we talked to our insurance then and they got in touch with the other guys insurance on Friday. Today I called them again as I hadn’t heard anything from them, amd an appraiser is supposed to get back to me in 1-3 Days.

As a prior auto insurance underwriter the rate increase will depend on several factors include state law, how the insurance company is filed with the state's DOI (Department of Insurance), at-fault or not-at-fault, coverages (like comprehensive, collision, etc), etc

Typically a comprehensive claim is considered not-at-fault and a collision claim is considered at-fault. You would want to read your policy contract to see how an accident may impact your rates.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

My only experience was years and years ago. My insurance, Allstate, said to file with his insurance, Farmers, but if they did not settle within a week, Allstate would pay and wait for Farmers to pay them back. But my car was legally parked and unoccupied so there was zero question about liability. There was, however an issue between other guy and Farmers. He hadn't paid premiums in months, but they had issued him a proof of insurance card good for 6 months.
I did have issues with Farmers at the start. I got 3 estimates ranging from $800 to $1,200 for repairs, and Farmers wanted to pay $150 according to their adjuster. He wanted to know why I was insisting on a new door skin instead of bondo. I hadn't, but all three body shops said the dent required a new door skin, not bondo

Ok so let me give you a bit of background here....issuing someone proof of insurance for 6 months (or 12 months depending on your length of your auto policy).......is exactly what insurance companies will do and they send them out prior to your renewal date so you have them in hand when your old one expires. I have no idea why that fact alone would be an issue.

Right now I have an ID for example from my insurance company that is good from September 2017-September 2018. IF I got into an accident and the police questioned if my insurance was still good all they have to do is call the insurance company who can legally answer YES or NO only to whether my insurance is still in-force.

As far as hasn't paid premiums in months, you don't really have the full story as to that background. You don't know if they have paid enough premiums to keep the policy in-force but are still behind, or if the system hadn't caught up to the non-payment of premium cancellation process, etc. Also a person may not have insurance currently on their vehicle and yet still carry about their insurance card. That's a thing against the person not the insurance company. They don't have any control over if the person put their insurance card in their car even if their policy lapsed for non-payment or premium for was cancelled for some other reason.

 

[jfulcer]

Those that are suggesting that you should avoid filing with your company.... Even if they don't have to pay on it it they will find out about it. It may not impact your rates at all depending on the company but if you file with the other place don't assume it's now a secret between you and them.

 

[DisneyHardin]

Keep in mind, the police do not make liability decisions, the insurance company does. So just because the other driver got a warning does not mean they are liable. Often, they do go hand in hand, but not always, so don't necessarily rest on that alone.

I had this exact thing happen to me. Someone ran a red light and I hit them. They were issued a citation at the scene for running the red light. I thought it would be cut and dry with the insurance. Nope. I ended up having to file with my insurance and my insurance went to mediation and I was still found 30% at fault even though they ran the red light. The other person's insurance claimed that I should have anticipated what was happening and been able to stop in time.

 

[smiths02]

I had this happen to me. The other driver admitted fault, police report showed she was at fault. No one was hurt. Relatively minor damage to the car-I think it ended up being around $800 (the police were driving by and stopped and made a report...I'm glad as I was being asked not to call them by the other driver).

Anyhow, my insurance USAA gave me the same scenario. The customer service rep said it was my choice, but she suggested filing with the other insurance was better because I was more likely to get diminished value (this car is my first actually new car ever, it was 3-4 months old when the lady hit me...it didn't even have a scratch before the accident). So I didn't have to worry about recouping the deductible, the car was fixed in a timely manner, and I got $800 bucks or so for diminished value.
Also, my policy doesn't have a rental car for me (we have extra vehicles, so I don't pay for that add on), but it was nice to get the rental-paid for by their insurance- for logistics reasons (the rental company picked me up and dropped me off at the body shop).

 

[Klayfish]

I had this exact thing happen to me. Someone ran a red light and I hit them. They were issued a citation at the scene for running the red light. I thought it would be cut and dry with the insurance. Nope. I ended up having to file with my insurance and my insurance went to mediation and I was still found 30% at fault even though they ran the red light. The other person's insurance claimed that I should have anticipated what was happening and been able to stop in time.

Sorry to hear about the accident, but yes that's very common. I don't know all the specifics of the accident, so I'm not making any comment about your accident, but just in general... If a person runs the red light, they aren't automatically 100% liable. They unquestionably have some or most liability, but not always all. What was the line of sight like for the person with the green light? Imagine it's a wide open area, in the middle of nowhere...both drivers have clear visibility for hundreds of yards. If you are approaching a green light and see a car approaching from your left or right and it's pretty clear they aren't braking for the red light, you have an obligation to try to stop...even if your light is green. Or perhaps your light is green but you're going 45 in a 30mph zone, and had you been going 30mph you could have stopped and/or avoided the accident. So it's not always cut and dry.

 

[tvguy]

Nah. You have coverage for a reason. Most insurance companies will work as the middle man so to speak. You file with them and they contact the other party involved, etc.

Yes they will. And most (if not all) require you to report all incidents involving vehicles they are insuring, even if no claim is filed with them.

 

[tvguy]

Ok so let me give you a bit of background here....issuing someone proof of insurance for 6 months (or 12 months depending on your length of your auto policy).......is exactly what insurance companies will do and they send them out prior to your renewal date so you have them in hand when your old one expires. I have no idea why that fact alone would be an issue.

Right now I have an ID for example from my insurance company that is good from September 2017-September 2018. IF I got into an accident and the police questioned if my insurance was still good all they have to do is call the insurance company who can legally answer YES or NO only to whether my insurance is still in-force.

As far as hasn't paid premiums in months, you don't really have the full story as to that background. You don't know if they have paid enough premiums to keep the policy in-force but are still behind, or if the system hadn't caught up to the non-payment of premium cancellation process, etc. Also a person may not have insurance currently on their vehicle and yet still carry about their insurance card. That's a thing against the person not the insurance company. They don't have any control over if the person put their insurance card in their car even if their policy lapsed for non-payment or premium for was cancelled for some other reason.

Like I said, it was years ago, right(months) after California started requiring drivers carry proof of insurance. I'm sure things have been sorted out or could have changed. My insurance claim adjuster said the other guys insurance was on the hook to pay the claim since the proof of insurance card had been issued, and it was THEIR problem to workout the premium issue with their client. That, as I recall, is why my company gave the other company a week to pay the claim, or my company would step up and pay it and wait for reimbursement.