Car insurance rates for an accident I was not cited for

by Julia

I got in an accident in October of 2008 when I backed out of a driveway at the same time as a woman who lived in an apartment complex across the street.

The car was not mine, it was a company car for the agency I work for. When the police came, they took our statements and decided not to cite either of us, since we were "both at fault".

Recently my husband and I were trying to switch insurance companies, and this accident came up causing the premium to go up $300 dollars!

I have a friend who works for the company and they told me to get a copy of my motor vehicle report and dispute it. What I am wondering is if it is worth the time and effort? Can a accident I didn't even get cited for really be used against me?



Answer:


Hi Julia:

Well, $300 is a lot of money, so you may want to see what you can do to lower that amount.

However, insurance companies do not look at accidents from the perspective of who was cited and who was not. A citation can increase your premiums, but an accident (even if it is not you fault) will very likely have the same effect.

Insurance Companies argue that they insure against risk. The fact that you were in an accident and you were partly at fault will be heavily weighted against you, even if you never got a ticket. They argue that the accident itself is prove that you are not as careful driver as someone else that has a clean no accident record.

Again, this is not necessarily fair, after all: why do we pay insurance for? for coverage in case of an accident, but when you do have one, then they jack up the price. Either way, $300 is a lot, you can try to see what the police report says and maybe you will find out that there is more to the story (the police report says you were 100% at fault), or something to that effect.

I hope this helps

Good Luck,

http://www.auto-insurance-claim-advice.com