Insurance claim ?

[hoghunter]

Just got a new car and had a fender bender (my fault) and was toying with the idea of just paying out of pocket to keep from having a claim on my insurance. Do you think my insurance would go up much if I just ran the claim through the insurance? My guess is the work would be around $1000 ish...

My record is spotless with no claims to date.

 

[Equalbracket]

How long have you been with your insurance company? I started with State Farm when I was 16 been with them over 10 years, so my rates Aren't effected by wrecks and they can't drop me.

Being new, I'd make a claim. No telling what else could be broken, all the little tabs etc add up, could run you $1500+ but just me, for piece of mind I'd get it fixed right.

 

[VirtualSVT]

they can't drop you? lol Interesting.

Get an estimate at a body shop for a cash repair first. Then judge from there. What's your deductible?

 

[hoghunter]

Deductible is $500...I have Erie Insurance and have been with them for 15 years with no claims....

 

[MystiChrome Coupe]

Erie is awesome. I've been with them for a bit longer, never had a problem. In fact couple months ago my '04 comp orange svt focus was totaled :whine: Adjuster came out that day, took into account it was a rare car in excellent shape and I had a check in 4 days.

 

[Torch10th]

If your out of pocket expenses are going to be around $1000.00 or so, just pay out of pocket and don't even call your insurance company. Most companies start surcharging at around the 700-1000 dollar mark. That surcharge will probably cost you more than $1000.00 every year.

 

[04SVT_COBRA]

I started with State Farm when I was 16 been with them over 10 years, so my rates Aren't effected by wrecks and they can't drop me.

I'm sorry, but how do you figure that? Is that something you assume, or something you have in writing?

 

[cmnorman]

For the extra $500 I'd just pay it out of pocket. My insurance company dinged my record for calling them to tell them that the wind took the door out of my hand in a parking lot and I left a note on the car I damaged. I figured I'd give them a heads up in case the person called. The person never called and not a dime was paid out and it was 6 years ago, they still have it on my record with them. I changed companies and since there is no real record of any incident it's not hurting me, but when I call USAA(original) back to check rates, they still have an at fault accident on my record.

 

[Torch10th]

I'm sorry, but how do you figure that? Is that something you assume, or something you have in writing?

Given the amount of time that he's spent with the company, assuming he has a good claim history, it's unlikely he would ever get dropped. Not because it's impossible, or against company policy to do so, but because a book of business that old is a good money-maker for the agent. The agent in that case would likely fight for the client or risk losing an entire book of business.

One of the things State Farm is extremely efficient at is branding itself across it's companies. Many people that insure their auto also insure their house, life etc. So when you have a long time client with multiple lines, there's not much business sense in outright dropping a client if you're also going to lose business on other lines.

To say that you can never be dropped and your rates are not effected is not really the case though. A traffic stop here or there? Not going to do much against you. A large accident, an increasinly poor driving record and your policy will certainly be surcharged. Even if you're in what State Farm considers "Star Company." This is the book of business that long term, low risk clients are in. It's based off of State Farm calls a CPI score.

It does happen though. When I worked in Auto Company for State Farm I remember seeing us drop a 20+ year customer and losing several autos, home, life and bank because the guy had like 5 claims on his house in two years.

 

[Equalbracket]

they can't drop you? lol Interesting.

Get an estimate at a body shop for a cash repair first. Then judge from there. What's your deductible?

I don't know that it's in writing but I was worried about getting dropped had a string of accidents, weren't my fault but still cost State Farm around 70k in the past year. I asked my agent and he said they couldn't drop me.

I do have home auto life etc all with State Farm, and they have always been amazing.

My previous agent was dropped and my current agent dropped by my house on his own time until he contacted me in person just to get in touch, and his team of people are all awesome.

My agent also said they wouldn't raise my rates over a couple accidents, they just cut me a 44k check, wasn't my fault but they're still having to fight this other pos insurance company

 

[bigblue95z]

With County insurance, it's got to be a healthy claim for them to jack your rates. I'm pretty sure I was given a number of about $3000 before they put points on your account that affect the premium rate with a single, isolated claim.

 

[Torch10th]

I don't know that it's in writing but I was worried about getting dropped had a string of accidents, weren't my fault but still cost State Farm around 70k in the past year. I asked my agent and he said they couldn't drop me.

I do have home auto life etc all with State Farm, and they have always been amazing.

My previous agent was dropped and my current agent dropped by my house on his own time until he contacted me in person just to get in touch, and his team of people are all awesome.

My agent also said they wouldn't raise my rates over a couple accidents, they just cut me a 44k check, wasn't my fault but they're still having to fight this other pos insurance company

I bolded the answer to your question. If you were not found liable, it's illegal for an insurance company to surcharge or drop you. This is the case even if you went through State Farm and they paid for the repairs. In those situations, the claim goes to subrogation where State Farm goes after the at-fault party either via their insurance, or them directly. That's specifically what I did while I worked for State Farm Auto Company.

If the opposite were true, at the least your policy would have been surcharged. Granted it's been a while since I've worked for SF, but at the time the surcharge threshold for a claim was $1000.00. That means that if damages were $1500.00 or more and you had a $500.00 deductible, you'd likely see a surcharge on the policy.

 

[Jefe]

$1000 id handle it outside of insurance. Not worth it being on your record and see the rate increase over 3 years