JdmRice

My sister was in an accident yesterday, Shes fine but the car a little banged up, Now my question is, The person she hit, said he will report the accident with his insurance company, But My sister doesn't want to report it with ours(the damage isn't bad I can prob fix it) so, Can the other company Inform our Insurance Broker, and have our insurance go up? Ive asked I couple people about this, and they said, If this was a couple years ago then yes Our insurance would go up even-though we dont report it, But Apparently there was some sort of law passed, that changes that.

Thanks for any info u can give me.

marker

Your friend is wrong. There is no such law.

Your insurance rates are based on what the insurance company thinks is your risk of having a collision in the near future.

Any at-fault collsion, whether a claim is made or not, can cause your rates to go up. According to statistical probability, a person who has had one collision in the last five years is far more likely to have another collision in the next five years than is someone who has never had a collsion at all.

That is why rates may go up after a collision, and not because the insurance company is "trying to get heir money back".

In any case, the other driver reports the accident to his own insurance company. That company will contact your sister's insurance company.

Your sister's insurance contract will include a clause that requires her to informa her insurance company of any collsions within 24 hours of it happening. You should actually inform them right from the accident scene if you have a cell phone. Failure to do so constitutes breach of contract, and they can cancel her policy because of that breach.

It will look a lot better for your sister if she informs her insurance company before they find out from the other side.

imported_climax

If the person she got in a accident with reports it, they will call your sister and make her file a report as well..
Chances are even if you do not go through insurance to claim the repairs.. they still will find out when the accident gets reported..

The rates may or may not go up, thats the insurance companies decision..

I have a close friend who got into a small accident (other party reported it, so he had to but did not go through insurance for repairs, neither side did), his insurance company said they were going to raise his rates.. he said if they do hes going somewhere else, they didnt raise his rates.. surprised it worked.

Is your sister at fault here? does she have to pay for the other parties repairs? By the sounds of it, it sounds like she is at fault.
Just make sure she gets a paper signed and confirmed that she paid for the repairs..

In the case of my friend that I mentioned, he sent a cheque to the guy that he hit (small accident, not sure of the amount but under 1000). The guy gave my friend a invoice that said paid on it from the dealer that did the repairs... then the guy he hit tried to go through insurance..basically tried to get double the money. Apprantly my friends insurance company told his insurance company that the repairs were paid for already and what he is trying to do is illegal..

anyway, good luck in your sisters case, im sure some people will know more about this than I and youll get better info soon.

JdmRice

So if we report it and not claim damges,her insurance will still go up? That makes no sense to me. So we should then claim the damages, if I correctly understand what your sayin, as it will not increase the insurnace any more if we did not claim anything, .

marker

It depends on who is at fault for the collision, and the operating practice of her insurance company. Some companies "forgive" the first at-fault collision, others do not.

And go back and read my first response again. If the rates go up, it's not because they're trying to make back any money paid out on a claim - it's because of increased statistical risk of ANOTHER collision in future.

That's whay insurance rates are based on - risk of collision in the near future.

JdmRice

So we should then claim the damages, if I correctly understand what your sayin, as it will not increase the insurnace any more if we did not claim anything, .

marker

She may as well. If the other party has already gone through their insurance, the collision is on the record now.

imported_Team Rukus

a claim is not only based on who is at fault BUT what the total losses were. So if you were to claim your car, the third party car, the rentals for both of you guys, storage fee's, medical fee's etc the bill starts to add up real fast and at the end of the day they take the total bill and then raise your premiums accordingly so going through insurance and fixing your car adds more to the premium.