Will insurance rates go up after a Fairfield car accident?

Concerns About Your Car Insurance Rates Rising in Fairfield.

Many people are hesitant to tell their own insurance company about the accident out of fear their rates will increase.  They may be concerned about contacting a Fairfield car accident lawyer. This is a perfectly normal reaction, but by failing to tell your insurance company, you might be forfeiting certain rights under your insurance policy, such as:

1. The right to have your property damage repairs paid for by them.
2. The Right to a replacement rental car if that’s covered under your policy.
3. The right to uninsured or underinsured motorist benefits.

When you bought your car insurance policy in Fairfield, you bought a promise from your company to pay for a loss if it should occur. You upheld your end of the bargain by paying premiums. Now that an accident has happened and resulting damage has occurred, they have to make good on their promise by paying you for certain losses.

However, under your contract, your company usually has the right to interview you and carry out a timely investigation regarding the accident. If you fail to report the accident to your company, you could be breaching the “duty to cooperate” clause in your insurance policy, which would void their obligation to pay you.

For instance, suppose you suffered injuries, and six months down the road, you find out the at-fault driver has no insurance. In that case, your only source of compensation for your injuries would be your own car insurance’s uninsured motorist coverage. However, if you fail to report the accident in a timely manner, you could forfeit that pot of money.  Contact a Fairfield personal injury lawyer for more information about the available pots of money from which to recover.

Some folks become nervous about telling their company and say, “Well, won’t my rates go up?” I can’t guarantee they won’t increase. For some companies, if you were not at-fault, your rates won’t go up unless you’ve had three or more accidents in three years, but even if your rates do go up, you can simply shop around for a better policy from a different company in Fairfield.

Many companies will even pay off your old car insurance contract in exchange for you signing up. Some companies have accident forgiveness programs. Dozens of insurance companies are out there vying for your business. Think about how many car insurance ads air during the Super Bowl!

In addition, if you file a claim for reimbursement with the other driver’s insurance, they might notify your company anyway. The only way to completely avoid your insurance company finding out is for neither party to call the police or tell their insurance companies, but that increases the risk of the other driver giving you fake information, ghosting you, or denying they were at fault.

My suggestion is to tell your own company about the accident, but here’s a list of pros and cons to help you to decide for yourself:

Telling Your Insurance

Pros:

• You preserve your rights to receive payments for things such as car repairs or uninsured motorist benefits

Cons:

• Your rates might go up, but you can shop for a new policy.

Not Telling Your Insurance

Pros:

• Your rates may not increase, but this is not a guarantee. The other driver might tell their insurance about the accident, who then may tell your insurance.

Cons:

• You could forfeit your rights to payments under your policy.

Here is a template letter / email to use for your own insurance company if they do a rate hike from your car accident:

Insurance Company Name
Address
My Policy Number:
Date of Loss: 

Dear Ms. Adjuster,

I write to ensure that my car insurance premiums will not increase as a result of the accident on [date]. As you can tell from the enclosed police report, the other driver, [name], was found to be at fault for causing the crash.

I did nothing to contribute to the crash. I was driving safely, minding my own business, when another car smashed into me. As you know from my driving history, I am an extremely careful driver.  

For these reasons, I find it to be grossly unfair that my insurance rates might increase because of an accident that was not my fault. If you choose to go ahead with this unfair rate hike, I will be forced to bring my business elsewhere.

For instance, [name] car insurance has offered to buy out my entire contract with you and give me lower rates. Also, [name] insurance has an accident forgiveness program that will cause me to have lower rates than what you are proposing. There are many other auto insurers who will be happy to have my business.

I have been a loyal customer of yours for [number] years. It would be unfortunate if I were forced to terminate my relationship with your company. I hope you choose to reconsider your decision.

Thank you,
Salley Jones