Car insurance?

[Vanquisher]

I'm about ready to spit fire!

In December I was in a very minor car accident. My first ever. I was not ticketed, but it was my fault. The person I hit told me it would cost $1500 to have it fixed. I told them I would get back to them and I wanted to see their estimate. They called my insurace company (Allstate), without my knowledge or policy number and filed a claim.

My insurance company, now having the claim, would not give me the option to pay the amount of the damages, which actually ended up being just over $500, and not $1500. My insurance company paid it. Fast forward to now, when I get my premium increase.

It is $156.00 every six months. In two years, I will have paid over the cost of the claim, but I have to pay it for 3 years, before I can get my good driver discount back, but not all of it, that will have to wait for 5 years. And, then I don't know if the accident surcharge will ever go down. Why do I have insurance anyway, if I have to pay for the premium, plus the cost of the accident, and more?! Oh, because it is the law.

So, should I try to take my business elsewhere? It was a really good price for my homeowners and auto insurance. It still might be a pretty good price, but I am still steamed (It was hundreds of dollars less than all the companies we called). I have talked to a lot of people at my insurance company, and "company policy" states that they have to screw me, apparently. So, is there anything more I can do. Write a letter? Go somewhere else? Take it up the rear end?

Argh!!!

Your premium is $156 for six months? That is amazing! But if it went up, what a pain.
I had a similar situation to yours, but the damage was higher. I lost the good driver discount. When we moved, we ended up switching companies. They asked if I had ever been in a non-ticketed accident (in addition to all the other questions). I don't know if this is the case or not, but I had the impression that they might have been able to check even if it was with a different company. They did end up charging me a higher premium because of it, but it was still lower (combined with homeowners) than other companies I called. Anyway, it was three years last November and I called my insurer and said I wanted to get the rate adjusted -- and they did. I think it will go down again when the policy renews in July.

Did you lose just the good driver discount or did you lose that and have a rate increase? It never hurts to shop around but you might just have to stick it out if you have a really good rate compared to other places.

Sorry! That stinks!

[Vanquisher]

No, my rate went up by 156.00 every six months, that was the increase. Sorry, I wasn't clear. I lost the good driver discount and had a rate increase. The rate increase was 56.00 and the loss of the discount was 100.00. We also have our homeowners through them. When we priced companies to begin with, this one was hundreds of dollars cheaper than most of the others. Upwards of $400-$600 every six months for some of the companies we checked with.

Sigh. I don't want to stick it out, even though that's the likely scenario. I want resititution!!

Heidi, I just remembered that some insurance companies check your credit and base your rate in part on that. If your credit rating has changed since you got quotes, that would be a reason to get some quotes again.
I thought you were paying $156/6 months and I thought -- wow, what was she paying before the accident! I think (*think*) that my previous insurer just took away the good driver discount but did not change the rate and it went up about $10-15 month. My current insurer does both -- that's why I have to make sure they lower the rate in July.

[SuzySunshine]

It doesn't hurt to at least shop around. Insurance agencies are always willing to beat others' rates. Just make sure the limits are the same. Good luck!

[Meenah]

Insurance is a pain. You have to have it, but then are penalized for using it. My daughter was in anaccident last November. A man ran a stop sign and hit her. He asked her not to call the police and he would pay for the car., he did not want his rates to go up (NJ & PA have the highest insurance rates). For my daughter we pay $875 every 6 months. We got three estimates, they averaged about 1200. Then he told me he did not want to send a check because he didn't believe we would actually fix the car. Then he said he could not afford it, and I told him he could make it in three payments, he said fine, and asked if I would wait until after Christmas!!! Of cousre I said yes. He never sent a check, and I called his insurance company. They paid for my car, his rates went up. In this case I was willing to help him out, but he was a real jerk. My daughter has learned to always get an accident report, even if it is minor (especially if it isn't her fault). You don't even want to know what our car insurance totals are, NJ three teenagers and two adults!!!!
Luanne

Is there any way they would get rid of the inrease if you were to take a safe driving course?