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File a claim or not...

U

u2jrmw

Junior Member
Let's say someone backed into a tree and caused some damage to a vehicle.

Deductible is $500

Cost for dent repair is $1600

No prior violations or claims on insurance. 2 car household.

Question 1: Is it better to pay out of pocket, or make a claim?

Question 2: Let's say there was $1000 additional cosmetic damage that the person wouldn't pay out of pocket. IF the answer to question 1 was yes, is there any disadvantage to throwing in the additional damage on the claim?

Thanks for any insight.
 
Depends whether your rate will go up. Assuming it does. 1) Pay out of pocket. 2) Depends on your insurance policy.

The tree you hit... well the tree someone hit... doesn't have insurance and isn't a witness so pay out pocket and don't report to insurance unless you can guarantee that your rate won't go up.
 
I'd have to guess my rate would increase, although I suppose there is a chance it won't... The question is would I expect it to cost me more than $1100 in the time that it has an impact.

On the second question, if I did claim it, any idea if the increased claim amount would have any material impact on the increased rate?
 
Generally speaking if it were me, Id pay out of pocket... if you can, I suggest you do the same. save for a real claim
 
To question 2: if you list that damage as caused by the incident, your insurance adjuster may realize you're committing insurance fraud.
 
dave_the_nerd said:
To question 2: if you list that damage as caused by the incident, your insurance adjuster may realize you're committing insurance fraud.
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To be clear all the damage was caused in the same accident. It is just that the second part is maybe more cosmetically acceptable.
 
u2jrmw said:
To be clear all the damage was caused in the same accident. It is just that the second part is maybe more cosmetically acceptable.
Click to expand...
OIC.

No such thing as "cosmetically acceptable" - if you're paying a deductible to get stuff fixed, get it ALL fixed. Just, you know, be honest and legit about it. Because the insurance company is looking for an excuse.

Last summer I had a $3500 insurance bill for hail damage. Nobody likes to file a claim, but my insurance went up $8/month. YMMV.
 
I pay for my insurance for a reason. With my insurance my rates won't go up unless you make two claims in a 7 year period and even if they did go up for a few years I seriously doubt mine would go up enough to come to $1100. I only pay $400 a year now for full coverage. If you aren't going to use your comprehensive coverage stop paying extra for it.
 
dave_the_nerd said:
Last summer I had a $3500 insurance bill for hail damage. Nobody likes to file a claim, but my insurance went up $8/month. YMMV.
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To me that's bs. It's not my fault the weather is what it is. I filed a comprehensive claim when debris hit the side of my car on the freeway...north of $2k of damage. No increase to my premiums because it wasn't my fault.
 
Depends on the age of the vehicle. It may not be worth repairing an older model. Also, make sure you get multiple quotes, and get the "cash only" price, which is significantly less than the ins. claim one. Also, if you do choose to repair, since its only $1600 (likely less somewhere else or by cash) and you use Ins claim, then your car's VIN history is forever tarnished. Something to bear in mind.
 
NutBucket said:
To me that's bs. It's not my fault the weather is what it is. I filed a comprehensive claim when debris hit the side of my car on the freeway...north of $2k of damage. No increase to my premiums because it wasn't my fault.
Click to expand...

Well... I'll admit, that may or may not have been why my premium went up, but it was the only interaction I had with my insurance company last year. The period before that, it had gone down a couple bucks.

It's not like they tell you why your premium is changing. They just change it. Fuckers.
 
My insurance went up when I had 2 separate accidents neither of which were my fault. In both cases the other drivers got tickets and I did not.

After 20 years of safe driving I'm paying about $400 extra on 2 vehicles. If I would have know that I wouldn't have filed a claim in one case.

Insurance is such a joke. You pay every month of your life and if you use it you pay more. Meanwhile we get to finance the Flo and Jamie show in TV every night to the tune of billions.
 
In most cases, insurance is scam, designed only to make money for the insurance company. They charge exorbitant premiums, force high deductibles so you think the premium is reasonable, in some cases they don't do good repairs or insist on non OEM parts. Then when you file a claim, unless it is 100% not your fault (and can prove it) they will raise your rates. Only time they come in handy, is if you damage someone's property or there is personal injury, where you would be liable for very high settlement costs if you did not have insurance.
 
thedarkwolf said:
I pay for my insurance for a reason. With my insurance my rates won't go up unless you make two claims in a 7 year period and even if they did go up for a few years I seriously doubt mine would go up enough to come to $1100. I only pay $400 a year now for full coverage. If you aren't going to use your comprehensive coverage stop paying extra for it.
Click to expand...

I have to agree here. If you pay for comprehensive coverage, use it if need be, otherwise cancel that portion and save a couple bucks. I have made several non-fault claims (comprehensive and collision related) and my premiums have never increased due to that. The 2 speeding tickets in under 3 months, that's another tale.
 
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