[DßR]

Hey, hoping one of y'all can help me out. I was rear-ended about a week ago by an uninsured driver. The damage to my 4runner was pretty minimal, a small bumper dent and some slight bending to my Sportworks rack (the rack seriously destroyed the girl's front end and a lot of her engine components ).

Anyway, I'm wondering -- if I make a claim against MY insurance co., under my uninsured driver policy, can I expect my rates to go up?? It's undisputed that I'm not at fault here, but if one makes a claim, doesn't insurance usually raise the premiums regardless? I've heard of people's rates going up simply b/c they ASKED about making a claim, and never made one! Anybody got experience here? My ins. is GEICO, btw.

 

[Lexx D]

It depends on your insurance company but from what I've seen whenever you put a claim in you risk having your rates go up(agian not 100% sure I just know what I've seen)............makes you wonder what your paying for if they're gonna charge you more everytime you actually need them.

 

[MTB_Rob_NC]

Anyway, I'm wondering -- if I make a claim against MY insurance co., under my uninsured driver policy, can I expect my rates to go up?? It's undisputed that I'm not at fault here, but if one makes a claim, doesn't insurance usually raise the premiums regardless?

Yes it is possible

I've heard of people's rates going up simply b/c they ASKED about making a claim, and never made one! Anybody got experience here? My ins. is GEICO, btw.

That is false, however rates sometimes just go up. Call your insurance company, they should give you a straight up answer. Its not like Geico is going to BS around and risk losing you as a customer because of a ~ $500 claim.

Ps... I have Geico and have been a customer for (I dont remember how long) and I now qualify for their accident forgiveness program. Basically for sticking with them, they guarantee not to raise my rates based on at least 1 at fault accident. You may qualify as well.

 

[Greyhound]

I just went through almost the same thing with an uninsured driver incident. A guy pulled out in front of me at an intersection, and tore my 02 Tacoma's front end all to hell. The driver and the passenger got out and ran. I called the police, and they were able to get the passenger(crackhead), but the driver got away. Turns out, it wasn't even his truck. The truck was improperly tagged and titled, and no insurance policy existed for it. Long story short---> Yours truly gets stuck with the $500 deductable. Even though we pay for just such an incident as this as a part of our bill, it's a moot point as far as all insurance companies are concerned. I have my insurance through GEICO as well, and they have been really good about all of this---and they DO have a claims recovery dept. that handles just such situations. SO, even though you might have to bite the bullet right now, you may get it back down the road if they ever get the owner of the vehicle to pay up. I was fortunate in the fact that I had a good mechanic that was able to "shift" a few things around here and there to make "other charges" go away. GEICO even worked with the mechanic to get Toyota brand replacement parts instead of the generic replacement parts that your policy calls for in crash replacement.

 

[DßR]

Hmm. My deductible is only $200 so it may be worth it... Not if my premium is gonna go up by $500/year though, obviously. I guess I'll call and ask; I'm almost 100% sure that they'll give me some BS noncommittal non-answer such as "there are many factors that go into determining premiums and we cannot determine how your rate could be affected at this time" or some such worthless pap.

I guess there's no real way to apply anyone else's past experience/premium increases to my own experience anyway, grrrr. This sucks!

 

[DßR]

That is false, however rates sometimes just go up. Call your insurance company, they should give you a straight up answer.

I dunno, I read about it in a reputable source - can't remember if it was a financial mag like Kiplinger's or something, or maybe the Washington Post. Not just some posting on a 'net forum.... People would call and tell their ins. companies that they backed the car into a tree or whatever, and ask about what their options were. Even if they decided not to file a claim, their premiums got jacked up. Ins. companies claimed that that call gave them info that the driver was unsafe or more prone to cost more $$ and make more claims....

 

[Hawkeye]

Look I am an agent and I will tell you your rates will probably go up. Geico can't tell you if your rate will go up because in order to find out they have to input the info in their system to get a rate.

They probably can go after the guy to recoup the loss however if the loss is under $1000 they most likely will not incur the expense for money they will never see from this deadbeat.

Did the cops catch and ticket the driver? I would make sure you follow up with the cops about her court date and i would go and make sure the judge knows the situation and that you are getting screwed.

 

[LordOpie]

do you need "uninsured motorist coverage"? I have it and am wondering if I'm wasting my money.

 

[Hawkeye]

do you need "uninsured motorist coverage"? I have it and am wondering if I'm wasting my money.

Look at what heppened twice in this thread.

YES, you need it. If you don't have it you seserve to get in a fender bender with some bum.

IL has manditory insurance of $20,000 $40,000. We get at least 1 totaled Benz claim a week that was hit by someone with state limits or no insurance.

 

[LordOpie]

Look at what heppened twice in this thread.

tl;dr

YES, you need it.

thanks. I'll keep it then.

 

[BigMike]

Hey Dan, you should say that your rack got broken in the crash, and get that broken weld fixed

(I really have nothing useful to say here)