How Will Your Car Insurance Be Affected After a Claim?
Generally, after making a claim your car insurance premiums is expected to rise. The main reason for this is that now you have become a liability for the insurance company. They have to spend a great deal of money each time you have an accident and the insurer wants to ensure that your premiums are enough to compensate for the expenses and at the same time get profit from them.
It is difficult to anticipate to what extent your car insurance premiums will be influenced. This also depends on how many total claims you have had already. If the insurer finds that you already have had an accident earlier then your premiums will increase more. If they find that you had numerous accidents and are a risky driver and you may expect to have to pay much higher premiums.
Your insurance may also be affected by how frequently the car accidents took place. If you had two car accidents in a year, without much gap in between, your premium rates can escalate higher. Regardless of where you search for, your insurance will be influenced by your driving history in this fashion, though it is possible that you might get a better rate if you look around.
The insurance companies save the highest premiums for young drivers. According to a research done by the insurance companies, it has been proved that the young male drivers are more prone to accidents. These drivers have new driving records and hence are considered a burden by the insurance companies. If such drivers face accidents then their premiums will shoot up and remains so till they create a good driving record of many years.
In certain cases your insurance may not be affected as much. This is usually if the accident was not your fault or if you have had a long standing clean record. Of course, some insurance companies will still up your rates regardless, even if the accident wasn?t your fault.
In order to know the process how the premiums are set you must have a slight knowledge about the ISO symbols. ISO is the abbreviated form of Insurance Services Offices, Inc. and they give a particular symbol or number to every car. This symbol tells how much the value of the car is. This makes the ratings by the insurance companies just and identical for all. If you own an expensive vehicle then your ISO rating must be really high. This means that it will take more money to fix the damages of your car. Such vehicles usually have a higher premium rate. After an accident, your premiums will also increase regardless of your ISO rating.
Your insurance will of course not be withdrawn after a car accident, but it possibly will become so huge that you may have to cancel it. Even if you cancel the insurance after an accident, the insurance company will still anyways cover your claim. You must provide the correct time when the accident occurred. This is important because if your accident took place even a minute after the expiry of your plan, you will have to bear all the expenses yourself.
Knowing this you now realize how much a claim affects your premiums. You may therefore see it as unnecessary to file a claim for small accidents, seeing as you may end up paying double or more in higher premiums. In most cases it is better not to file a claim if the damage is under $750 dollars. You may also want to avoid putting in a claim if you have another accident on your record that same year.
Graham McKenzie is the content syndication coordinator for Carinsurancesa.co.za. South Arica?s leading car insurance portal.
