Should you use your insurance for minor car accidents?
For many car owners, the idea of dealing with an insurance claim is a nightmare scenario. This is why many drivers are disinclined to get their insurance provider involved with smaller auto incidents. But is this a good idea? Here’s what you need to know about using your insurance for minor car accidents.
- Benefits of Contacting Your Insurer
First, it’s important to understand that reporting small issues to your auto insurance provider does have some advantages. For instance, filing a claim with your insurer ensures that you have assistance if the other driver decides to file a lawsuit. Even if you barely tapped the other driver’s bumper, they may use this as an opportunity to fake an injury and sue you in hopes of receiving a settlement. By informing your auto insurer about the accident as soon as possible, you can access coverage as well as your insurer’s advice on how to mitigate your risk.
Informing your insurer about a small accident is also worth it if you have caused damage to a valuable car. By filing a claim, you will only have to pay your deductible to ensure that the other driver gets the repairs that they need. As your deductible amount might be considerably lower than the cost of repairing a luxury vehicle, it will save you money to simply file the insurance claim.
- Downsides of Reporting a Claim for a Small Accident
The major downside of reporting minor accidents to your insurer is that your premiums will likely increase as a result of the incident. Additionally, filing a claim will probably mean that you will lose any safe driving or claims-free discounts that you qualified for before the accident. The loss of these discounts will mean higher premium payments as well. Finally, if you have been involved in several small accidents and end up filing claims for all of them, then this can place you in the high-risk driver category. This high-risk designation can change everything from your premiums to your ability to secure standard auto policies.
These are some of the things that you should consider when deciding if you should use your insurance for minor car accidents. Do you have additional questions regarding your auto insurance? If so, then contact the experts at 01 Insurance in Astoria, New York. Our dedicated team is eager to assist you with all your car coverage need today.