How much can I expect my car insurance to rise if my wife had a $1300 fender bender with another vehicle?

Answer 1

In many states that is a 1 pt accident ($0-$1800) and won't cost you anything. Chances are you won't lose your discounts either. Keep in mind insurance pts are not the same at DL pts and just because you may not have gotten a ticket does not mean it won't effect your policy, or just because the court reduced your ticket doesn't mean it won't effect your policy. Chances are you will be fine if it the one and only accident on the policy. If is not, then expect it to increase up to $400 a year. To be sure, call your agent.

Answer 2

Was it her fault? I don't think it will go up too much. $1300 is not that big of an accident. You could do $1300 in damager to a car with two hits from a baseball bat! It depends on what type of accident it was, too. If she rear ended someone that's a little bit bigger of a deal. Also, your insurance won't be affected right away. If it's going to make any difference you will notice a change when your policy renews. Have you had any accidents before or does your insurance company concider you a high risk? I wouldn't worry too much about it. I got in a $1300 accident when I was 17. I was rear-ended. My insurance was not affected at all, but it cost the other guys insurance company $15,000.00.

Answer 3

Depends. Was she the one who caused the alleged "fender bender?" Was it the other guy's fault? If she rear-ended someone then of course, it is her fault. If there have been no other claims on the policy, you might not see much of a difference, if any. However, if the opposite is true, then you are in for a hefty raise in rates. And by the way, why not JUST ASK YOUR AGENT ABOUT THIS? Why do people come here instead of consulting an expert (such as their agent, or their doctor if it's a medical question, or whomever?) This is rather a pointless site, frankly, as people ask questions that should be DIRECTED elsewhere!

Answer 4

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news........It will be more then the cost of the claim no matter who's fault it is. Most companies have set up guidelines to have a 5yr experience period to accumulate increased premiums to absorb losses so they can remain profitable. 5yrs is how far CLUE goes back. CLUE is a prior opened claims database that shows all losses for all insureds no matter what company they were with @ the time of the loss. It shows who's @fault, payouts, accident date,VIN, the vehicle involve, the driver license # of the drivers involved, name of insurance company filed with and the name of the policy holder. Also dont think that not disclosing the driver will save you because CLUE pulls up prior losses by your address,name and the policy holder . I often get reports listing prior owner/tenants of the dwelling and friends or relatives of the named insured that crashed the named insureds car!. All insurance companies use this or equifax to access your prior claim info to see if you meet company underwriting guidelines.If you do then the info will be used to tier you. This is how your company appropriately charges you premium based on the risk (you). Even though most states have 3 yr SDIP "points" retention on MVR You will lose your incident/accident free discount and if she was @ fault your policy will be surcharge on top of that loss of discount. If you have "Accident forgiveness" on your policy you wont be surcharged for the loss but you will lose your incident free discount. Which is just as much as a surcharge. Sometimes more. Also if you have a 2nd accident you will be surcharged for both even though the 1st is "forgiven" and you stand a good chance of being dropped too. If that happens goodluck getting a decent quote with 2 accidents!

Answer 5

You need to call your agent/broker. Only they can tell you exactly. Some companies may "forgive" the accident if you've been a good driver for a number of years.

The increase doesn't have anything to do with the total amount paid. Depending on where you live, usually there's a threshold where you get penalized for the accident or not. In other words, $1300 or $130,000 - it doesn't matter. If it's past the threshold, then you're getting penalized.

Answer 6

Guess that really is going to vary by person and company. I totalled an '00 Monte SS back in '02 and the insurance company gave that one to me as a 'freebie' meaning it didn't count against me (didn't receive a citation either) and my insurance did not increase. I totalled another in '04 and think my insurance raised about $100 a year (and this was a 12-car pileup).

Answer 7

You will lose all your 'discounts' for good driving, and being a 'chargable' accident, expect surcharge for 3-5 years. How much? Well, I would guess that you'll be paying $200 more every 6 months (including the loss of your discounts)

Answer 8

Maybe nothing - if your state's threshhold for surcharges is over $1300. Maybe you'll just lose your loss free discount, and maybe your wife has a ton of other points, and this can't make it any worse.

You really need to ask your agent.

Answer 9

It would depend on where you live (tort of no-fault state, hoping you live in a tort state), the circumstances.

Contact your agent...they "might" know.

I know when my state was no-fault and my husband's car rolled into mine (I was not near my car), our insurance went up $50 a month for about three years.
Repairing my car cost about $1800. My husband also got a letter from the insurance company suggesting he remove me from our insurance. LOL

Answer 10

It depends on a number of factors, including the state you live in, previous driving record, whose fault it was. Contact your insurance agent for the final word.