Can I make an accident claim through party at fault without contacting my insurance?

Question

My car was parked and unoccupied and a commercial truck back up into my car creating front end damage. There was a police report written up and I have 2 party insurance information..(UPS Parcel)...My car only has liability insurance. Would it be wise to contanct 2 party insurance or should I contact my insurance company and risk an increase in insurance premiums

Answer 1

your policy probably has some stipulation indicating you are required to notify them promptly of all claims. if your vehicle was parked and unoccupied, it wouldn't hurt to report this to your insurance company because parked and unoccupied vehicle claims are generally considered to be "no fault" claims on your policy. Besides, if it turns out that the commercial vehicle does not have valid insurance, you may have purchased a coverage called uninsured motorist coverage which would allow your insurance company to pay for the other damages. But otherwise, if you feel confident and comfortable that you can deal directly with UPS Parcel's insurance company, I'd say that there's no need to contact your insurance company because unless they can verify that there is no insurance for the responsible vehicle, there's not much they'll be able to do on your behalf; they have no control or influence over what UPS does because they have no legal subrogation rights to pay your claim under collision coverage (since you didn't purchase it) and recover from UPS. Reporting the claim to them may result in them initially helping you report a claim to UPS, but that will be about all they can do. This kind of stuff (not reporting to your carrier if you have info for the at fault person's company) goes on all the time and insurance companies are none the wiser. I'd almost say you're doing them a favor by not requiring them to waste customer service man-hours by taking a claim and assisting further on something that they don't legally owe. Go first through UPS and if UPS indicates they don't provide valid liability coverage for the vehicle, then call your insurance company.

Answer 2

It was not your fault so your premiums should not increase. If there was a police report filed, your insurance company will know. We had this happen recently and within a few weeks they were calling us wanting additional information. Go ahead and contact them because if you don't chances are they will be contacting you shortly anyway.

Answer 3

To begin with, an accident that is not your fault will not raise your premiums. And a parked unoccupied car sure isn't at fault if it gets hit.

You pay your insurance a lot of money to protect and represent you, so why wouldn't you want to use them when you need them?

Answer 4

Call the at fault car's carrier and file the claim. If you do not have collision coverage there is nothing your insurance company can do for you.

You may want to see if your agent can assist you in filing the claim.

Answer 5

If it wasn't your fault your insurance should not go up. Call them.