My wife gets in a minor car accident.....anyone know about insurance?

[slim]

this morning rear ended someone (was going less than 10km/hr).She just called me and told me about it. The other guy works for Volkswagen and says he thinks it'll be about a grand.About 4-5 yrs ago my wife did the same thing although it was really icy at that time. We went thru insurance last time. I got a couple of questions:

1) If I simply call up my insurance company and ask them if there will be an increase in my insurance premiums but then decide NOT to claim thru insurance, will they up my wife's premiums bc they now know she had an accident?
2)If it really costs about 1 grand , will my wife's premiums got up by more than that? How long will they stay at an increased level?

Also, the previous accident my wife had 5 yrs ago we were insured with a diff company, if that makes any diff.

The guy whose car was hit says we need to decide within 24 hrs whether we want to go thru insurance bc we have 24 hrs to report an accident to police. Please only offer advice if you know how it works in Canada(Ontario specifically). Thanks

[Osprey]

No idea about Ontario. One reason, in the US, to go through insurance for this is if the guy she hit finds back and neck injuries after the fact, you didn't report to your insurance company, so they may well not cover your medical liability. If this was a single car accident, it would be a no brainer to not report $1k worth of damage.

[slim]

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No idea about Ontario. One reason, in the US, to go through insurance for this is if the guy she hit finds back and neck injuries after the fact, you didn't report to your insurance company, so they may well not cover your medical liability. If this was a single car accident, it would be a no brainer to not report $1k worth of damage.

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bump....


would insurance really go up by more than 1K if the claim is 1K?

[__w__]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
No idea about Ontario. One reason, in the US, to go through insurance for this is if the guy she hit finds back and neck injuries after the fact, you didn't report to your insurance company, so they may well not cover your medical liability. If this was a single car accident, it would be a no brainer to not report $1k worth of damage.

[/ QUOTE ]

bump....


would insurance really go up by more than 1K if the claim is 1K?

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There are too many variables here, and nobody can give you a concrete answer. Every insurance company uses different factors when rating policies.

Most of them take into account liability and amount of damage. For the most part, 1k is very minor. I would turn it into your company for sure, as this is what you pay for.

[60Vauban]

figure the VW guy has already reported it to your insurance for starters....

Also, the person who takes your claim information will rarely have the ability to predict your future rate increase, if there is one. Likely that will be determined once the claim has been paid and then adjusted.

Honestly, 1 accident in 5 years isn't going to have a catastrophic impact. Report it and figure that's what insurance is for.

[Osprey]

No, your accident probably won't cause your rates to go up. You are just setting yourself up for a rate increase for the next accident or ticket in the next 5 years. What's your deductible? If it's $500, and the damage is really going to be $1,000 it doesn't make much sense. But because it happened with another person, there may be liability, they may "find" hidden damage, I probably would report it to insurance.

[Gurney]

Hi Slim,

You best bet is to call your agent with a “theoretical” question and see if there would be any rate changes and for how long. In CA, rate increases (fault loss is 51% or more liability) last for three years. Make sure you say theoretical as most Insurance carrier are required by law to proceed with a claim if they are given “notice” of a claim.

Gurney