When your car suffers vandalism and you have comprehensive insurance in your policy, you have no other option but file a claim. When that happens, you (as most of us) expect your car insurer cover the damages caused to your car, but what will be the impact of a comprehensive insurance claim on your premiums?
All the car insurers use very complicated algorithms to determine your premiums. In this article, we'll take a closer look at how comprehensive insurance claims affect your premium and what you can do to minimize the impact.
Understanding Comprehensive Insurance Claims
Let’s explain what a comprehensive insurance claim is. As you already know, comprehensive insurance protects your car against non-collision damages such as, vandalism, theft, natural disasters (fires, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes), falling objects (tress, rocks, debris), animal-related damages (hitting a deer, rodent damages on your car’s wires), among others.
If you suffer any of these possible accidents in your car, your car insurer will investigate the accident, and calculate the repair or replacement costs of your car. As you already know, you set deductibles on your comprehensive insurance policy, so that amount of money will be deduced from your car insurer’s check. Let’s say you accidentally hit a deer in the road, and that deer destroyed your car’s hood and windshield. The repair costs is $6,000, as you set $500 in deductibles, your car insurer will pay you $5,500 ($6,000 total repair costs minus $500 deductibles equals $5,500).
The Impact of a Comprehensive Insurance Claim on Your Premium
When you make a comprehensive insurance claim, you know your car insurer will increase more or less your premiums, that depends if you were at-fault or not. Your car insurer in addition will use their algorithm to calculate how risky you are while driving and how much you should pay for your comprehensive insurance policy.
One of the most important factors can impact your premium is the amount of the claim is your driving history (the less accidents or traffic violations you have, the less you will pay). In a nutshell, the moment you filed a claim, you made a variation on their algorithm showing there’s a chance you suffer anther accident in the future, so your car insurer may consider you a higher risk driver than before, so they will increase your premiums accordingly.
Another important factor that will impact your premium is the amount of the claim is the amount of money they have to give you to repair your vehicle. In a nutshell, if the repair or replacement costs of your car are way too high, your premiums will increase significantly.
Minimizing the Impact of a Comprehensive Insurance Claim
We all know when you file a comprehensive insurance claim can impact drastically on your premiums, but there are some things you can do to minimize that impact. The first option is very simple, increase your deductibles. When you increase your premiums you’re showing to your car insurer you’re not going to file a claim that lightly, making them lower your premiums.
You can read my post about How to Choose the Right Comprehensive Coverage Insurance Deductible.
The other option is shop around, request from 5 to 6 car insurer’s quotes, so you can see how much would cost the same comprehensive insurance in different car insurers. As I explained above, each car insurer use their own algorithm to calculate your premiums, so there’s a chance they offer you better rates. Once your find one with cheaper price than your current car insurer, you must notify to them. They may try to do a counter offer, so they may offer you some reduction on your premiums or they may add you extra benefits to make you change your mind.
You can read my post about How to Compare Comprehensive Coverage Policies.
Conclusion
When you file a comprehensive insurance claim will have a significant impact on your premiums. Each car insurer uses complex algorithms to calculate your future premiums, in all cases, your car insurer will consider the risk you suffer and accident and how many claims you may file in the future. If you filed many claims in the past or the repair costs of your vehicle are way too expensive, your car insurer will consider you a high-risk driver, so they will increase your premiums. However, there are some things you can do to minimize the impact, such as considering a higher deductible or shopping around for insurance coverage.
Other readers were also interested in the following posts:
The importance of documentation in comprehensive insurance claims
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