$4,000 insurance claim results in $5,000 bill

why is she paying her deductible if she got hit? why are her rates going up if she got hit? I'd say time for a new insurance company.

 

Neil, You answered the only other question there is. The first one being, "Who the frak is her insurer so we dont use them?"

 

That sucks! I've never made a claim that big, but I've been hit while parked and had a couple thousand in damage and made a claim and my rates weren't raised at all. I guess she had to pay the deductible since she's claiming against her own insurance, but raising her rates like that is crazy. My brother also made a claim for a keying to his car in a parking lot and they didn't raise his rates either. We both have State Farm.

 

She needs to pay her deductible because it was a hit and run driver. What it sounds like is that she did not know who hit her and the Police were not able to locate the vehicle that hit her, so in the mind of the insurance company, it is like she got into the accident herself and no one really hit her. When a hit and run occurs, unless the vehicle is located and an arrest for Evading Responsibility is made, it is like the other vehicle never existed.

Mike

 

I dunno...if I was victim of a hit & run, had filed a police report, and my ins. co still wanted me to pay the deductible or tried to raise my rates...adios.

I've been w/ State Farm since I turned 16 (my family has been with them for 30+ years)

 

In MA (state run insurance), I had a rim break in motion. They paid out something like $2K in repairs (front suspension, rim and tire), and then jacked my insurance by $300 or so per year. The insurance rules say that the driver is automatically "at fault" in a single vehicle accident. (After a year and a half and a state insurance commission hearing, I got the "at fault" determination (and the increase) reversed.)

When they had another driver to blame on another incident, I didn't even pay the deductible. (And they did cover the proper repairs, when I insisted on using a shop that *I* chose, instead of letting them pick a discount shop.)


I suspect what your neighbor is seeing is one of those insurance companies that discount rates based on past history. One accident means losing that discount. Those aren't really "safe driver" discounts as much as just "lucky" discounts.

I've never figured out the double-talk in the Allstate ads -- they claim that you get a discount for not having accidents, and also claim that your rates don't go up after an accident ("accident forgiveness"). I suspect they're playing word games -- that your "rates" don't go up, but your discount goes away. So you still pay more, even without a "rate" increase.


But then, I already had bad enough experiences with Allstate that I won't use them again. (e.g. Three years in a row, they "just discovered" the same under-25 driver. And then when they tried to compensate damage to a canvas soft top by credit at a plastic top installer company of their choice.)

I also tend to go with State Farm, in states where they operate (MA isn't one of them). I can't personally vouch for how they handle accidents (I've been lucky), but they seemed to have done all right by a friend, decades ago, when his wife crunched up his Alfa. (While we were out buying a nearly identical Alfa for her. Ironic, or what? )

 

that's the deal in mass.
be VERY careful before making a "small" claim [2-3 k] in this state unless there is a clear third party for them to go after,especially if you have a large premium already.

 

must be AIG!