My car was parked on the street overnight and acquired a dent on the rear quarter panel. No note, and sadly my neighbor’s camera didn’t quite catch the event.
I have a fairly high deductible on my comprehensive coverage, so I figured I’d just pay out of pocket. But after getting some quotes that are much higher than anticipated, I’m reconsidering that decision.
It feels like this is clearly not my fault, since I was not even in the car and it was parked safely and legally. However I have a long record with no claims at all, and so I’m a bit worried about any unanticipated impacts to my premiums. Are any of my safe driver / no claims discounts at risk from this? It’s hard to tell from the documentation I have with Geico.
I’d be curious if anyone has any feedback on this situation or has gone through something similar.
Car minor hit-and-run while parked. Reasons not to go through my insurance? [California]
byu/ultra2fast inInsurance
Posted by ultra2fast
4 Comments
Hit and run with no ID on other vehicle is a collision claim not comp. And any history of claims is a history of a claim.
This would be a collision claim, not comprehensive. You should not use your policy for a small loss. Get an estimate for repair of the damage and only file a claim if it’s significantly above your deductible.
This is a collision claim, not a comprehensive claim.
While CA does not allow not at fault claims to be used to increase rates, you could lose a discount like a claims free or whatever, so there’s no guarantee your rates won’t be affected. But you need to think about how much money you’d come out of pocket for the repairs and how much your rates might actually increase. Might just be better to use insurance.
This is a not-at-fault collision claim and CA does not permit premium increases for not-at-fault claims. That said, you can lose no claim discounts and while you current carrier can’t increase your premium or cancel your policy, any claims history can impact renewal.
For what it’s worth, for $5K, I’d submit to insurance (unless I had a really high deductible).
Bottom line is your actual premium shouldn’t increase, but you could lose discounts and face non-renewal (which makes it hard to get insurance from other carriers). Only you can decide what avoiding that possibility is worth to you.