Location: NY, USA
I was in a car accident where the other vehicle ran a stop sign and clipped the side of my car. The wheel got pushed in so it's not drivable right now. No injuries to anyone in either car. I have dashcam video showing it was his fault. I filed a claim with his insurance company, and they are waiting to speak with him to get more info. I wanted to have my car towed to the body shop so they can start working on it and so I can get a rental in the meantime. The body shop wants to know whose insurance will be taking care of it, and I don't want to get my insurance involved if possible.
The last accident I had, I was at a red light and got rear-ended and the other driver immediately conceded 100% liability and his insurance company took care of everything. I called my insurance company to see if I needed to report it to them and they said since the other company was paying 100% I didn't need to report it to them.
In this case, the other guy's adjuster recommended that I file a claim with my own company so I can have the body shop get started and I can get the rental paid for while they're waiting to hear back from their insured. My concern is that once my insurance company gets involved that it will negatively affect my rates in the future, even if it's determined that I was not at fault.
Is this a valid concern? I'm just wondering if I should wait to see what the other guy's company will do or if there's no harm in starting the process with my own insurance. Thank you for any suggestions.
Question about whether I should file a claim with my own insurance company
byu/Tufflaw inInsurance
Posted by Tufflaw
1 Comment
It SHOULDN’T impact your rates in the future but I’ve heard enough instances where it has certainly seemed to that I would be reluctant….but, still think I’d notify my insurer. If the other driver doesn’t respond to his insurer they may deny coverage and if that goes on too long without you having notified your own insurer they could also deny coverage. The latter is unlikely unless it’s seriously like 6+ months without resolution from the other insurer (and even then they probably cover it still) but your *safest* bet is to notify your insurer. Practically, you are probably fine just waiting a few days to a week to see if the other insurer has made contact with their insured and will cover the loss, but I wouldn’t just let it go indefinitely otherwise.