Insurance Claim Question
July 22nd, 2021, 08:02 AM
#1
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Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Seneca Falls, NY
Posts: 5,289
Insurance Claim Question
I caught my front fender on the garage door frame last night. I would probably not think twice about putting a claim in for it except two years ago I hit the same fender in the same spot while parallel parking (hit a large hitch on a truck in front of me). I have Hagerty. I don't mind paying a higher premium because of it (my rate didn't rise after the first claim) but I don't want to get canceled either. It's probably a $2k repair and I have a $500 deductible. Should I pay cash or claim it?
July 22nd, 2021, 08:29 AM
#2
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Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Tracy Ca
Posts: 1,602
Call them and ask what will happen to you. Years ago I had a claim, on a regular car, and when I talked to them, they told me how much my insurance may go up, and I had high deductable, so was better for me to pay. Because if I had another claim within a certain time I could see a big increase, and possible being dropped. So I would pay the low damage, in case you have a large claim down the road.
July 22nd, 2021, 08:35 AM
#3
Administrator
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Poteau, Ok
Posts: 41,063
You'll probably find that if you spread the cost of the repair over a few year period that the rise in insurance vs your out right paying for it is approximately the same. It's a pay me now or later scenario.
July 22nd, 2021, 10:17 AM
#4
Ben
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Snohomish, WA
Posts: 1,827
I don't recall exactly as its been a while since i've claimed anything- but I believe its 3 years between incidents for it to "drop" off your record... So if the last one was on;y 2 years ago, this will then aggregate on that so that first one won't drop off until the latest one has been 3 years.
In my experience they usually don't raise your rates for 1... they may raise it for the 2nd, but 3 could be a big increase or complete drop of coverage, so i think you are right to be wary of claiming a 2nd incident within 3 years of the last one.
as others have suggested, call and ask them what the impacts may be (both today, and in the future if you have another claim within the next 3 years) before taking any action.
In my experience they usually don't raise your rates for 1... they may raise it for the 2nd, but 3 could be a big increase or complete drop of coverage, so i think you are right to be wary of claiming a 2nd incident within 3 years of the last one.
as others have suggested, call and ask them what the impacts may be (both today, and in the future if you have another claim within the next 3 years) before taking any action.
July 22nd, 2021, 01:02 PM
#5
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Join Date: Aug 2020
Location: Dallas
Posts: 634
I am not sure how specialty insurance like Hagerty's work, but I had a relative that worked for one of the major insurance companies (his name was not Jake if you get what I mean.)
He told me that if you even contact an agent or a claims office to inquire about a possible claim without actually filing the claim, the company marks it as a claim in their system. In effect, you let them know you had an incident, so they only care that you had an incident, not the claim. Too many of these, and your rate go up.
Moral of the story, if you contact your insurance company, do not tell them anything unless you really want to make a claim. You can ask about the policy as if you are shopping around comparing policies across companies, etc., but any indication that something happened can be used against you.
He told me that if you even contact an agent or a claims office to inquire about a possible claim without actually filing the claim, the company marks it as a claim in their system. In effect, you let them know you had an incident, so they only care that you had an incident, not the claim. Too many of these, and your rate go up.
Moral of the story, if you contact your insurance company, do not tell them anything unless you really want to make a claim. You can ask about the policy as if you are shopping around comparing policies across companies, etc., but any indication that something happened can be used against you.
July 23rd, 2021, 05:21 AM
#6
Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 541
I am not sure how specialty insurance like Hagerty's work, but I had a relative that worked for one of the major insurance companies (his name was not Jake if you get what I mean.)
He told me that if you even contact an agent or a claims office to inquire about a possible claim without actually filing the claim, the company marks it as a claim in their system. In effect, you let them know you had an incident, so they only care that you had an incident, not the claim. Too many of these, and your rate go up.
Moral of the story, if you contact your insurance company, do not tell them anything unless you really want to make a claim. You can ask about the policy as if you are shopping around comparing policies across companies, etc., but any indication that something happened can be used against you.
He told me that if you even contact an agent or a claims office to inquire about a possible claim without actually filing the claim, the company marks it as a claim in their system. In effect, you let them know you had an incident, so they only care that you had an incident, not the claim. Too many of these, and your rate go up.
Moral of the story, if you contact your insurance company, do not tell them anything unless you really want to make a claim. You can ask about the policy as if you are shopping around comparing policies across companies, etc., but any indication that something happened can be used against you.
I agree. There is no such thing as telling an insurance company about an accident off the record.
July 26th, 2021, 12:29 PM
#9
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Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Seneca Falls, NY
Posts: 5,289
Thanks everyone.. Yeah, I'm just going to pay for this one. I haven't called Hagerty and I don't plan to...
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