When it is possible, it is best not to call your own insurance company when you are not at fault for an accident. If you know the name of the other insurance company and you can contact them, my advice would be to contact them instead of your own carrier. This way it will not be on your record and you won’t have to pay your deductible. Not at fault claims can make your rates go up and then it would be on your record for 5 years.
Sometimes you have no choice, if the driver is uninsured or if the accident is so bad that you need it handled immediately, then you have no choice but to call your own carrier so they can handle it right away. Of course, there are the situations where the accident is not clear cut as to who was at fault, so for those you would need to be call your carrier as well. But anytime where the accident is clearly the other person’s fault, our advise to our clients is to call the other carrier and have them pay you directly. Of course, if you are getting an attorney, then they will handle the claim for you but you may want to call your carrier as the settlement of a claim with an attorney will take longer.
Why do not at fault claims count against me? In the State of CT, the State has allowed insurance companies to count any claims. So the insurance company can decide if they want to count claims against you whether you are at fault or not. Not at faults claims do not count as much against you as an at fault claim, but, insurance companies will say the data shows that if you have a claim you are more likely to have another claim within the next year. So they will take that into consideration when rating you. It may not be fair, but it is the way they formulate the rate. So, if you can just go to the other carrier to have your claim paid directly, then that would be the best way to go.
This is why you want an agent like us working with you and not a direct carrier. A direct carrier can’t help you with this process, as soon as you call a direct carrier for advice, the claim is put on your record. Once a claim is on your record, it can’t be withdrawn.
