Don’t just watch discounts disappear after an accident claim and feel sorry because there are other ways of reducing premiums and they have nothing to do with driving. This post will discuss what you can do now to reduce possible effects in the future and how to look for savings if you have to face the consequences of an incident. Follow our tips to find lower automobile insurance rates even if you were at fault in a crash.
If you have not had any trouble for some time you are probably enjoying cheap prices. The premium will go up after a claim for a stolen auto, a collision or other damages because you will lose some discounts. The rate increase will depend on how big it was, the number of incidents on record, how old you are and which company you are with. But there are ways to reduce the effects of these incidents. So, here is what you can do even before they happen.
Ways to Minimize Effects of Possible Claims on Car Insurance Rates
We should discuss how to make sure next one will not overly affect you before we start looking into different savings.
Accident Forgiveness: If you are qualified it would be a good idea to make sure you have that in the current policy. Usually, companies only offer this to motorists with 4 or 5 years no claims. This should not cost a lot of money and in most cases you can get it added free as a reward. If the existing company doesn’t offer you this service, you should consider switching.
When you have accident forgiveness they agree to ignore the next crash when calculating the renewal quote. So, having such provision in the policy would mean that you will see no change for the next one, if it ever happens.
Small Losses: The premium increase may be limited if it is the only one for some time. However, rates can go up a lot if this is the second or third no matter how small they were. Therefore, it may be a good idea not to claim for every small thing. In that case, you may be able to get away with no increase as discussed above or see slight rate hike when you have to ask for compensation next time. Remember that you get paid when you keep it clean as well in the form of discounts.
How to Get Cheap Auto Insurance for People with Accidents
Here are several alternative solutions that work for everyone. They would be extra helpful in a situation where you have a big number to chip away.
No Fault Collisions: If another driver was responsible for the crash you may be able to claim on third party insurers to avoid getting it registered to your name. You need to be active to make the third party carrier pay in a timely manner. First of all, you need to document clearly and support it with witness statements or police report that the other driver was at fault. Secondly, you need to chase it up for quick settlement. Premiums shouldn’t go up after a no fault accident when the damages are paid by a third party company.
Pay off Auto Loans: If you have an auto loan that you can pay off this would reduce the coverage you have to buy. For example, you wouldn’t need Guaranteed Auto Protection anymore and increase deductibles as much as you want when you own the car outright. Remember, we don’t have as much tools as we used to and every little will help.
Increase Deductibles: One of the ways to reduce vehicle insurance prices is to take more risk by increasing deductibles. This tells carriers that you will take extra care from now onward. Accepting to pay more out of pocket would mean that you will lose more if you make a claim. You just have to make sure that you don’t set them too high. Remember, this is the amount you have to pay out of pocket before the rest of the damages is paid.
Buy Standard Policies: If you had a few extras and customizations on the previous policy you probably paid a little more for it. This may be the time to go for a standard one to bring down auto insurance rates. Costs of additional coverage may be negligible for good drivers. But they will be high with bad history since the base rate will go up following a collision.
Consider Drivers: Another solution to cut costs is to limit the people who can drive the car. You may be able to exclude bad drivers in your household providing they have access to another vehicle and insured elsewhere. Also, you may limit the coverage to listed only or drivers over the age of 25. It probably reduces costs enough if you are allowed to leave some people out.
Pay the Premium in Full: This generally saves any interest and credit arrangement fees associated with installments. Also, some of them offer extra 5% discount for paying in full. This is a strategy you can use regardless of circumstances. It is an easy and quick solution as long as you can afford it.
Shop Around: Your auto insurer is not the only one in the market. You may not have to put up with a large cost jump after a small claim because you can get more competitively priced policy even it was your fault. You normally have a good chance of saving money if you search and get quotes online. This chance would increase when premium goes up. If you can get 15% discount on $1,000, it would be $150. But the same percentage would result in $225 savings when it is $1,500. Again, it is simple and easy that you don’t want to ignore this trick in any case.
Switching Vehicle Insurance after Accident
This would be a good chance for you to find out how competitive the current company is. Many people don’t shop around for a long time unless they see a change in costs. Policyholders can still save good money by switching. You just have to try and see what else out there.
As demonstrated above, there are ways to lower automobile insurance for people with accidents on their records. When you are a good driver and getting affordable quotes you may not have paid much attention to them. Now that it is knocking a larger chunk off the budget it is a good time to consider all the options. Explore these avenues and see if you can reduce the pain a bit.