Okay this is a bit of a hijack, but it was the nearest insurance thread I saw.

Art - when someone makes a claim to get collision damage repaired on a car, their premiums usually go up afterwards, right? Do you know typically how much they increase (%), and for how long the increase applies (if not indefinitely)?

Ruh-roh, Shaggy! What did Laura crash into this time? :P

If someone filed a collision claim for a accident that was their fault, the rates do go up. The amount they go up depends on each company and how long you are with them. Sometimes if you have been with a company for a long time, they waive the surcharge for the accident which helps, but you still lose the good driver discount. If they do not grant you the waiver of surcharge, then you will be surcharged for the accident and you will lose your good driver discount on that vehicle.

The surcharge will stay on the record for 3 years after the claim date (again depending on the company rules and guidelines). You normally get a good driving discount back after 3 years, or sometimes even 5 years if the company has multi-tier good driver discounts.

To give you a rough idea, I would say the rates of that vehicle would go up 20-30% or so. Best idea is to call the agent and give them a hypothetical situation (like 'what if' this happened) and ask them what the new rate would be.

Okay thanks.

Ugh. It wasn't Laura. Let's just say the Corolla needs some quarterpanel & bumper repairs. I'm trying to figure out if it's even worth it to try an insurance claim, or if I should look into other avenues...

its best to fix it out of pocket with parts from a wrecking yard. I only say that because I have been seeing a lot of cars that are verry much fixable and insurance companies totaling the cars due to cost to repair vs. value

Here's more personal experience:

In 2004, I had 2 cars totalled, in both cases State Farm offered me only an adjusted price for mods. On the rx8, their adjusted price for 3 month old Racing Beat catback was $200, (a $600 part) - so I told them no thanks on their adjusted reimbursement, and Kevin helped me remove it from the car before it went to the wrecking yard. At least I was able to sell that part to another rx8 owner & recover some of the cost.

Also on the rx8, they would not cover any costs for the clearbra. Their rationale was that it did not add any value to the car.

That's really weak.

and really shocking.

considering the amount of sand damage claims I would say the clear bra was the most valuable part of the car :eek: