Dogbyte

I know this subject has been talked about a number of times but as some will know, I was introduced to the US way of driving. at the end of June, Whilst sat in the new car at a red traffic light and young lady decided she wasnt waiting for a green light and rear ended me !.Police arrived etc etc and her insurance paid out foir the cost of repair to my car.No probs so far.We are still discussing pain and suffering etc ! but now comes the 'problem'.
I have just got my renewal from MY insurance company (AIG)and they have put the 6 months up by 97 dollars because I had a 'no fault accident on my part, but they say now, I am a risk ?. Hang on a minute I was sat doing what I was supposed to be doing and stationary and my insurance goes up and it stays on MY record for three years They say it happens all the time and there is nothing I can do about it.
My question 'Is there' anything I can do like, an onsbudsman or do I take against the other parties insurance for my rate going up or is it as I suspect 'An American thing'.Sorry for the rant but it seems I am experiencing one of those qaint American quirks ! Any advice people ?. Ta

cindyabs

I got rearended last fall at a stop sign and my ins. co said that if I wasn't claiming against them for repairs, but rather through the guy that hit me's insurance, then it wasn't an issue and no change to rates.

Deb

Through my work, I was chatting to a couple a few weeks back who had just emigrated from Florida to Oz, anyway, I was sorting out car insurance for them & they were telling me that in America, when it comes to insurance if there is an accident, even if its not your fault, its still classed as 50/50 & its claimed on the insurance, end of story !!

They also said that the insurance premiums were very expensive.

Now I have no evidence to back this up & I am unaware of the regulations concerning insurance, just what this couple told me

Haven't been much help eh? sorry ..

Bill_S

Car insurance laws vary greatly from state to state. You might be running into a quirk of your state's laws, or AIG might just be raising your rate because they can. There are a lot of insurance companies out there, and they love to take business away from each other. Get some quotes from other companies and see if you can get a better rate.

lisag8070

Why are the Insurance Co classing it as a No Fault accident?...its pretty clear that the young lady was at fault so I would definately contest them on that...(you have the Police reports to prove this)..

Give em hell Dogbyte..

Mummy in the foothills

Contest it and don't settle till you are satisfied.
My car was totaled a couple of years back by an idiot in a big white transit van who ran the stop sign to cross a 55 mph highway (nutter)
I called his insurance daily and dealt with a really rude claims lady, who I eventually refused to speak to any more and went through her supervisor.
They finally paid up I got a bit more than the car was worth and was happy with that, they also have to pay doctor visits and chiro and PT bills for my friends teen who was in the backseat.
I refused to accept any responsibility for the accident and my insurance never went up. I was calling them to make sure too.
Squeaky wheel menality applies in US big time.

Lord Lionheart

Here in the States you always ask the other party if they want to settle it privately so you both don't get banged by your respective insurance company. Obviously this usually only applies to minor dings of $1000 or less due to out of pocket costs

Manc

it means no fault to the insured (Dogbyte)

having an "at fault" accident would have been on the record should Dogbyte caused it.

Dunno about NC laws though.

Dogbyte though, seriously mate, it was probably just a general premium hike across the board, but the poor schmo on the other end of the telephone didn't wanna tell you AIG were raising rates and wanted to fob you off with some cock and bull story.

lisag8070

thanks for clearing that up....

Dogbyte

Thanks everyone, just had to have a little rant over this.I was assured that it was NOT my fault but a quirk of NC, but also assured that it was not AIG who had raised their general rates but as said,.. they would say that anyway. I just felt very aggrieved as anyone would, that I am sat there doing everything right,get clouted and end up paying out for nothing!.Will start looking out for other ins co's to see what they have to say, but I did say to AIG what happens if I go somewhere else and the answer was simple,everyone has access to MY driving record so.... No point really but we will see......Not fair, stamps feet and goes home !!!

Michael

Normally insurance rates do not go up if you are not at fault except possibly in no-fault insurance states. Flordia is a no-fault state so that is why an accident may be classified as 50/50. Unfortunately no-fault states tend to also have higher insurance rates than at fault states. As far as the OP is concerned, he is in NC (an at fault state) so his insurance rates should not go up.

http://insurance.freeadvice.com/info...uto/article/82

Bill_S

I understand the frustration... about 10 years ago somebody made an unsafe lane change and smashed into me on the highway. Even though it was 100% his fault it was a big nuisance for me and I wound up having to buy a new car. Ins. companies always give you the line about your driving record being available... but a few years ago I switched from Allstate to Nationwide and got a big reduction in premiums and better coverage, so don't be shy about shopping around.

sh-swfl

i have just switched from AIG to State Farm for that reason - when my car was scraped in the office parking lot, quite a minor scratch costing about $500 to repair (the person works with me) - their insurance paid 100% and also for a rental car (i.e. they took full responsibility), but my AIG rates went up slightly. While shopping around for other quotes, I used the Progressive.com website, put in my details and got a cracking quote of more than $200 less. When going to purchase it, it showed an entry in the insurance "CLUE" database which said I'd had a claim - then the progresive rate went up $150 ....i researched CLUE on the web and seems like some insurance companies report an "accident" even if no-fault or no claim (and sometimes even just for an enquiry!), and others use that to say you are a higher risk and so ding your rate. I then got a quote from Sate Farm who dont seem to use this database, and will be going with them.
CLUE is like a "credit history" report but for car/house insurance and is often incorrect.

scrubbedexpat099

They all share the same data base. apparently some clients forget to mention some of their past transgressions.

Each company sets rates by State, might as well be talking of different countries.

augigi

My recent (second six months in the US) car insurance renewal for Geico was $932 (first 6 months was $978!) -- despite the fact they said after building up some driving history the premium would go down considerably.

Started shopping around, and Progressive online quote offered $450, then entered D/L # and it jumped up to $720 because of lack of "driving experience". Ended up buying State Farm - $445 for 6 months... a full $500 cheaper!!