Groove'02

Hi gang,

I was pretty tired driving home last night, and while parking in my underground garage I misjudged the distance between my baby and a concrete post. I scratched her above the left rear wheel well, on about 3 or 4 body panels!!! Darn it! I'm writing it off to a lesson in being more careful, but I'm really scared how much it's going to cost to repair. I'm going to call my dealer this am, but I was wondering what everyone's experience is in claiming this sort of thing under insurance, ie:
1. Should I claim it at all? I have $500 deductible, and will my rates go up significantly if I claim?
2. Would I have to claim under comprehensive, or collision?
3. Would my insurer fault me and lower my driver rating if I claim?

By the way, I live in Ontario, Canada.

Thanks in advance for your advice, and hey, drive careful out there!

viper

I think this would be a comprehensive claim. If you have no past claims with this insurer I don't think your rates would suffer. If they have had to pay out before then all bets are off. The fact that we Canadians pay ridiculous amounts of money for insurance does not seem to matter.

MarkL

My wife had this type of accident about 2 years ago, and I believe it's considered collision. Comprehensive claims are made when there is no fault, like hail, a fallen tree, theft, etc. She scraped her Buick Regal against a wall while driving up a garage ramp -- $2300 damage! Also, the worst part was the small area between the rear door and wheel well -- needed to have a partial rear fender welded in.

Sorry to hear about it -- I know it hurts .

rskinner

I am not versed on the insurance laws in Canada, but in California that would fall under the collision portion of your policy. Also, they look at claims frequency as far as future increases go. If this is your only claim, I doubt you would see an increase. If you have had a few claims, they may non-renew you.

I would first get a quote on the repair, then decide if is worth turning in a claim.

Groove'02

I went to the dealer this morning. They were very friendly and even had one of their detailers come and buff it and add some temporary touch-up paint free of charge.

I then drove the car to the MB approved collision repair center. Damage was assessed at $1100 CDN all totalled. Since my deductible is $500, I don't think it's worth making a claim on my insurance and I'll probably just pay out of pocket. Comments, anyone?

Buellwinkle

Yes, pay out of pocket. The $600 you pay is cheap compared to 3-5 years of extra insurance premiums. I did that on my daughter's accident where it was also $1,100. Single car accidents as yours are treated as 100% your fault.

Duffer

to one of my cars -- the damage was $1k, deductible was $500 and I made the claim -- my first claim in 8 years -- so my rates remained the same.

Groove'02

I agree with Buellwinkle. Even if they don't raise my rates this time, I will have a mark against me on my record. They certainly won't be so kind as to not raise my rates if I ever have to make another claim. I'm better off saving a claim for when the damage is more substantial. But of course that's just my gut feeling, I don't really have much experience with this.

shkeller55

Groove'02: Rather than speculate here, why don't you just call your insurance company and ask them whether your rates will go up if you file this claim? My wife drives to downtown Atlanta every day and has had lots of little incidents like this over the years. They're inevitable in a big city and the insurance companies know it. I always ask my insurance agent whether filing a claim will affect our rates. Sometimes the answer is yes, often it's no. They can't raise your rates just for asking, so you might want to ask before paying all of it yourself.

viper

Guess I was asleep here. Yes it would be collision. But I think you should call your insurer to ask if your rates would change.
No sense spending out of pocket if you don't have to.

Groove'02

I called my broker. Apparently in Ontario, regardless of who insures you, the general rule is that any claim will affect your auto insurance rates. The amount of the claim is irrelevant - what matters is how many claims you make and if you were at fault.

Based on this information and the small amount of my damage, I'm not going to claim.