Submit to Auto Insurance or not?

[Anonymous]

A truck in front of me kicked up road debris and it took off my driver's side mirror. Local body shop can't do it, so the dealership it is -for about $1100. The mirror has all those sensors and such. My deductible is $500. My insurance told me that I won't know until they recalculate my premium (DC-based) annually if submitting this claim will raise my premium. Basically, it's a crapshoot.

This would be the first time I'm submitting something to auto insurance, so I appreciate any advice you have as to if it's worth it to submit or if I should just pay out of pocket.

[Anonymous]

Well, you already called insurance so even if you don't claim it, they are going to raise your premium. Just a PSA. Unless you know for sure you intend to file, never call them about any incident.

[Anonymous]

I would claim.

[Anonymous]

But no...unless I was cash strapped, I would never file for anything that low.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, you already called insurance so even if you don't claim it, they are going to raise your premium. Just a PSA. Unless you know for sure you intend to file, never call them about any incident.

Oh, how do you know this? I assume it will go up annually anyways, like everything does.

I'm willing to just pay out of pocket, but also wasn't sure if that was leaving money on the table.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, you already called insurance so even if you don't claim it, they are going to raise your premium. Just a PSA. Unless you know for sure you intend to file, never call them about any incident.

Oh, how do you know this? I assume it will go up annually anyways, like everything does.

I'm willing to just pay out of pocket, but also wasn't sure if that was leaving money on the table.

In 2002, I called about whether they covered me scraping against a pole. They reported it as an accident and my premiums went up immediately even though I never filed the

Last year, we thought we would file a claim about a pretty major body damage our kid incurred, so we called. And guess what. It was immediately put on the driving record. Even though it wasn't a moving violation or ticketed offense, and even though we didn't file the claim.

Two different insurance companies. USAA and Geico. The only other incident was me getting rear-ended 3 years prior

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, you already called insurance so even if you don't claim it, they are going to raise your premium. Just a PSA. Unless you know for sure you intend to file, never call them about any incident.

Oh, how do you know this? I assume it will go up annually anyways, like everything does.

I'm willing to just pay out of pocket, but also wasn't sure if that was leaving money on the table.

In 2002, I called about whether they covered me scraping against a pole. They reported it as an accident and my premiums went up immediately even though I never filed the

Last year, we thought we would file a claim about a pretty major body damage our kid incurred, so we called. And guess what. It was immediately put on the driving record. Even though it wasn't a moving violation or ticketed offense, and even though we didn't file the claim.

Two different insurance companies. USAA and Geico. The only other incident was me getting rear-ended 3 years prior

Thanks for sharing. I had no idea they do this (obviously). I wasn't sure how any of it worked and if you filed a claim, would it end up like medical insurance where they half make a number up that they want to pay and call the rest you pay outside the deductible "co-insurance."

[Anonymous]

Around $1000 is my threshold for submitting a claim. So you're close. With my last repair, which was initially estimated at around $1100, the auto body shop filed an addendum with the insurance company after they found additional work which needed to be done which added about $800 to the repair cost. This wasn't totally unexpected because they couldn't see the full damage until they started pulling things apart. So maybe consider if you think there is the potential for the final repair cost to be higher.

[Anonymous]

OP here again with a possibly dumb question I am now scared to call insurance to ask: Do I have to file the claim before the work is done?

The pp has a good point - the mirror was hit at around 70-80mph. I don't know if it pulled or damaged anything internally.

[Anonymous]

No just pay if you can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, you already called insurance so even if you don't claim it, they are going to raise your premium. Just a PSA. Unless you know for sure you intend to file, never call them about any incident.

+1. You might as well get it covered since your premiums will be increase from the incident regardless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here again with a possibly dumb question I am now scared to call insurance to ask: Do I have to file the claim before the work is done?

The pp has a good point - the mirror was hit at around 70-80mph. I don't know if it pulled or damaged anything internally.

Yes and the insurer might tell you where to get it repaired.

[Anonymous]

I think whether it increases your rates or not depends on whether your insurance believes your story. Maybe debris from the truck took out your mirror (I am kind of curious how that can happen) so it is like glass damage from a stone which is covered by the comprehensive part of your insurance and usually doesn’t affect your rates. Or maybe your insurance thinks that you actually clipped another vehicle with your mirror and file it under at fault accident.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, all. I've submitted best I can* and will call them tomorrow.

I truly appreciate all your help.

*Another website that doesn't list DC as a state (sigh).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think whether it increases your rates or not depends on whether your insurance believes your story. Maybe debris from the truck took out your mirror (I am kind of curious how that can happen) so it is like glass damage from a stone which is covered by the comprehensive part of your insurance and usually doesn’t affect your rates. Or maybe your insurance thinks that you actually clipped another vehicle with your mirror and file it under at fault accident.

OP again - good points. I had a witness - my tween child, but I'm not sure insurance would accept that. I tried to get a pic of the truck that kicked it up, but prioritized driving safety. It was definitely shredded tire that the F150 drove over and kicked back. I'm glad it was just the mirror and not the windshield.