65rangoon

doesnt matter if it was your fault or not, you are filing a claim on your insurance to which your insurance will be paying. they will raise your premium to recoup the costs.

essexdan

Depends. When I lived in CT I was aware of an insurance department regulation prohibiting insurers from jacking your rates if the claim was under $1k, nobody was injured, and you had no previous claims for some period of time.
I always recommend to people that they try to switch carriers right after they have an accident but before they file a claim. That way, when you're asked whether you've filed any claims with your prior carrier you can legitimately say "no". Plus nothign has had time to show up on your record. Same thing if your house burns down. Switch before you get canceled or dropped.

S197GT07

I just went through this; somebody hit me while I was parked and didnt leave any information. I went through insurance and paid my comprehensive deduct ($500) and there was NO surcharge because it was a hit and run.

Now this may be different with whatever insurance you have, I was just sharing my story.

essexdan

It will vary from state to state since insurance is a state regulated product. It will also vary from company to company depending on what their business model is. It may seem hard to believe, but unless you're a new customer or a claims machine they do want to keep you. It costs a lot more to go out and find a new customer than to retain an existing one. About ten years ago 90% of automobile underwriters were replaced by computers. It's nothing personal, your value as a future customer is just a math problem. Generally, things that help you are : being over 25, having a light claims history, having been insured with the company for some length of time, carrying homeowners / renters or other coverages with the same company, high deductibles, and having a good credit score.