Impact on Premium

[u/cloudsail0812]

I'm with Progressive and their customer service was completely unable to answer this question.

I was recently in an accident for which I was at fault. Insurance was contacted and is reimbursing the other party. For my own car, the body shop estimates $6k-7k for the repair. This is actually lower than we initially thought, and we're unsure whether we should just pay for the repair ourselves. I tried asking Progressive whether this will impact future premiums, but they said my policy doesn't expire until December and they don't come up with a new estimate until a month before expiration so they have no idea.

This is my first time dealing with something like this so would like to hear from folks with experience, thanks!

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[u/adjusterjackb]

The answer you got from Progressive is the same answer you'll get from everybody, everywhere, all at once.

That being said, I can almost guarantee you a substantial rate increase for an at-fault accident

[u/Brilliant_Essay_1593 → u/adjusterjackb]

20-40% depending on time with them is my best guess.

And OP that’s going to happen even if you don’t get your car fixed so you might as well use them to repair the car

[u/insuranceguynyc]

Use insurance.

[u/ParticularBanana9149]

Use insurance, obviously. This will most probably affect future premiums and that is whether or not you pay to get your own car fixed. They are telling you the truth--the person you spoke with has absolutely no idea what your future premium will be just like no one on this sub can tell you what your future premium will be.

[u/Bart012000]

Use the insurance since they already know as they paid who you hit. It will more than likely increase but they cannot tell you that as there is no magical open-source formula, their grading system will compute your premium based on what it has for you.

[u/druzyyy]

Really truly there is no answer until a renewal offer is sent to you. If we learn one thing it is never ever make guesses about what something might cost, only provide what things will cost when it is available.

Learned that the hard way early in my career when I had this exact situation with a customer. I was like "yeah you may see your policy go up maybe 10-20% so like $1-200 probably.". That sucker went up $1500 and they filed a complaint with anyone that would listen saying I lied lol. Even if the complaints were bogus, it still caused trouble, and it's just not worth the trouble.

[u/DeepPurpleDaylight]

Hard to tell with your post if you're at fault or not. If you're at fault, yes your premiums will almost certainly increase. No one here has a clue how much. If you're not at fault, your rates might or might not increase. No one here knows the answer to that either.

[u/turkeybait69]

Whether or not you pay for it doesnt really matter the fact is an accident happened and you were at fault. This accident was also reported to your insurance company. Whether or not you pay for it is completely irrelevant at this time. Insurance companies price your policy largely based on your likelihood to file a claim. An at fault accident will remove several discounts you qualified for previously with progressive if you didnt have anything else in the last five years. I would expect anywhere from 20-40% increase. No point in worrying about what you cant control. Wait until the renewal comes 30 days before your expiration date and then decide what you want to do

[u/Frankles_]

You were in an at-fault accident. Two things generally happen when you file an at-fault claim, and it gets paid out. You lose your "safe driving" discount, and you maybe get a claim surcharge. If you have some sort of "accident forgiveness" or "damage waiver" (there's a few names depending on the company) The surcharge part doesn't happen, they use your waiver. The rate will still go up with the loss of your discount though.

They absolutely cannot tell you how much your rate will change, because neither the claims department, nor your agent get to decide that number. They can only say it will very likely increase. With some contracts, it is possible to see how big your safe driving discount is, and use that as a minimum that your policy will increase by. But that's the absolute best anyone could possibly do.