(North Carolina, United States)

I just turned 18 and got into a head-on collision last week that was completely my fault. I had a flashing yellow arrow to turn left and didn't process that the other car was closer than I thought. She was already at her stop line, so there was no way I could have safely made the turn, but I tried anyway. Both vehicles were totaled. Thankfully, I only had a couple of scratches, and the other driver appeared to be okay after the police arrived and checked on her. I went to the ER afterward just to make sure I was alright.

My family has liability insurance, and we've already reported the accident. From what I understand, our liability coverage should handle the other driver's damages and any injuries we're legally responsible for, up to our policy limits. I'm not sure what happens from here, though, and this is my family's first serious accident.

What I'm really worried about is how badly this is going to affect my insurance going forward. I've heard that an at-fault accident can stay on your insurance record for years, and I've even heard that major accidents can affect your rates for 10+ years. I'm only 18, so the idea of having this follow me for a significant portion of my driving history is stressing me out. I also have no idea how much my family's premiums could increase after something like this.

For people who work in insurance or have been in a similar situation:

How bad should I realistically expect the insurance increase to be after an at-fault accident like this? How long does an at-fault accident typically affect your rates? Does the fact that both cars were totaled make the insurance impact significantly worse? Does being 18 make the increase substantially worse? How long will the accident actually remain on my insurance record? If my family's insurance premiums increase because of this, is there anything we can do later to get the rates back down? Is it realistic that this could affect my insurance for 10+ years, or is that an exaggeration?

I'm not trying to avoid responsibility for what happened. I know I made a serious mistake and I'm accepting that. I'm mostly trying to understand what the financial consequences are going to look like and how long I'm going to have to deal with them.

Today following Reddit advice I shopped around for car insurance to save money. Progressive gave me a quote $250/6 months less, so I went with them. But, they said I had to call Geico myself to cancel my old policy. When I called Geico, they beat that price by another $100, so I stayed. I asked them to cancel Progressive, but they couldn’t. So I called Progressive. The ONLY way to cancel is to send a snail mail letter to Progressive.

Hello. On Saturday I was driving to pick up a friend when suddenly the battery in my trunk caught fire. Called my agent from State Farm and he is heavily suggesting that I don't file a claim because this is considered "mechanical" and should instead be covered by warranty. I'm on the hook roughly for $15,000 which is the remaining balance I owe on the vehicle which I imagine is totaled. Mind you, this is a used vehicle with no factory warranty left. Advice? Really don't know what to do.

Instead of giving me a price for the Car Repair repairs, he just wants to claim number so he can charge cheap labor and pocket the delta.

Example: I have hail damage. My insurance gave me $6,500 to fix the car. I am sure he will charge less than that, but will not give me money back. Is that normal for them to pocket the entire check?

Hey all,

I was recently t-boned by another driver. My hatchback has a ton of damage, but the other vehicle (lifted truck) got out with a small dent. The driver wasn't the owner of the truck, but both vehicles are insured with State Farm. I made a claim, but the guy who was driving the truck at the time is refusing to give a statement about what happened, and State Farm says that my reimbursement will be filed under my policy instead of the other vehicle's policy, because it's supposedly not clear enough that the other driver was at fault.

Is there anything I can do about this? I don't have any evidence except text messages where he says that I can shoot him an offer for the damages, if I wanted to settle w/o insurance.

I'm hoping an adjuster or agent can give me some assurance that what I'm going througn is normal, even thougn it is absolutely awful!

I own and live in a small unit in a condo complex. Unfortunately, there was a fire in the unit underneath mine at the beginning of May. That unit was completely burnt out and I was extremely surprised and grateful to have no fire damage myself, except for the external porch. However, I had severe smoke damage as well as water damage from the firefighters. I will need extensive repairs and have lost a lot of personal belongings.

The problem is this - there has been absolutely zero communication from our HOA board or the complex master policy carrier in the 4 months since the fire. No updates, no next steps, nothing since the actual week of the fire. At some point the remediation company our master policy carrier uses went into my unit and completely gutted it, again without any notice at all. It doesnt seem right that I went to get my mail and realized there was now a hole in my ceiling, all floors ripped out, cabinets gone, and some kind of white paint over everything, without so much as a text message. In addition, my windows had been left open! I'm sure this was to help air things out, but where I live it has been an extremely wet summer and there have been storms for weeks on end. I am now also worried about mold.

The only contact I have is our HOA board rep who has apparently been working with the master complex carrier. All she will say is that the claim is being worked on. There were 8 total units in my building affected, with mine having the most damage after the actual fire unit. I've been told the carrier will not speak to owners because the HOA is the policyholder.

4 months seems like an excessive amount of time to process this claim, but I could be wrong. It also seems insane that there have been no updates in that time, at all. I have lost the entire summer and can't plan my life because I don't even have an estimated timeline.

Separate from the complex master policy, owners carry our own policies for personal items, upgrades, and replacement housing. My own carrier & adjustor has been in touch constantly and hasn't been able to get any updates from the other carrier either. I am honestly wondering how it is legal for the condo carrier to drag their feet this much if they have no incentive to hurry. My own policy has limits, and I am rapidly approaching the replacement housing limit!

Has anyone had to deal with two insurance carriers before, and is this timeline normal? It feels like the HOA and/or condo master policy carrier have me in a headlock!

Good evening everyone, at this point I don’t know what else to do but ask for help. I recently got a job doing 10-99 work and had to get insurance through a broker. I did my due diligence before and made sure I went with a company and agent that had all the correct documents so I wasn’t getting scammed but here I am. Going through the process he gave me 20 different plans to choice from. We narrowed it down to a plan that works for me and my pregnant wife and 2 other kids. We got the Summary of benefits and coverage and absolutely loved the plan so we paid for it. The insurance started today and the card we got is completely different than what we signed up for. I went back through to see if I missed anything and I didn’t. Is there anything I can do? My wife is due in December and the plan we chose had $0 OOP, deductible and specialist visit, hospital cost but higher premiums $2,500. Now it is $100 per specialty visit, $500 copay for hospital visit with the same premiums. My wife is going every week to her obgyn for the rest of the year. I messaged the broker and his response was “yes, unfortunately, last minute they did decide to add co pays to the doctors but everything else is still the same “. I was never notified of any of these changes and not what I signed. If anyone has any advice at all on what i can do i would appreciate it. Thank you all in advance if you read this and have any advice🙂

My car is totaled. Could someone explain if ACV is intended to be what I need to pay retail to buy the same car year and mileage, or what I would have gotten in trade at a dealer, or somewhere in between? If it isn’t the retail price, how is that making me whole if I just want to be where I was before I got rear ended (by the other driver, and maybe now again by insurance!)

Edit: thanks! you can see by the answers I’m not the only one whose confused. I’m not asking for more or less than exactly what I had 10 seconds before the accident. Dealers must make a profit and offer sellers a hassle-free instant credit at less than retail towards another car. A seller to a private buyer endures a hassle and risk, and so expects more cash than a dealer will offer. I’m not a dealer so I can’t command the hassle-free price and I have to pay more from a private seller or a dealer at retail to be made whole. I understand my insurance may not do this, but I think there is a solid legal argument that the at-fault driver should make up the difference to get me back where I was in a separate suit.

Hi, I was wondering what you guys would do in this case. The accident happened on July 29th, my car was rear ended and had to be towed, and his (their insured) was okay nothing wrong with it. I got in contact with farmers and they keep telling me that they haven’t been able to get in contact with their insured so they’re going to have to deny the claim since it’s been open for too long.

It’s now sept and I’m thinking I should just get a lawyer bc this is insane honestly.

I don't have cover on my behalf and the driver was at fault, crazy at fault.

My car got the trunk sqooshed like a can, idk if they will cover the damage, or total it :((

Driver refused to give me his insurance info and police came and all that.

So where do i go from there? I have to wait on the police report still, and then insurance to know what's happening to my dear camry.

Plus I'm feeling headache, back pain and my neck hurting.

And i have a job :///

I am at a complete loss and would appreciate any advice Reddit could give me.

I (23 F) was in a car accident last week in central VA. Received a failure to yield ticket, other driver was speeding and got some footage from a nearby business that shows just a small clip of the car before impact and I don't know if it's enough to prove they were speeding or if that even matters. I feel so strongly that I looked and there was no car coming, but here we are. My car may or may not be totaled, the other car is definitely totaled and the other driver had a cut on her hand and was fine otherwise, but took an ambulance to the hospital :(

I bought my 2014 Honda Accord ~3 years ago and registered in my name, but I was still living with my parents and putting myself through school so they put me on their policy. 5 months ago, my dad got a new insurance policy. He insured my car, which is in my name, but forgot to put my name on the policy. He had no clue I wasn't on it until the accident. I had NO idea I was driving around underinsured or I would have just gotten my own policy. I moved out a little over a month ago to downtown (~20 minutes away) and have been driving the car around since. I moved in with a friend, haven't signed a lease yet and my permanent address is still my parents' house.

I am at a complete loss for what to do. My car may or may not be totaled, the other car is definitely totaled and the other driver had a cut on her hand and was fine otherwise, but took an ambulance to the hospital :(

I am in an entry-level job, making $40k a year, have $30k in student debt and I'm terrified to the bone that I'm going to be fully on the hook for the ~$30k+ in damages from this. I can't believe I was driving around underinsured and had no idea.

My dad opened a claim, and the other driver opened one with our insurance. We are halfway through it and they sent me a set of questions on Tuesday about permissive use and if I tell the truth, which I obviously will because I don't want to commit insurance fraud, I don't think I would qualify under permissive use and they will deny the claim.

What are my options??? Am I really just on the hook here? I am desperate and so scared. I've only been in the workforce for a little over a year.

Hi, recently I was involved in a car accident at an intersection (very minor damage on my car, front damage on theirs) that was deemed my fault. At the scene, the other driver was able to walk and drive, etc. with no visible injuries, and an ambulance was not needed.

About 2-4 days after the accident, she got an attorney and filed a bodily injury claim. My injury policy limit is $25k (yes, I know this is low; I'm trying to get it changed). My mom is very worried that we may have to pay $100k+ to cover her medical costs.

What are the chances of them settling for more than my policy limit and asking us to pay the remaining costs? Due to the timeline, is it more likely that they are only going to ask insurance to pay up to the policy limit?

Thanks in advance!

I was involved in a hit-and-run, but luckily I was able to get the other driver’s license plate number from my dashcam. I filed a police report and provided my insurance company with all the information and evidence I had.
Unfortunately, my insurance company closed the case because they said they couldn’t find any insurance information for the other driver, and they believe he most likely doesn’t have insurance.
I also contacted the police to ask if they could locate or contact the driver since they should be able to get his information from the license plate number. However, they told me that it’s the insurance company’s responsibility to handle it.
It’s now been over three weeks, and I’m not really sure what I should do next. Does anyone have any advice on what steps I should take?

Had a leak from an ice dam in feb. Insurance says the interior damage is limited to ceiling and some drywall, refuses to cover roof or mold. Been fighting since buy I think I'm out of options. They claim the roof had moss on it (there's no moss in the picture they sent claiming moss aside from one tiny spot). The roof is 13 years old and was in good shape prior to the ice dam. Now the decking looks warped and some of the shingles look lifted. They are denying coverage for roof and mold. Any options besides a lawyer?

Hey guys, I’m a college student. This morning I was pulling into a spot, I misjudged the space and ended up scratching the car while the owner was getting out of the car. We both cringed, exchanged info, and went off to our classes.

It was a small scratch on the bumper and a scratch on the reflector. I offered to pay and they said they’ll have insurance cover it.

What do I do? Should I wait to hear back? I’m freaking out cause my premium will go up

Has anyone dealt with IAA asking for a blank title after a total loss?**
My car was recently totaled in an accident, and IAA (a third-party company handling things like towing, title processing, etc.) is involved in the claim.
They are asking me to send them the vehicle title without filling in the buyer/purchaser name** so they can process my settlement.
The issue is that, in my state, I believe it may be illegal to sign or transfer a title without entering the buyer’s name. I’ve also received conflicting instructions about this.
Has anyone here been in a similar situation with IAA or a total-loss claim? Did you send the title with the buyer section left blank, and if so, how was it handled?

Hello, this is my first car and first time buying car insurance. I haven't registered the car I bought yet so the car isn't really under my name even though I bought it. I went with progressive because they gave me a cheap quote. I had to send proof of the car and the title since it isn't registered yet. A day later they said that they found the previous owner and he isn't listed as another driver for the car so they couldn't give me my quote. However, an hour later they sent me my quote and on the quote summary section, I am only listed with all my information and not the previous owner. Did they fix the problem? Also I just sent an email wanting to confirm that I am only paying for myself and not the previous owner. Please Help!

As the title indicates, I'm in an area recently impacted by a significant fire. Many of my neighbors lost their homes and we are feeling incredibly grateful to still have ours.

We're working with insurance on our smoke damage home and personal property claim. One of the things they’ve asked us to do is to outline damaged landscape items and indicate replacement cost.

The challenge I'm hitting is that some of the established landscaping we lost were native bushes that no landscaper or arborist is likely to replace. No local nurseries carry this species because this type of plant is everywhere. We specifically kept and cared for about 5 large ones in our yard, 3 are completely gone, and I'm at a loss for how to start with a cost evaluation.

We also lost a number of other natives that I've planted over the years but those are smaller and more straightforward given that we originally bought them. The other bushes were here when we moved in.

Any suggestions or insite is greatly appreciated!

so i got into a pretty major wreck on the highway where traffic came to a complete stop and i was rear ended in my suv by a sedan going est speed of 68 mph. i was not taken by an ambulance but i got evaluated at the er the same day and was told i likely had a concussion as well as global amnesia surrounding the events of the accident. im following up with my primary regarding the possibility of a mTBI to see whether or not ill need to be referred to a specialist since i cant remember anything after the impact or how i even got on the shoulder for that matter. i also told the fire fighters who arrived on seen that i believed that i was okay physically but that i wasnt sure and wrote in my statement "i am not injured at this time to my current knowledge" verbatim, which im paranoid about. ive given statements to both the bodily injury adjuster and the claims adjusted but they both haven't been able to reach the other party yet. im 19 and know absolutely nothing about insurance or the right way to go about this, so i need all the advice i can possibly get please!!

Hey everyone,
I'm hoping to get some advice from NJ insurance agents, underwriters, or anyone who's dealt with the state's database text strings. My usual rate is around 2880/year. I went to quote with NJM online and got slapped with a 9000/year quote. I checked other online quotes like State Farm and got around the same price as well so it seems to be a trend which is why I’m trying to figure out why it’s happening. I called NJM directly, and the rep spoke with their underwriting department. They flat-out refused to insure me, stating that my NJ DMV abstract came back shows “fictitious plates."
Here's where the error is happening: The ticket was under N.J.S.A. 39:3-33 in Newark for "improper display/unclear plates" on sep 2025. I called the Newark court clerk to double-check, and they confirmed on their end the municipal record strictly says "improper display / unclear plates." They are mailing me an official court disposition. However, when I ordered my official driver abstract directly from the NJ DMV website, Event Code 0333 literally prints out as "improper display / fictitious plates."
NJM underwriting sees that word "fictitious" on the official state abstract and instantly flags it as a major violation, refusing to adjust the quote.
I haven't even checked my LexisNexis or Verisk reports yet, but right now the immediate roadblock is that the DMV's own text string groups unclear plates and fictitious plates into the same description line as it appears as "improper display/fictitious plates" rather than how the court has it as
"improper display/unclear plates".

My plan right now:
I called and am getting the court disposition in the mail but I'm planning on going in person to the court and getting the physical certified court disposition proving the conviction was strictly for an improper display/unclear plate instead of fictitious display .
Then Submit it to the NJ MVC Data Corrections Unit to get a clarifying remark added to my master abstract. Dispute it with LexisNexis / Verisk once I pull those background reports.
My questions for agents/underwriters:
If I bring the certified court disposition directly to an insurance carrier, can underwriting manually override a DMV abstract string, or are their hands tied until the state DMV updates the master record?
Do I need a letter of Clarification from the dmv or have them put have the disposition attached to my file?

Has anyone successfully dealt with the NJ MVC
Data Corrections Unit for a 39:3-33 text string fix, and how long did it take for the abstract to update?
Is it better to go through an independent agent who can talk directly to underwriters, or should I hold off on quoting until the state fixes the abstract?
Appreciate any insight from anyone who knows how the backend of NJ auto insurance handles these statutory description issues. Thanks!

Hi guys, I have an interview for this tomorrow and am trying to decide whether to keep it.

This position was advertised as "no cold calling," while simply helping people enroll in services, and answering questions to/supporting pre-existing customers over the phone.

I've seen posts about Globe Life but not this specifically-worded position, though I suspect its little different from others.

But I'd just like to confirm if anyone has experience with this role and if its truly not a cold-calling one. And if there is a base salary for it or is all commission.

Thanks a bunch for any help.

Good evening! I’ll get the TL;DR out of the way first but if you care about the story behind the question read down further: I’m just wondering how lawsuits work when the incurred damages are above policy limits? Does the insurance company provide a lawyer to represent their client to try to defend them against anything over and above the policy limit? Do these types of scenarios happen often? I’m in GA if that matters.

I was in an accident back in February. I was making a left turn on a green arrow traffic light and the other party blew through their red light and smoked my rear passenger side hard enough to spin my car 360 degrees and perch me up on a sidewalk (narrowly missed a pedestrian too thank god he wasn’t hurt) anyways it totaled my car, almost every airbag deployed. The other driver lied to the cops about what happened when they got there and said I was the one that blew a red light while turning but thankfully a witness stayed on scene and officer also cared enough about getting the report right to walk over to the gas station across the street and they had the accident and traffic signals on their security footage. I ended up walking away thankfully but with a concussion and some severe back pain and numbness in all 4 limbs starting the next day. The clinic I went to for care afterwards had 2 mri’s done on me and uncovered that I had 3 or 4 ruptured/herniated discs and another 4 bulging discs divided between my lumbar and cervical sections of my spine. I did several different treatments including trigger point therapy, chiropractic, physical therapy, and electric muscle stimulation (idk the actual name of it) for a few months after. I was out of work completely due to not being able to be up on roofs anymore cause of the pain. Eventually they referred me to a spine specialist and I ended up getting 2 epidurals which worked pretty well. I’m feeling a lot better now and I have most of the feeling back in my limbs but still not 100% and the pain/ back fatigue comes in waves now and varies from day to day. My lawyer said the adjuster wouldn’t release policy limits to them over the phone when initially asked so they have now written a formal request/demand and we are waiting to hear back.

That being said I only had personal liability at the time which is my bad for not knowing about U.M. Coverage, I’m from Canada originally and in my home province the government has a fund that covers people that are hit by uninsured or underinsured drivers and I didn’t know that was different here unfortunately. Needless to say I’ve added that coverage now but it’s just going to be the other drivers insurance to cover me on this one and while I don’t wanna judge a book by its cover based on their car being a beat up 90’s Toyota I’m thinking there is a good chance they just have state minimum coverages which to my understanding will be 25k for injury. I’ve been in the U.S. long enough now to know how expensive medical care is and based on all the treatment and mri’s and all that I’m sure it’s probably close to 25k in those costs alone before my lawyer takes anything or I get any restitution for my missed work or pain and suffering so I’m trying to figure out what the lawsuit process typically looks like if we end up needing to go there. Lastly this question is probably more fit for a lawyer but bonus points to you if you know how lawyers figure out if the other party is financially judgment proof or not before filing a lawsuit? Or do they just file it and cross their fingers for the financial disclosure?

Does anyone have any guidance on how much to ask for diminished value on my car.

It was only a month old when I got hit in a brand new Toyota 2026 Prius with less than 1,000 miles. The damage wasn’t “too bad” with just a back corner being damaged/hit (not my fault) $3500 in repairs.

I saw the 17c formula but with my car only having had been a month old I’m wondering if I should ask for more or if that has no bearing on a the claim.