by Guest » Mon May 04, 2009 04:07 am
Hi everyone,
I owned an '89 ford mustang up a hill with a high speed limit. As I was driving up the hill someone in a blue audi cut in front of me driving slower than I was. I swerved out of the way to avoid hitting him and slid off the road, through a fence, and partially down a slope. I had 3 witnesses stop.
Two of the witnesses saw me get cut off and testified that to the police. The last witness saw the guy stop at a light about 500 feet from the accident and run the light to drive away. Nobody got plates on the car.
I'm 24 years old. I was in an accident that was my fault about 5 years ago resulting in about $20,000 in damages. About 7 years ago I was in a no fault accident resulting in $500 in damages. About 7 years ago I had a a ticket for 40 in a 25 zone. 3 years ago I got a DUI. Since then I have not had anything on my record. This accident resulted in a total of my car. My insurance is giving me $4,650 (after $1,000 deductible reduction) and letting me keep the car. The tow bill was $390. About 6 posts in a County fence were knocked down in the process (which looks to be anywhere between $800 and $2,400).
Will my insurance premiums go up? How much should I be paying in insurance?
I owned an '89 ford mustang up a hill with a high speed limit. As I was driving up the hill someone in a blue audi cut in front of me driving slower than I was. I swerved out of the way to avoid hitting him and slid off the road, through a fence, and partially down a slope. I had 3 witnesses stop.
Two of the witnesses saw me get cut off and testified that to the police. The last witness saw the guy stop at a light about 500 feet from the accident and run the light to drive away. Nobody got plates on the car.
I'm 24 years old. I was in an accident that was my fault about 5 years ago resulting in about $20,000 in damages. About 7 years ago I was in a no fault accident resulting in $500 in damages. About 7 years ago I had a a ticket for 40 in a 25 zone. 3 years ago I got a DUI. Since then I have not had anything on my record. This accident resulted in a total of my car. My insurance is giving me $4,650 (after $1,000 deductible reduction) and letting me keep the car. The tow bill was $390. About 6 posts in a County fence were knocked down in the process (which looks to be anywhere between $800 and $2,400).
Will my insurance premiums go up? How much should I be paying in insurance?
Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 11:49 am Post Subject:
Hi Tehmatt, if the accident wasn't your fault and you can have the witnesses vouch for that, your premium rate might remain unaltered.
However, you indeed have a tinted driving record, so better you be careful with driving and yeah, try to improve your driving record at the same time.
Thanks,
Rupert
Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 12:47 pm Post Subject:
If your adjuster does their job (getting statements from witnesses etc...and assuming they are independent witnesses) then this would be considered a non-chargeable (not at fault) accident/claim, and therefore no rate up for this claim.
Your carrier will pay for the fencing etc..most likely as an innocent third party...
No way for us to say what you should be paying in premiums...you should'nt be paying anymore after this accident assuming the facts are as you stated, and verifiable..
Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 04:55 am Post Subject:
Hi Tehmatt,
I think getting $4,650 and retaining the car isn't too bad for the circumstances.
Did the last witness testify whatever he saw?
From what you've said I could see the last one that you had was some 3 years back. I guess you had a clean track record since then. Remember that your insurance carrier is aware of your driving record. Probably they won't count upon the past records afresh if the latest one was none of your fault. Roddick
Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 04:57 am Post Subject:
Lori, don't you think that the OP with his driving record would find it difficult to convince the insurer that he wasn't responsible for the damages? The insurer might not buy his story and he may experience rate increase.
Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 05:08 am Post Subject:
I had a similar driving record at a similar age. I had a Columbus, Ohio based insurance company and they opted to switch me to high risk coverage for about $200.00 more a month. It all came down to the patterns of my driving habits, even though I was not at fault for all my accidents. I guess it came down to when was my really big accident going to happen. The way I think they looked at it was that one person can't be that unlucky. 15 years later and more grown up I'm paying less then 400 for the year.
Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 10:54 pm Post Subject:
Lori, don't you think that the OP with his driving record would find it difficult to convince the insurer that he wasn't responsible for the damages? The insurer might not buy his story and he may experience rate increase.
Possible but in this case he had a total of three (independent i hope) witnesses backing him up, then he should be ok...also if all things are equal and nothing to dispute the insured's version, then most generally (always really) the insured's carrier will give them the benefit of the doubt.Posted: Wed May 06, 2009 01:27 pm Post Subject:
Hi,
That's what leads me to believe that the presence of the last witness some 500 feet away and two others already testified would make things easier for him.
But what if the witnesses are not independent? Does that make a great difference in this particular situation? Roddick
Posted: Wed May 06, 2009 10:48 pm Post Subject:
But what if the witnesses are not independent? Does that make a great difference in this particular situation?
Sure would (if I was handling the claim anyway :wink: ) If they are not independent witnesses most especially with a 'phantom vehicle' claim I wouldn't give them much credit, but mostly likely these are independentPosted: Thu May 07, 2009 07:06 am Post Subject:
had a similar driving record at a similar age. I had a Columbus, Ohio based insurance company and they opted to switch me to high risk coverage for about $200.00 more a month. It all came down to the patterns of my driving habits, even though I was not at fault for all my accidents.
So, you were charged for being at the wrong place at the wrong time, right? :wink:
Posted: Sat May 09, 2009 12:53 pm Post Subject:
So, you were charged for being at the wrong place at the wrong time, right?
Right. Even I can't be that unlucky, I must have been contributing to the accidents in some way even if I did not see it at the time.
Add your comment