As an injury attorney who takes calls on an injury helpline and hotline, and handles motor vehicle accidents, I put the above query in the top 5 most commons asked questions to personal injury lawyers. When someone is involved in a car accident, they often wonder if their insurance premiums will increase. I do not have a definitive answer to this question. With many insurance companies providing coverage for car accidents, every insurance company has their own formula for calculating premium increases(if any) after an accident. The formula may include the number of claims on a policy, amount of damage to the vehicle and which driver is at fault. Most major insurance companies, such as Allstate, Geico, State Farm and Progressive, may have some policies with “accident forgiveness” but the exact policy varies among companies. Some carriers charge extra to have accident forgiveness while others will award the policy holder with the program after an unspecified number of months with safe driving. Additionally, accident forgiveness may not apply to claims above a certain dollar threshold.
Insurance is a complex business and the best way to find out how an accident affects your rates is to call your insurance company directly after a loss.
