I recently got into an accident while I was driving for school. Should I report this accident to my insurance company? Will he be covered by my insurance? How will that affect my insurance rate? I am 19 years old.

Carl

Las Vegas, NV

Yes.

You should report all accidents to your insurance company, including this one. In most cases, anyone using your car with your permission is covered by your insurance. Your insurance will pay just as if you were the driver. Though in some states, some insurance companies might limit the coverage. Avoid putting your insurance company at a disadvantage in case other people involved in the accident would sue by reporting all accidents, regardless of who is driving your car.

Your insurance should not be affected if you are not at fault in that accident. But if you were at fault, or if you got a ticket for a serious violation such as drunk driving, your rates would certainly increase when you renew your policy. When you get a ticket or get into an accident, you are categorized into a higher risk group of people who have recently been in an accident. It takes you out of the accident-free group that you are supposed to be in before that accident. So better drive safe next time to cut down on insurance costs.

Why do car insurance applications include questions about for credit history or if you have claimed bankruptcy in the past?

Sarah

Birmingham, AL

There is much debate over the use of credit scoring to determine car insurance rates. There have been similar issues in the past with regards of using age, marital status, sex, etc.

Car insurance rates are not solely calculated based on credit score. There are other factors such as the type of car, where you live, driving record, etc. The purpose of getting all of this information is to correlate the insurance rate as closely as possible with the actual cost of potential claims. That is essential to understand.

Using insurance carrier statistics it is known that motorist with bad credit record historically file more accident claims than motorist with good credit. Credit score may also determine whether an applicant is likely to pay premiums in a timely fashion.

What happens if my car insurance policy is canceled and nobody else wants to insure me?

Maggie

Good question.

You don’t have to worry. Even when most car insurance companies won’t give you a policy, there is still a chance that some company might. There are companies that work solely with high risk drivers. Before giving up hope, get free auto insurance quotes online and shop around to see what all of the companies available have to offer.

If you still can’t find anyone to insure you under a policy, it might be time to join your state’s assigned risk car insurance pool. This pool randomly assigns you to one of the member companies which is then required to take you on as a customer. The rates for being part of an assigned risk pool are a lot higher than others.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.