An accident’s effect on your rates depends upon the circumstances of
the accident and how many claims you’ve had in recent years.
Comprehensive
claims are less likely to be your fault, so they typically won’t raise
your rates. Collision claims are more likely to hike up your rates.
If you’re at fault, it’s your first accident and damages are minor,
it may eliminate your good driver discount, but not much else. If you
weren’t at fault and the claims were through the other party’s
insurance, it likely won’t affect you either. If, however, you’ve
already made a few claims in a short period of time, any type of claim
may affect your rates since you appear to the insurer to be
accident-prone.
For example, some car insurance companies won’t impose a surcharge if
the accident didn’t cause damage or injury in excess of $1,000, unless
you have had two or more of this type of accident within the last three
years.
State insurance laws also come into play. Some states allow insurers
to surcharge drivers only for certain types of accidents or if damages
were over a certain monetary amount. New York’s Department of Insurance has terrific information for its residents, and your state’s insurance regulator may as well.
An accident typically will affect your rates anywhere from three to
five years; it depends upon state laws and the guidelines of your car
insurance company.