Car Accident (not a major one)

[albertGQ]

Originally Posted by REDVAN

How long is the insurance premium going up for-

because if you go through insurance it'll cost you at least 1900 (deductible plus next years raise in rate)

if you pay it yourself it is 2800. so will your rates stay 900 more for the 2nd year, or will it go down? Because then you'll actually pay less if you go through insurance.

don't know if it solves the problem, but it is maybe something you didn't think of yet.

That's the thing. I'm not too sure, but I think it will stay at the higher level since they'll drop my driving rating from a 4 to a 0. Since that's probably the case, that also makes me lean towards paying it on my own

[Burninator]

So it will either cost you either $1900 (through insurance) or $2800 on your own? Wow insurance is such a scam. I would assume your premiums would stay the same the follow year or longer, correct? Costing you another $900?

If you can afford it I would pay it up front.

EDIT: Ah too slow

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by Burninator

Wow insurance is such a scam.

This is an attitude I don't quite understand. Insurance was never meant to deal with minor claims, it's meant to deal with large ones.

Would you really be happier if insurance was not mandatory (and this really only applies to the liability section) and everyone drove around un-insured? Some one rear ends you and then says "Sorry! I have no insurance! To bad for you!" Or you are injured in a car accident and have to pay all of the expenses yourself?

The number of people that complain about insurance rates is boggling. Meanwhile, most of us are paying almost half of our paycheques to the goverment in the form of tax and hardly anyone makes a peep about that.

This is the real scam we should be worried about.

[CRXguy]

Personally, I would pay out of my own pocket. Who is insuring you, anyways?

Have you tried shopping around other bodyshops? I know of a few people who had bad experiences with A-1, and they usually quote a whole lot more than their competition.

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

This is an attitude I don't quite understand. Insurance was never meant to deal with minor claims, it's meant to deal with large ones.

Would you really be happier if insurance was not mandatory (and this really only applies to the liability section) and everyone drove around un-insured? Some one rear ends you and then says "Sorry! I have no insurance! To bad for you!" Or you are injured in a car accident and have to pay all of the expenses yourself?

The number of people that complain about insurance rates is boggling. Meanwhile, most of us are paying almost half of our paycheques to the goverment in the form of tax and hardly anyone makes a peep about that.

This is the real scam we should be worried about.

I'm assuming you or someone you know works for an insurance company. Insurance is only useful if you write off your car, someone elses car, or you kill/injure someone. I understand that. But insurance is still a rip off. Let's take me for example. I pay about $260 a month for my car insurance. I'm young, driving a new car, with a perfect record, and no claims. If I get into an accident, minor or major, and I go through insurance to cover the costs, my rate will automatically go up, presuming it's my fault. That doesn't make any sense. So what I am paying this $260 a month for? Worst case senario apparently. Why should my rate go up? All this money that I have been paying to this company has meant nothing! Roughly I have paid $15 000 in insurance in my lifetime (5 years of driving). I get into a situation like AlbertaGQ here and I end up paying for the total cost of the accident through my raise in my payments. How is that not a scam?! My money has effectively gone done the tube.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by Burninator

I'm young, driving a new car

Well that's part of the problem there. A person who has been driving for one year with no accidents could claim the same thing. Assuming you have been paying the same rate you are paying now all along, you would have been driving for about 4 year? Is that really enough time to expect to have cheap rates? If you keep going the way you are right now, your rates are going to drop to a far cheaper rate in the very near future.

I'm not saying don't drive a new car but don't buy one that is going to cost you that much. You don't HAVE to have anything past liability on your car so why bother paying for anything else?

You don't have to write a car off for insurance to be useful. You said you have paid 15000 to date on your insurance. We have a friend of the family who just t-boned a 2005 Ford F250 doing 27000 in damages. Did not even come close to writing the vehicle off, would you want to have to foot that bill yourself?

I understand your frustration, I really do, but like I said, if you hold the course you are on already, you rates WILL drop to a level you find far more reasonable. I just think some people expect their rates to be cheap well before they have proven to themselves or anyone else that they are a good, responsible driver.

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

Well that's part of the problem there. A person who has been driving for one year with no accidents could claim the same thing. Assuming you have been paying the same rate you are paying now all along, you would have been driving for about 4 year? Is that really enough time to expect to have cheap rates?

I'm not saying don't drive a new car but don't buy one that is going to cost you that much. You don't HAVE to have anything past liability on your car so why bother paying for anything else?

You don't have to write a car off for insurance to be useful. You said you have paid 15000 to date on your insurance. We have a friend of the family who just t-boned a 2005 Ford F250 doing 27000 in damages. Did not even come close to writing the vehicle off, would you want to have to foot that bill yourself?

I said I've been driving for 5 years now. It is a rip off that new drivers are given such terrible rates. It is a rip off because I am young and I bought a new car and I am paying a ton of money for insurance. Older people who are worse drivers, and have more claims pay less in insurance than me.

Why are new drivers automatically have the highest rates than anyone else on the road? Why don't they start everyone at the same rate and if they make lots of claims, then raise their rate. And if they don't lower their rate. That would be fair. The current system is very much unfair.

Owning a new car isn't the reasons why my rate is so high either. When I first started driving my car was a '92 Laser. Pretty close to a beater that old. My first couple of years my payments were around $350 a month, that's $4 200 a year, without colllision! I bought the car for $4 000. Don't tell me that isn't a rip off.

I don't understand why the insurance industry here in Alberta takes decades to get a decent rate. It not like when I get a credit card I pay a higher interest rate because I'm young.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by Burninator

Why are new drivers automatically have the highest rates than anyone else on the road?

Because they have yet to prove that they are safe drivers. All drivers do pretty much get started off at the same rate. Of course that will depend on the car you buy but if you are only paying for liability, EVERYONE pays the same price regardless of sex and age.

If you started driving 4 years ago, that would have been around the time the new grid rating system was introduced. Your rates (for liability only) would have been based on the number of years you have been licensed. You should have only been paying a max of $1800/yr (again, for liaiblity only) so if you were paying over $4000, there is either something you are not telling us or you went to very much the wrong insurance company.

I don't understand why the insurance industry here in Alberta takes decades to get a decent rate. It not like when I get a credit card I pay a higher interest rate because I'm young.

This is kinda like comparing apples to oranges. You go and totaly mess up with your CC, you are only hurting yourself. You go and mess up with a car, many people could be effected, possibly for life.

[Incinerator]

albertGQ have you tried borrowing from friends/relatives? The difference between your out of pocket cost & initial insurance claim cost doesn't seem to warrant a 7 year rate hike. If I were you I'd try every possible avenue to avoid going thru insurance. Get an unsecured personal line of credit at your bank if you have to, that 7-8% interest rate will still be less than your insurance premium hike. Worse comes to worst sell the RSX and get a newer used family sedan that should make up the difference plus drop your insurance rate a bit

[Nuje]

Umm...actually 4 years ago is about when I started driving, (almost 5 actually) and that was before EVERYONE paid the same rate. My first quote was $6700 a year when I was 16. Explain that please. For liability only...and I bought the car for $900. 4 Grand sounds about right. I simply had to sell the car BTW. Fun eh?

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

If you started driving 4 years ago, that would have been around the time the new grid rating system was introduced. Your rates (for liability only) would have been based on the number of years you have been licensed. You should have only been paying a max of $1800/yr (again, for liaiblity only) so if you were paying over $4000, there is either something you are not telling us or you went to very much the wrong insurance company.

This is what I paid right out of the gate. My friends where paying the around the same too. $1800?! What? Even 4 years after driving that car I was paying more than that. I'm always looking for new quotes, they have all been in the same ballpark. If you know a company that is charging rates like these I will get a quote and we can compare.

This is kinda like comparing apples to oranges. You go and totaly mess up with your CC, you are only hurting yourself. You go and mess up with a car, many people could be effected, possibly for life.

Okay, but does home insurance work this way? If I am a new home owner do I pay more for insurance because I'm not experienced in owning a home and I am more liable to burn it down?

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by fotze

I thought alot of policies gave you one free accident or something. Maybe gaingalltheway can tells us since he probably works in the biz..

Shop around and ask the question. I will recommend monnex again too.

Yes, I do work in the industry

No, no policy will give you a free accident, sort of. There are endorsements that you can apply to your policy once you have reached their top driving record that will, but no sooner. Most insurance companies will offer a degree of accident forgiveness though. Meaning if you have an at fault loss, they may knock your driving record back a few years as opposed to resetting it to "0".

[albertGQ]

Originally Posted by Incinerator

albertGQ have you tried borrowing from friends/relatives? The difference between your out of pocket cost & initial insurance claim cost doesn't seem to warrant a 7 year rate hike. If I were you I'd try every possible avenue to avoid going thru insurance. Get an unsecured personal line of credit at your bank if you have to, that 7-8% interest rate will still be less than your insurance premium hike. Worse comes to worst sell the RSX and get a newer used family sedan that should make up the difference plus drop your insurance rate a bit

Yeah, you're right. It does seem wiser to just pay it as opposed to going through insurance. I do work at a bank so I do have access to credit at a low rate (eg. mtg rate of 4.25%. can't beat that!! ). I'll probably just put the repairs on my MC (w/ staff rate, not my VISA @18.9%).

Oh, and I highly doubt that I'll be selling the RSX for a family sedan. I'm just not at that stage of my life yet