If you are in a car accident and the other driver was at-fault and uninsured, can your insurercharge youa deductible?
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If you are in a car accident and the other driver was at-fault and uninsured, can your insurercharge youa deductible?
We received a check for the estimate on our car repair minus the $500 deductible. The repair service who fixed our car says that our insurance cannot charge more than a $250 deductible since we were not at-fault. Is this true? Also, can the accident go against us since they had to file it as uninsured motorist claim? Can they do that when we were not at-fault? Our car is fixed but we are out $500 and are concerned about our rates being raised for a case of someone being charged with following us too close.
Asked on May 11, 2011 under Accident Law, Georgia
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
1) Your repair service should stick to repairing cars. Insurance is a contract. The deductible is whatever the insurance contract says it is--period. That is the deductible you agreed to and paid for. Certainly, it's possible for an insurance contract to provide for different types or causes of action--not that I'm aware of any that do--but if that were the case, that would be in the policy. The repair service might be commenting on the fact that a $250 deductible on collision in GA may be the most common deductible.
2) Insurers have considerable discretion in how they quote out prices and premiums. They can look at the history of accidents. There is no way to stop an accident from being taken into account, even if you were rear ended, but you can certainly get competitive quotes from other insurers to reduce your rates.
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