Expert: Bennie719 - 1/31/2008

Question
A friend borrowed my car and hit someone in the parking lot. My insurance company is Geico. The friend also had insurance at the time but his company is saying that liability follows the car, not the driver. Now Geico is willing to cover the liability damage (around $1600) but is refusing to give a clear answer how this claim will affect my rates. All they are saying is that underwriters look at all claims when the policy comes up for renewal.

I have heard of nasty situations where the payout was small (~$1500) but the accident surcharge was 40% for 3 years - so the insured ended up paying nearly the full amount of the accident damage through increased rates.

Do you have any experience if this accident *might* increase my rates? I am willing to exclude this friend from my policy.

Rgds

Answer
Hi A George,
I am assuming that you are posing the possible rate increase question to the adjusters handling the claim.  This is totally out of their field of knowledge.
A telephone call directly to your own Agent should give you a correct answer in less than 5 minutes.
It should not be necessary to exclude your friend unless he/she is a resident of your household.
I hope this has been of help.
Your feedback by rating my answer will be appreciated.
Sincerely,
Bennie
San Francisco Bay Area