Expert: Richard Hixenbaugh - 11/5/2009

Question
Hi Richard,

I want to thank you in advance for spending time answering my question.  I will try to make it short and simple.  My wife damage(serious scratch) the driver side of her car when trying to get into a small parking space.  Luckily the speed is low and it was against the wall.  A shop estimated it to be around 2k to fix while her car only worth about 10k.  Can we file a claim to our insurance company and pay only the deductible?  Will they accept a claim due to our own fault?  If they do, are we looking at a skyrocket insurance rate at the next renewal?  Thank you again for your help, Richard.

Regards,
zhaoyi

Answer
Hi Zhaoyi,

Yes you can file a claim and you would only be responsible for your deductible. This would be considered an at-fault event and may cause an increase in premium. The only way to learn if your rates will increase and by how much is to call your agent and ask. You should ask as a "hypothetical" question. Do not tell them at that point that an incident has actually occured, but just that you are seeking information. If the rate increase would be too high you may want to consider paying for the damage out of pocket.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh