About Bennie719 Expertise I have extensive knowledge in Personal Auto, Homeowners Insurance and Personal Umbrella coverage. I am also thoroughly familiar with claims handeling procedures. Will answer questions related to the above.
Experience Experience in the area: Served as an expert at askme.com from 7/2000 thru 10/2002 in the catagories of general insurance, auto and home insurance. Answered 422 questions before that site closed. Licensed in California since 1961, first in Life and Health for 2 + years and as a Property/Casualty Agent/Broker since 1964. I sold my business and took early retirement in 1998. Still maintain a valid California Property/Casualty Agent/Broker license.
I have been a volunteer at allexperts.com since 2002. I can provide assistance in the following fields: Property and Casualty Insurance, Insurance Law, Auto Insurance Claims.
Question A few days ago someone scratched my car. From the looks of it, they came too close with they're own car and managed to scratch the whole length of the car. The larger portion of damage is located on the rear bumper, you can see that it's scratch all the way down, but the rest is not so bad, some is just the other cars paint, and maybe a layer or two taken off my paint in other spots( my car is red and you can see the white paint coating ).
Should I put in a claim to my insurance company for this, or will it just come back to me with higher insurance payments? If I put in a claim for the damage, but end up paying an extra 500$ a year for this damage to my car, it might not be worth it.
Answer Hi Jean,
This type loss will be considered a loss by collision, so your higher deductible will apply.
Since there was no identified party from which your company has the legal right of recovery,
it will also be considered a fault accident against you.
Every province has a law that establishes a threshold that the TOTAL damages must exceed
before the accident can be used as a factor in the setting of your insurance rate.
An accident with no injury only counts as one point. your province may require that you
have 2 points or more before there is a rate increase. You can learn those rules from
your agent. You should learn the threshold limits and secure an estimate of repair before
reporting the accident.
I hope you find this helpful. Your feedback by rating my response will be appreciated.
