Here’s How Accidents Can Affect Car Insurance Premium Plans

like medical insurance, car insurance is just as important since cars play an important role in our lives. For some people, their cars are directly connected to their livelihood. Just think about someone who has to travel a long distance just to get to work. They can’t afford not to have a car, and because of this, insurance companies have a lot of thinking to do to maintain their huge number of clients.

These insurance providers have to take into account that there are numerous competitors out there that can provide the clients with a sustainable-enough cost to cover their bills without pushing them away. However, when these clients face accidents, it can surely influence the pricing equation at the renewal time, whether the accident was their fault or not. That being said, here are some reasons why this can happen.

Jeshoots/Pexels | Some of these reasons might shock you

1. Making A Claim

Clients get hit with a higher premium after they have made a car insurance claim. This is because the clients lose their no-claims discount, often referred to as NCD. The NCD is a kind of reward awarded to clients that do not make any claims throughout their policy tenure. So, when it is time to renew their insurance, they get a discounted price.

NCDs can easily drop the price by a whopping 80 percent. It doesn’t matter if you’ve gone for years without making a claim. But, as soon as you do, the prices are bound to go up. The good thing is that NCDs can be transferred from one insurer to the other, so you don’t have to worry about missing out on a discount when you switch your insurer.

Pixabay/Pexels | Insurers reward you for not getting in a car accident

2. ‘At Fault’ And ‘No-Fault’ Claim

The increased amount of premium insurance can also be influenced by the status of the client and the accident, whether they were at fault or not. As you can imagine, clients who are at fault instantly receive an increased rate at renewal in comparison to people who are deemed to be not at fault. A no-fault claim is when a policyholder gets into an accident that they didn’t cause. For example, if you are waiting at a stop sign and suddenly a car crashes into you, then you are not at fault, but if you were breaking a red-light signal and then being met with an accident, then you are at fault.

3. Risk Assessment

If you are not satisfied with your current car insurance firm and you decide to switch, the new car insurance firm is going to inquire whether or not you have previously made insurance claims. Accordingly, then, they will proceed to ask you for specific details so they can start their risk assessment process and give you the high premium cost. This cost will most likely be higher than the cost when you had not filed a claim.

Andrea/Pexels | You cannot hide any previous insurance claims since they can render the policy null and void

So, all you have to do is to protect your car from getting into accidents.