Will filing an insurance claim raise my rates?

3/8/2023 (Permalink)

If you're in an accident, file a claim with your insurance company. But will filing a claim raise your rates? The answer is complicated and depends on many factors. Your insurer might charge you more to make up for paying out money from the claim, or it might not change anything at all. To find out, first check with your insurer about whether filing a claim will affect your premiums at all. Then consider whether waiting until after the next time you renew your policy would be better than filing that claim now.

Insurance claims are common.

Claims are common. It's important to remember that this figure represents all claims across all types of insurance products, homeowners' policies as well as auto and life insurance policies.

In addition to providing valuable information about how much money was spent on claims during this time period (and therefore how much money could potentially flow into your pocket), these figures also show us just how common it is for people like yourself who have filed an insurance claim against their house after some sort of disaster or accident at home. If you're worried about whether filing one will affect future premiums based on what happened with another customer years ago who didn't pay off his debt until 2026...don't worry! Nowhere does it say, if someone else files a claim against their home then yours will cost more.

Insurance claim processing

Most insurance companies ask you to pay a deductible when you make a claim. A deductible is the amount of money that you must pay before your insurer will pay its share of the costs associated with repairing or replacing damaged property.

Claims take time to process. The insurance company has to verify the claim and make sure it's valid before they pay you. Once they do that, they'll pay out some money immediately (called "advanced payments") while waiting for contractors to complete the work and make sure everything was done correctly.

If your contractor isn't available right away or if there are complications with getting an estimate from them, this can delay things even further.

Claims can change your premiums.

Claims can change your premiums, but might not raise them for a long time. Insurance companies look at claims history when setting premiums, so if you make a claim, you may be charged higher rates for a few years. However, if you have a good track record with the company and have been with them for several years (which is why they gave you insurance in the first place), then they may give discounts on future policies or even offer new ones at lower rates.

Check with your insurance company.

Before filing a claim, it is important to check with your insurance company to determine how they handle claims. Some may have a policy of increasing rates after a claim has been made. Others will not raise premiums until the following year, but then keep those increased rates for 3 years or more. If you have had multiple claims within the past three years, this could be an indication that your driving record is not ideal and could result in higher premiums when purchasing new coverage.

The best way to know if filing a claim will raise your insurance rates is to contact your insurance company. Most of them will be able to tell you how claims affect premiums, and they may even offer special discounts for customers who have not filed any claims in the past few years.