Friend Hit a Mailbox with My Car

[wankun]

On Friday night, my friend and I were installing suspension components in my car. We took it for a spin after we got done. My friend was the driver. He lost control, spun, and took out a mailbox. Police showed up, he received a reckless driving ticket.

The next morning, my dumbass decided to call the insurance and asked whether who would be responsible for the mailbox. The lady on the phone automatically opened a claim for me, said it is by law to keep it opened until she gets to speak to the homeowner and the driver. So, I have my friend (the driver) and the homeowner spoke to her, saying that it is okay with the homeowner for my friend to pay for the mailbox. Everything was fine, claim was closed, friend paid for mailbox. Under the claim details, it says that "they were notified of this claim for report purposes only. No one filed for damage through your policy and no payments were made."

I'm wondering if my rates will go up? The insurance said they couldn't tell me anything until the renewal. My friend is not a regular driver. This was the first time he drove my car only because he did the suspension installation for me, and he never will again.

Any advice is appreciated!

 

[jhuang]

Accidents are accidents and rates are according, since they have material fact of your accident, I'm leaning to answer yes, it may affect your rating class, but the rates are up to the insurance companies.

 

[wankun]

Accidents are accidents and rates are according, since they have material fact of your accident, I'm leaning to answer yes, it may affect your rating class, but the rates are up to the insurance companies.

Thank you for your quick response. I'm just mad at myself for calling the insurance at first place... Any ideas how much it would go up?

 

[djs]

In CA, it would be classified as a not-at-fault accident and would probably have no impact on your rates.

The permissive user can cause a non-renewal though. Be careful of that. Odds are, it won't, but it can cause a non-renewal.

If you have a claims free discount, this could potentially go away, though it shouldn't. There was no claim paid.

The person you talked to is correct. If you call the carrier to ask a claim question, they will always open a claim. Next time, call your agent. He'll (She'll) answer the question without opening the claim and actually answer the question most of the time.

Dan

 

[wankun]

In CA, it would be classified as a not-at-fault accident and would probably have no impact on your rates.

The permissive user can cause a non-renewal though. Be careful of that. Odds are, it won't, but it can cause a non-renewal.

If you have a claims free discount, this could potentially go away, though it shouldn't. There was no claim paid.

The person you talked to is correct. If you call the carrier to ask a claim question, they will always open a claim. Next time, call your agent. He'll (She'll) answer the question without opening the claim and actually answer the question most of the time.

Dan

Hi Dan,

Thank you very much for your response. I'm hoping it won't have any impact on the rates or the renewal. I would hate having to pay more when I wasn't at fault, although I let someone else drove my car.

 

[b61mack]

Yes, the agent would have said, go fix the mail box. And be sweet to the homeowner.

 

[wankun]

Yes, the agent would have said, go fix the mail box. And be sweet to the homeowner.

I really wish I knew this before calling the insurance :(
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In CA, it would be classified as a not-at-fault accident and would probably have no impact on your rates.

The permissive user can cause a non-renewal though. Be careful of that. Odds are, it won't, but it can cause a non-renewal.

If you have a claims free discount, this could potentially go away, though it shouldn't. There was no claim paid.

The person you talked to is correct. If you call the carrier to ask a claim question, they will always open a claim. Next time, call your agent. He'll (She'll) answer the question without opening the claim and actually answer the question most of the time.

Dan

Hopefully it won't affect anything. It doesn't make much sense if they would because they didn't pay a penny.