How Car Accidents Affect Your Insurance Rates

Liability

Depending on whether your insurance policy is governed by a no-fault or an at-fault regime can have a direct and significant impact on your car insurance rates.

The most distinctive difference between at-fault and no-fault insurance policies is who pays for the injured party’s damages. An at-fault insurance system is based on direct liability. The driver who caused the accident is responsible for the damages to other parties involved in the motor vehicle accident.

In no-fault insurance claims, each victim receives payment for their own medical expenses and lost wages under the applicable no-fault state law. Since your insurer would be obligated to pay for your injuries no matter who caused the accident, there’s a possibility that your rates would go up.

If you weren’t at fault for an accident, it might not count against you, although that also varies by company and by state. Most of the states in the U.S, including Georgia, is an at-fault state.

This means that the payment of medical expenses and vehicle damage after the accident is determined by the driver who caused it and their insurance companies.

It would be in your best interest to prove that the accident is not your fault to avoid the increase in your insurance rates. There are specific methods used to determine who is at fault in an accident.

Obtaining a police report is one of the best ways to prove fault in a car accident. A police report is a piece of essential evidence as presenting this written documentation from the authorities would prevent the insurance company from denying your claim.

This written documentation from the responding officer often contains evidence about liability, such as the opinion of the officer about how the accident took place. This would also include written statements from the parties involved, the traffic violations that took place, and citations that were given to the liable party.