Will Getting In An Accident Affect Your Insurance?

Experiencing the fallout of a car accident is no easy feat. You may have fears surrounding your injuries, material damages, and the loss of working ability, as well as overthink the outcome of your personal injury case. On top of that, many victims wonder does personal injury claim affect car insurance. 

While some of these fears are justified, you can breathe easy because if you weren’t at fault for the accident, the law protects you from any unfair increases in insurance premiums.

Continue reading to learn once and for all does personal injury claim affect car insurance.

Are insurers allowed to raise your rates after an accident?

According to the Florida Statute § 626.9541, insurance companies operating in Florida are prohibited from raising premiums for personal injury protection, liability, or medical payments. The only exception to this rule is a situation in which the insured was found to be substantially at fault. 

In other words, the insurance company may only up your rates if you were proven to be more than 50% responsible for the accident. Otherwise, if another party is liable for the personal injury event that transpired, an insurance company raising any rates would mean they’re committing a breach of contract. 

In the legal field, this insurer’s behavior is regarded to be in bad faith, which means they’re not fulfilling the terms of the insurance policy. As such, you need a personal injury lawyer to help protect your rights and keep the insurer accountable. 

No fault-law explained

Although you now know the answer to the question of does personal injury claim affect car insurance, there’s the issue of all the intricacies of the no-fault law and its effect on potential rate increases.

As you’re already aware, Florida is a no-fault state. The problem is that the term “no-fault” can be misleading as it doesn’t mean the fault is insignificant in the legal sense. Someone will always be responsible for an accident, whether no harm was intended or both parties are somehow responsible for the accident. 

The law states that every driver in the Sunshine State must carry Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage in their auto insurance policy. When you’re involved in an accident, this coverage will pay out a percentage of the damages up to the limit of the insurance, regardless of who caused the accident. 

This minimum PIP coverage is $10k and covers 60% of lost wages, 80% of medical bills, and 100% of replacement services. In case of death, it also contains a death benefit of $5k. While this is helpful to pay off some of the expenses, it will most likely leave you with some hefty out-of-pocket costs. This is why pursuing a personal injury case is recommended if you suffered substantial injuries or material damage. 

Why the fault percentage matters

The question of does a personal injury claim affect car insurance gains more complexity when you consider the percentage of the fault in the accident. Generally speaking, it’s illegal to raise any rates if the driver is not found “substantially at fault”. In percentages, this would mean more than 50% at fault. 

It’s worth noting that establishing this percentage requires an investigation into the circumstances of the accident. 

Let’s look at one example:

A person was rear-ended and did not receive a citation. At the same time, the insurance company of the other driver determines their client is 100% at fault. The innocent party recovers PIP compensation but also files a personal injury case in order to cover the full extent of the damage. If at that point their insurer raises their rates, it’s logical to assume they’re acting in bad faith since the driver isn’t responsible for the event. 

The same is true even if they were found to be 40% at fault because one of their brake lights was out - the insurer is still breaking the law by raising the rates. 

As a comparison, if the individual from the example above had both lights out and it was found they were over 70% at fault, the insurance company has the right to raise the driver’s rates. The rate increase will depend on a variety of factors, including the extent of the accident, property damage, credit score, and type of vehicle, among others. The increased rates may stay in effect for up to five years, and to help their clients, insurance companies may offer accident forgiveness programs. 

Additional penalties for personal injury incidents

Even if it’s ascertained you weren’t substantially at fault, your insurer has the right to penalize you for what happened. The Florida statute says insurers aren’t obligated to renew your policy if you were involved in three accidents within a timeframe of three years, in spite of you not being the one to blame. 

However, if they cancel the policy after you were involved in just two accidents, they are acting in bad faith and you’re well within your rights to hire a lawyer. 

Law Offices Of RITE can help protect you if your insurer is acting in bad faith

The law protects you when it comes to the issue of does your personal injury claim affect car insurance, yet, things sometimes pan out differently than they are supposed to. Fortunately, no matter how complex terms the insurer throws your way to justify their behavior, the law is clear in regards to insurance and you have solid grounds for legal action. 

With a skilled legal professional on your side, you can make sure the personal injury claim you file yields favorable results, as well as minimize the chances of the insurer infringing on your rights. Most insurance companies bank on legal ignorance of accident victims, which is why having legal representation is the best way to see to it that they play fairly.

In case you’re debating whether you can afford a lawyer, there’s no need to fret about it. Here at Law Offices Of RITE, we work on a contingency basis - we only get paid a small percentage of your settlement if we manage to win. There’s practically no risk involved plus we’re good at what we do so there’s that too.

Book a free case evaluation by calling (904) 500-RITE (7483) or sending an email to info@rite4justice.com and we’ll make certain you get what you’re rightfully entitled to.

Note: 

The information in this blog post is for reference only and not legal advice. As such, you should not make legal decisions based on the information in this blog post. Moreover, there is no lawyer-client relationship resulting from this blog post, nor should any such relationship be implied. If you need legal counsel, please consult a lawyer licensed to practice in your jurisdiction.