In 2005 I was in an accident, not my fault. My 1997car was totaled, due to a small area of body damage. I kept the car. Comparing notes with my friend, he said I should not have been paying for collision these past 4 years. When I called to tell my insurance company I bought a new car, I asked why my rates didn’t go down after the accident. They said only I could have made a change. Question: what would have happened had I been in another accident that would have “totaled” my car a second time. Would they deny me. Are they obliged to counsel customers about keeping collision insurance on an already totaled car. Do I have any recourse. Could I get a refund. (My question mark key is gone on my keyboard.)
Insurance coverage after my car was totaled?
09
Mar
Kenny
March 9, 2010 at 8:00 am
You can get collision coverage on a car that has been totalled and repaired. So, no you cannot get a refund because had you been at fault in an accident they would have covered for the damages.
MSAD
March 9, 2010 at 8:28 am
The insurance company does not automatically drop your collision coverage. You have to call your agent to do that.
In the last 4 years, you would have gotten a renewal notice every 6 months. Each time you renew, you get a copy of your Declarations Page. That page shows what coverage you pay for. In 4 years, that means you got 6-8 renewal notices that clearly showed that you had collision coverage and were paying premium for it. If you wanted that coverage dropped….you needed to call your agent and make that change. As it is, you were on notice that you were paying for that coverage.
Had you repaired the minor damage to your car and damaged your car again – then the claim would have been paid to repair the car. If the car was a total loss – their may have been some deduction for the salvage history….but you would have been paid something for the car.
If you did not have that old damage repaired then that old damage would have been kept in mind when handling a future claim. The company would not pay to repair that previously un-repaired damaged area again.
Had your car been deemed a total loss the second time and you had not repaired the old damage- all the insurance company would have owed you is the reduction in salvage value less your deductible.
However, another accident did not happen. Therefore, there is no point in thinking about “what if” and “maybe”. As it is….you paid for coverage and that coverage was provided.
Now that you know you no longer want the collision coverage – I suggest you call your agent and have that coverage dropped.