[jamala00]

Originally Posted by ember1205

The carriers require reporting of all incidents because even though they claim otherwise, they use it to rate your liability to them (the risk of having to pay a claim, even if one doesn't get paid out then and there). If they discover that you had some sort of "event" and didn't report it, it gives them grounds to terminate your contract (essentially because you didn't give them the opportunity to have increased your premium).

Does this happen a lot? No. But, it can happen. It's something to be aware of any time that any sort of event occurs.

Additionally, if you read the policies, there are provisions that ALSO allow them to deny coverage for what would be otherwise covered claims simply because it wasn't reported in a 'reasonable' amount of time. Call them up a month later to tell them that you discovered a problem and they might try pushing back on covering the repairs that would have otherwise been covered had you reported right away.

Yep, that is why in my post when I first read this, my first statement was report it to the insurance company.

[HDRDTD]

Originally Posted by ember1205

You have to read your own policy to see how it's stated. States allow for or require different specific items and languages, so there's no standard way that this stuff is written.

OK, then scan your policy which I'm guess has this statement, then crop the area containing the statement, post it here along with telling us which section of our policy it should be contained in so we can dig out our policy and confirm that our policy also contains that statement.

[ember1205]

Originally Posted by HDRDTD

OK, then scan your policy which I'm guess has this statement, then crop the area containing the statement, post it here along with telling us which section of our policy it should be contained in so we can dig out our policy and confirm that our policy also contains that statement.

Feel free to scan YOUR policy and make your own decision on what's there and how it applies to you. I carry no responsibility to prove to you what is in YOUR policy nor do I have to, in any way, convince you that you should "care" about the details of your policy.

[UnknownJinX]

You know the thing with legal fine prints... Nobody reads those. Does anyone read the legal stuff on all the software they install, for example?

I would be inclined to agree with mcintyre1969 here, since collision and comprehensive coverages are optional. With liability, it's a good idea to make a claim even if there is no apparent damage, just in case the other person decides to scam you.

Originally Posted by ember1205

The carriers require reporting of all incidents because even though they claim otherwise, they use it to rate your liability to them (the risk of having to pay a claim, even if one doesn't get paid out then and there). If they discover that you had some sort of "event" and didn't report it, it gives them grounds to terminate your contract (essentially because you didn't give them the opportunity to have increased your premium).

Does this happen a lot? No. But, it can happen. It's something to be aware of any time that any sort of event occurs.

Additionally, if you read the policies, there are provisions that ALSO allow them to deny coverage for what would be otherwise covered claims simply because it wasn't reported in a 'reasonable' amount of time. Call them up a month later to tell them that you discovered a problem and they might try pushing back on covering the repairs that would have otherwise been covered had you reported right away.

That's like saying that technically, cops can give you a speeding ticket for going 1 mph over the limit. It's still speeding. You just don't see it being reinforced to that extent because it's more work for everyone involved and there are bigger fish out there.

The obvious question is how do they discover it if no other party/person is involved? You'd have to have a reason for them to investigate. Investigation costs money and effort. In the case of a potential insurance scam, it is worth it, but in the case of "oops I bent my bumper on a wall and it costs $300 to fix it", I would love to see a real-life example of someone being dropped by insurance because of not reporting this.

I can see the last bit, but again, a good shop should give you an idea if anything else is damaged in their assessment.

[ember1205]

Originally Posted by UnknownJinX

You know the thing with legal fine prints... Nobody reads those. Does anyone read the legal stuff on all the software they install, for example?



That's like saying that technically, cops can give you a speeding ticket for going 1 mph over the limit. It's still speeding. You just don't see it being reinforced to that extent because it's more work for everyone involved and there are bigger fish out there.

The obvious question is how do they discover it if no other party/person is involved? You'd have to have a reason for them to investigate. Investigation costs money and effort. In the case of a potential insurance scam, it is worth it, but in the case of "oops I bent my bumper on a wall and it costs $300 to fix it", I would love to see a real-life example of someone being dropped by insurance because of not reporting this.

I can see the last bit, but again, a good shop should give you an idea if anything else is damaged in their assessment.

There are a lot of ways that an insurance company could be made aware of "previous repairs" having been done, especially when a repair shop is providing repairs for a "second event" where the first event was repaired outside of insurance. The repair shops will be required, under their contract with the insurance company, to provide details of their best assessment of the condition prior to the accident, and they very well may be able to identify prior repairs that the carrier knows nothing about. And at that point, your entire claim could be denied AND you could have your policy canceled.

[UnknownJinX]

Originally Posted by ember1205

There are a lot of ways that an insurance company could be made aware of "previous repairs" having been done, especially when a repair shop is providing repairs for a "second event" where the first event was repaired outside of insurance. The repair shops will be required, under their contract with the insurance company, to provide details of their best assessment of the condition prior to the accident, and they very well may be able to identify prior repairs that the carrier knows nothing about. And at that point, your entire claim could be denied AND you could have your policy canceled.

If the previous repair is subpar and caused more damage to the second event, then yes, that's the case. As I said, you gave them a reason to now justify the investigation money and paperwork.

I had two cars totalled in the flood more than 3 months ago and sure, I got the payout decently quickly, but one of the claims just closed and the other one is still technically open. You can just imagine the paperwork behind the scenes.

If the previous repair is done well with stock parts, there is a good chance the shop wouldn't even notice it's been repaired before. If they did and the insurance drops you, what is there for the insurance company to gain? Bad publicity? Potential lawsuit?

Ironically, insurance companies themselves are guilty of using cheap parts as a way to cut cost, as I pointed out.

Seriously, if there is an insurance company that will require me to report a slightly bent bumper from hitting a wall lightly or a flat tire(basically anything that falls under a collision/comprehensive claim with the repair costing less than the deductible), yeah I am not doing business with it.

[ember1205]

Originally Posted by UnknownJinX

If the previous repair is subpar and caused more damage to the second event, then yes, that's the case. As I said, you gave them a reason to now justify the investigation money and paperwork.

I had two cars totalled in the flood more than 3 months ago and sure, I got the payout decently quickly, but one of the claims just closed and the other one is still technically open. You can just imagine the paperwork behind the scenes.

If the previous repair is done well with stock parts, there is a good chance the shop wouldn't even notice it's been repaired before. If they did and the insurance drops you, what is there for the insurance company to gain? Bad publicity? Potential lawsuit?

Ironically, insurance companies themselves are guilty of using cheap parts as a way to cut cost, as I pointed out.

Seriously, if there is an insurance company that will require me to report a slightly bent bumper from hitting a wall lightly or a flat tire(basically anything that falls under a collision/comprehensive claim with the repair costing less than the deductible), yeah I am not doing business with it.

And if that "slightly bent bumper" is never reported, and then it's damaged more severely in a subsequent incident? The fact that there was unreported, unrepaired damage means that the actual market value of the car is lower and could result in being totaled out instead of marked for repair or could affect the actual amount paid out on being totaled. Insurance companies do absolutely everything they can to delay and prohibit paying out claims and requiring you to report all damage incidents is part of that.

I don't agree with it in principle, but I can see where some situations sort of need it to happen.

[UnknownJinX]

I think at the end of the day, it's not a bad idea to see if there is any fine print that mentions you having to report all damages to the insurance. I wouldn't let it worry me, but everyone has a different way of gauging the level of risk they want to take. Personally I haven't heard of this being reinforced(or even existing), so I personally think the risk is very low, but if that worries you... Find a better insurance company.

[HDRDTD]

Originally Posted by ember1205

Feel free to scan YOUR policy and make your own decision on what's there and how it applies to you. I carry no responsibility to prove to you what is in YOUR policy nor do I have to, in any way, convince you that you should "care" about the details of your policy.

Now there's the response I thought you would give.

You began by stating/implying that such a statement was part of our insurance 'contracts', but now that we are wondering/questioning if it is in fact included in all our policies, you won't even help us look for such a statement by telling us where in your contract it might be located so we can look for it in our contracts.

I've been driving for well over 50 years now. If/when I'm in an accident involving another person/vehicle or someone else's property damage the police are contacted and an official accident report is made which the insurance company receives.

Other than that, any other issues involving damage to my vehicles, depending on the amount of damage, it's up to me to decide whether to report it to the insurance company or not. I may decide to just pay for it out of my own pocket so the insurance company doesn't have to be involved and potentially decide to increase my rates, or if the damage is great enough, I'll then decide to contact the insurance company and make a claim against the comprehensive portion of my policy.

I don't believe that there is any statement in my policy that REQUIRES me to inform them of any and all damages ever incurred to any of my vehicles.

For the PL or PD coverage of my policy perhaps it's required, but for the comprehensive portion? I don't think so.

Just because your statement may be in YOUR policy/Contract, doesn't mean that it's in all of our policy's/contracts.

[ST1LE]

Originally Posted by HDRDTD

Now there's the response I thought you would give.

You began by stating/implying that such a statement was part of our insurance 'contracts', but now that we are wondering/questioning if it is in fact included in all our policies, you won't even help us look for such a statement by telling us where in your contract it might be located so we can look for it in our contracts.

I've been driving for well over 50 years now. If/when I'm in an accident involving another person/vehicle or someone else's property damage the police are contacted and an official accident report is made which the insurance company receives.

Other than that, any other issues involving damage to my vehicles, depending on the amount of damage, it's up to me to decide whether to report it to the insurance company or not. I may decide to just pay for it out of my own pocket so the insurance company doesn't have to be involved and potentially decide to increase my rates, or if the damage is great enough, I'll then decide to contact the insurance company and make a claim against the comprehensive portion of my policy.

I don't believe that there is any statement in my policy that REQUIRES me to inform them of any and all damages ever incurred to any of my vehicles.

For the PL or PD coverage of my policy perhaps it's required, but for the comprehensive portion? I don't think so.

Just because your statement may be in YOUR policy/Contract, doesn't mean that it's in all of our policy's/contracts.

[AmazinglySmooth]

This what my policy says...

[Silveradoss573]

Originally Posted by ember1205

What's "up to you" (the consumer) is whether or not you want to risk having your insurance dropped and getting blackballed by the industry. Your policy is a contract, and you specifically agree (in that contract) to report any and all damage to the insurance company in a timely manner. Failure to do so could result in immediately having your policy dropped for violating that contract.

You couldn't be more wrong

[UnknownJinX]

Originally Posted by AmazinglySmooth

This what my policy says...

The way I am reading this, this means that you are seeking coverage(meaning getting insurance involved), then yes, you have to report it ASAP.

But if you are not seeking coverage(meaning you decide to just pay out of your own wallet for the minor damage involving no other parties), there is nothing that says they will drop you or worse, get blacklisted by the entire industry.

I think it would be worded more among the lines of "For this contract to be effective, any and all damages should be reported as soon as possible; failure to comply will void the contract" if we are following what ember is saying.

[AmazinglySmooth]

I cannot say I thoroughly read each word in my policy, but this was what I could find regarding reporting damages.