<p>I was rear-ended a couple of months ago while stuck in traffic. Someone didn’t see that we were all standing still and shoved in four cars. No one was hurt. Cars got severe to minor damage. I got my car fixed through my insurance and the insurance claim is still pending. It was a straightforward case except that 5 cars were involved. It happened again yesterday. We had a light snow and icy conditions. Everyone was either crawling or simply stuck in traffic. Two lanes in the direction I was traveling were jammed solid. Someone driving in the opposite direction where cars were moving, didn’t think the road was bad. Drove at the normal high speed before losing the control. Pretty scary. It stopped after hitting 5 cars. My car sustained moderate damage. The police came and we all agree what happened. If I file another claim with my insurance so soon after the last one, would that affect my insurance rate in the future?</p>
<p>I don’t know where you live, so that may make a difference, but where I live, if you are not at fault, you claim against the insurance of the guy who is at fault. Then your company is not involved, and it should not affect your rates - all caveats that you should get local advice. Do you have an agent? If so call the agent. That was who told us to go against the other guy’s policy.</p>
<p>It shouldn’t as it clearly wasn’t your fault. I sympathize though. My car was totaled in rear end collision a couple of years ago. I was stopped at a light in front of a school during drop off hours in a 15 mile per hour zone. The idiot hit me and pushed me into the car in front of me. I don’t know how fast he was going, but fast enough that his airbags went off. I wasted a lot of time in the next few weeks looking for a new car. Didn’t have any effect on our insurance.</p>
<p>mathmom, That’s scary. In both incidents, I was the second or the third to be hit. Fortunately, by the time it got to my car, it had lost some momentum. It’s still a headache.</p>
<p>anothermom, Yes, I could go directly to the person who caused the accident. I am afraid it will take longer for them to send an assessor. If I go to my insurance, it will all be taken care of within a few days. I have to pay the deductible up front and get reimbursed later. Other than that, it’s so trouble free. </p>
<p>It sould not affect my rate since it’s not my fault but two coming in succession, I wouldn’t know how to explain.</p>
<p>That stinks…but thankfully no one was hurt.</p>
<p>This is going to sound alarmist, but just a warning that if you are rear ended at night in a deserted area, don’t get out of the car! A woman in our area was kidnapped 2 nights ago after being rear ended 1/2 mile from her home. She was seen being forced to withdraw cash from an ATM and hasn’t been seen since. We all fear for the worst!</p>
<p>That being said - I was rear ended in traffic on slick road a couple years ago. Totalled the old minivan. The whole ordeal was annoying, but I got a nice new car out of the deal (Goodbye minivan!)</p>
<p>I agree with another mom. I called my own insurance even tho the guy who hit me admitted fault. All they did was tell me to call the other guy’s insurance (Amica - who were fabulous btw) BUT they marked it in my file. I was told by a different agent later that I shouldn’t have mentioned it to them since just having the ‘incident’ on my file counts against me when they calculate my rate.</p>
<p>I would have thought it all goes into one big database in the sky, but at least a few years ago that wasn’t the case.</p>
<p>That is scary! No one got out of their car in either accident. One good thing that came out of this was that my D who has a learner’s permit and was in the passenger seat saw the accident unfold in what seemed like a slow motion. The car loses control, hits a slow moving van on a slippery road, bounces off, hits another, etc. Invaluable lesson to drive carefully.</p>
<p>Our insurance agent had a talk with both Ss when they started driving. He explained how insurance worked, what to do in case of an accident, etc. He told them that where we live If you are rear ended and pushed into another car, the guy who hit you from behind is at fault, but you are responsible for the damage to the car you are pushed into. I distinctly remember that part.</p>
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<p>Add to that this is a second incident while the first is still pending. They may think I am going around looking for trouble! I think I should go to the other insurance directly. Or just pay for the repair.</p>
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<p>Wow! That doesn’t seem fair. Our agent clearly said it’s all on the guy who hit us all from behind but it would take time since there are so many cars involved. The policeman who handled the case yesterday said the same thing.</p>
<p>Please make sure your daughter feels okay physically in the aftermath of the accident, before settling any insurance claim.</p>
<p>It was scary emotionally but the car had hit a minivan, a Jeep, an explorer before it came to us. It made a dent on the side of my car but we hardly felt the impact since it lost most of the momentum on the way. It was surreal watching it fly out of nowhere heading towards the car in front of us. Uh-oh hello, there’s no room for you here.</p>
<p>It was not your fault but I wonder if you’re stopping too close behind the car in front of you. Years ago I read that you should stop so that you can see the bottom of the tires of the car in front of you–and farther than that if there’s ice or snow.</p>
<p>Yes, I and everyone else could be stopping too close. That would explain why in some places you are responsible for the car in front of you when rear-ended. If the car is hitting hard enough tho, I don’t know if a yard will do? The guy was moving fast enough to shove in four cars in succession. And if someone loses control on a slippery road, we probably have to have a half block between cars and hope for the best. </p>
<p>This is what I am afraid; People looking for causes in me in a repeat case.</p>
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<p>This is a good example of why agents shouldn’t be giving advice on how claims work. I have never heard of any state that apportions damages in this way, and I worked my way through grad school in a claims dept of a large national insurer. It’s possible that there may be some agreement between companies that is used to expedite claims, but if that’s the case, the innocent parties still won’t be found at fault for someone else’s damages.</p>
<p>alwaysamom, Do you think I could go back to my insurance company without raising the rate?</p>
<p>I have rear ended a car for which I did not get a ticket. I was in a long line of traffic in Bellevue and someone squeezed in front of the car that was in front of me and we all had to slam on our brakes. ( I was not following too close, but close enough that no one could get infront of me-)</p>
<p>I also was hit 2 weeks! after I got our brand new mini van by some idiot driving a company van. I was a good distance back from the car in front of me( we were stopped at a light), so did not hit anyone else & I was glad that I had an extended minivan with a cargo compartment & another seat to absorb some of the impact as my young children were in the back seat.</p>
<p>It took a really- really long time as I wanted to get my car fixed ASAP & had to pay for it and then get the money out of the other ins co.</p>
<p>( there was about 12 yrs between accidents)</p>
<p>These were our only incidents since we had the insurance with this company about 25 years ago. Does that help or make it worse?</p>
<p>Igloo,</p>
<p>We don’t know what will happen to your rates if you report. Insurance companies keep the formulas that determine rates secret and don’t like to let out information as to how they generate their rates.</p>
<p>In our family, we do not report to our insurance company accidents that are not our fault, unless the other driver has no insurance. It keeps things simpler.</p>
<p>But also, in my state, the state patrol reports all accidents regardless of fault on our driving history that can be pulled by insurance. So the fact an accident took happened is no secret.</p>