I have 2 vehicles with full coverage and a deductible on collision coverage. My wife backed into mine damaging both of vehicles. Will I have to pay 2 deductibles? How will this affect my car insurance rate premiums in Georgia?

Carl

Northeast Cobb, GA

Thank you for your question. I’m assuming that you and your wife are insured by the same insurance provider.

If so, some insurance providers waive one of the deductibles if both policyholders are insured by them. I have seen some situations where insurance companies charge both deductibles too. You need to report this loss to your insurance providers if you have not already. You could also ask them about your situation with the insurance claims adjuster. It is up to the verbiage in your auto insurance policy as to if they can charge it or not. Some insurance policies define an incident as a single occurrence while other insurance policies define it as a per auto occurrence.

Each insurance carrier has its own method of evaluating policyholders, so the insurance points on your driving history may or may not have a direct impact on the auto insurance rates you pay for car insurance. The amount of insurance claims and the costs of those insurance claims are also factored into your auto insurance rate in in Northeast Cobb, Georgia.

I am concerned about my teenage son, who occasionally drives one of my newer model cars. There’s nothing much to worry about since he’s already added to my policy. My question is, what will happen if he crashes the car and causes damages to it? We live in Atlanta, GA.

Laura

Atlanta, GA

It is important to take precautions by knowing what to do should an accident involving a minor child happens. Since you mentioned that your teenage son is already listed as a driver on your policy, you’re correct, you may have nothing much to worry about as compared to those parents whose children were not added. Your car insurance company should cover the damages to him and your car based on the insurance limits purchased. As to the amount of the claim payments, these will be determined by first getting quotes from auto body repairs. You may be curious as to what will happen after that? Some insurance companies may try to get back the costs incurred by raising your premiums while some will choose to not renew your policy at its expiration. Other insurance companies will even require that you remove your teen minor from the policy before they renew your policy. Or, they will continue to renew your policy with your minor listed on the policy as a driver, but they will increase your car insurance rate premiums in Georgia.