When an accident happens, whether it is an auto accident or a slip and fall at work, one of the first questions everyone asks their abogado de lesiones personales in Canoga Park, CA, like from Unidos Legales, is if their insurance will go up. Insurance costs are high as it is; after personal injuries are dealt with, it is natural to be concerned about how much more money you are going to lose per month. Different insurance companies have different policies, and therefore making a definitive statement about what will happen to your insurance after an injury can be difficult. Payout and subsequent premium increases depend on a variety of factors, including who your insurance company is and the nature of the accident. Speaking generally, it is very common for insurance rates to increase as a result of an accident, regardless of if you were not at fault. In order to understand why it is important to understand how personal injury protection works.
No-Fault Insurance Protection
Most personal injury protection, or PIP, is given on a no-fault basis. This means that the insurance company will compensate you for damages no matter who was at fault in the accident. This is not to be confused with no-fault auto insurance claims; the term applied to auto insurance means specifically that your rates will not go up; in PIP insurance that is often not the case. No-fault PIP insurance simply means that, in the event that an insurance investigation finds that you are eligible to receive damages, you will not be denied this money because you were responsible for causing the accident.
Why Your Rates Will Go Up
As previously mentioned, there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to insurance claims. But insurance companies are for-profit companies, which means that they need to turn a profit in order to survive. They do this by constantly reassessing the risk profile of their clients. If you are involved in an accident and file a claim, they are going to see you as a higher risk compared to someone who does not file a claim. This often results in companies increasing premiums in order to make more money, since they had to pay out money for damages. And since they see you as a higher risk, they increase payment in order to make sure that they are still turning a profit if they have to pay out more damages in the future.
The best way to figure out your PIP damages and how it will affect your rates is to call and speak directly to your insurance agent.