Here's What Happens to Your Auto Insurance Rates When You File a Claim for an Accident You Didn't Cause

About one year ago, I was driving my children home from school when another car pulled out of a parking spot and rammed into us. When I got out to assess the damage to my car, I realized the other driver was actually a friend of mine. Awkward.

Naturally, she apologized profusely and gave me her auto insurance information right away. And she also offered to help me shuttle my kids around town while my car was being worked on.

Accidents can happen at any time, and thankfully, ours was quite minor. Dealing with my auto insurance company, however, was a bit of a hassle, as was not having access to my car while it was being fixed. But so it goes.

Here's what irked me about the situation, though. When I asked my insurer if I was at risk of having my premium rate go up for filing a claim on an accident I clearly wasn't at fault for, I was told that there's no guarantee that I wouldn't see an increase. 

My first reaction was "Wait, what?" I was driving in a straight line and a car pulled out and hit me. I couldn't have prevented that in any way. But believe it or not, your car insurance company might raise your costs after a claim -- even if it's for an accident you didn't cause. 

Your insurance rates might go up, but that increase may be minor

When you cause an accident resulting in an auto insurance claim, it's very common to see your premium rates rise after the fact. But filing a claim for an accident you're not at fault for is more of a gray area. 

Your insurer might raise your rates, or it might opt not to. However, generally speaking, if your rate goes up following an accident you didn't cause, it will be a smaller increase than what you'd be looking at for an accident you did cause. 

Accident forgiveness could help you avoid an increase

Some car insurance companies offer accident forgiveness programs that protect you from a rate increase following your first accident, or following an accident resulting in damage of a small dollar amount. For example, as of November 2022, in most states, Progressive offers accident forgiveness for claims that total less than $500.

If your auto insurer doesn't offer accident forgiveness, then it could pay to switch to a policy that comes with this perk. That could protect you from seeing your rates increase in situations where another driver was at fault. 

Meanwhile, my auto insurance costs went up quite a bit when I recently renewed my policy because we swapped our aging vehicle for a new plug-in hybrid. We knew that getting a new car would result in a rate hike and we weren't shocked. And I'll admit that I didn't really dig deeper to see if the claim I filed a year ago had any impact on that increase because I knew we were looking at a large hike regardless. 

But if you were in an accident you didn't cause and see your rates increase following that event, it pays to discuss that with your insurer. And if you end up being penalized a lot simply for filing a claim, then you may want to consider buying your insurance elsewhere.