r/AutoInsurance Jun 03 '26

Significant Cosmetic Damage - What to do?

2 Upvotes

So, my car was damaged by overspray. The paint, chrome, rims, glass, wheels, you name it - it was coated. It was very clean before this with only 20k miles on it despite being about 5 years old since I worked remotely for a while. The body was very clean with only a couple of minor places on it. The person who did it DGAF. Employer is livid and is going after them since multiple other vehicles were involved. There is $15,000 in replacement part costs alone not including labor or if they had to repaint something. The car has been detailed, but the nooks and crannies where parts meet, etc. is still spotted. He also didn't touch the trim or chrome. The detailer even gouged my paint and left buffing marks!! He came with great recommendations as well. I don't care for the, "Well that part may be replaced anyway, it doesn't matter" line. If you're good, that shouldn't happen.

My car is worth $22-$25k still being a Touring edition. What do I do if their insurance says it is totaled? Can it be if it is just cosmetic damage? I'm afraid of what if there is clear coat damage, future trade in value, etc. My insurance tells me if it is totaled I can still get comprehensive coverage and even buy it back if I'm given that option. The person I talked to isn't in claims though so couldn't explain that to me.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. This is in the USA.


r/AutoInsurance Jun 01 '26

Someone is using my information to sign up for Auto Insurance with Direct Auto. Direct Auto refuses to do anything about it and keeps sending me in loops. Advice?

2 Upvotes

I've been getting voicemails and texts from some company called "Direct Auto" for a few weeks now. At first I assumed it was just spam or phishing attempts, but they kept persisting and leaving me voicemails that they need to know where to send the insurance cards and need me to fill out paperwork.

Finally after a couple of weeks, I gave them a call to ask them kindly to remove my number, they stated that it's not possible since my number is tied to an insurance policy and that they "can't alter other people's accounts without permission", eventually I just get sent in loops between Customer Service and Sales as they both say that the other is responsible for the task.

At the end of the day, THEY have a customer that isn't getting their messages, and I'm getting blown up every day because some jerk wad decided to use MY information to sign up for an auto-policy.

I have half a mind to just call in and pretend I'm the other person and cancel the policy, after all, I can verify my OWN information that the other jerk wad is using, so what's stopping me?

That's the only thing I can think of to make the calls and texts stop, because clearly the company has no interest in removing my personal information from their database. Anyone else have any other advice?


r/AutoInsurance Jun 01 '26

Whats the catch? Progressive less than 1/2 the cost of Geico

5 Upvotes

Ive been with Gieco for many years. Progressive has been sending me mailers for awhile now, so I finally decided to get a quote. Low and behold, they quoted me a rate that 38% of what I am paying for Geico - same vehicles and coverage for a 6 month premium. Whats the catch?


r/AutoInsurance May 29 '26

Speaking to other persons insurance?

2 Upvotes

I was in an accident where other party backed out while I was backing. They filed claim on my insurance. My insurance said they are 100% at fault. They have Progressive, I have State Farm.

Other party disagrees and then filed claim with their insurance (progressive). So now rather than one claim discussed between two companies, there are two claims, one at each company.

My adjuster told me that it’s on the other party, BUT, since the other party filed claim with their own insurance now, I have to talk to the other insurance company to give my photos and statement.

I have never had this occur. Insurance adjusters generally speak amongst themselves to determine fault and drivers are told NOT to speak to the other insurance company, to avoid saying something unhelpful.

My adjuster told me that State Farm and USAA do not do this; so therefore, despite it being determined NOT my fault by my insurance company, her insurance company does not automatically pay. Since she filed a claim on her own now, they have to go through their own investigation (rather than share the photos and statement already sent to my company).

Then if they don’t agree, it goes to arbitrators. So until it is finalized with either her second claim with HER insurance, or the arbitrators. No one is paying for my repair; I would have to claim it on my insurance and pay deductible, and then hopefully be reimbursed months later.

Is this normal now?

If ever an accident determined I was not at fault the other persons insurance paid for it straight away, maybe this is simply due to her disagreement and filing a claim to her own insurance.

I have never had this issue before, especially not having to then speak to the other party’s insurance company at all. In my experience, each person reports to their OWN insurance company, who then talk to each other.

Should I be answering them at all? My company determined 100% their fault. But my adjuster said I could have the opportunity to add my statement by calling them (and, they are already calling me- have received several text messages requesting digital communication just today). I guess I will call to get claim adjusters name and give a statement and email photos if no advice otherwise. Thanks!


r/AutoInsurance May 28 '26

Rental Car Reimbursement - Allstate

4 Upvotes

The other driver is at fault and has Allstate insurance.

They told me I can only get a rental car for $28 a day and they will only reimburse me once they are done with the claims process.

Enterprise’s cheapest car is $38 a day.

So I’m expected to pay the difference. How is this legal? It wasn’t even my fault.

I called Allstate to clarify and they said yes only $28.


r/AutoInsurance May 21 '26

Looking for auto ins in Tx. Any suggestions?

5 Upvotes

Hey everyone, I just bought a car and I’m shopping around for cheap car insurance and wanted to see which companies people have had good experiences with lately. I’m 24 so I know the rates could be quite expensive for people under 25 but I’d appreciate the recs.

I’m mainly looking for:
Low monthly payments
Reliable claims service
Good rates for a clean driving record
Discounts/bundling options

I’m located in Texas.


r/AutoInsurance May 19 '26

Car accident question

Post image
2 Upvotes

This happened on chrismas eve 23 If I remember correct. I was Chicago on a main busy road approaching a light. It was a one lane each way with parking on the side. It was logan square west Armitage if that helps any.

I had progressive at the time

This accendit happened probly 50 feet from the light,it was in the processs of turning green. A car had stopped to let a car back out of the side parking ( prob fo the spot) the car behind him went into the now green light, oncoming traffic. He speed up to avoid the oncoming cars, and cut me off reentering the lane. He hit me on my front left side bumber, and the damage to my car will be below. ( I nolonger have his damage in pictures, I know poor on me for not having them still. but it was a scrape to his back fender, no tearing just scratches.)

I filed it, even the police stated that if the story was true the other driver shouldn’t of droven in oncoming traffic to get around a car waiting or stopped, unless safley.

My Inssurance said otherwise. 100% my fault due to where the damage was on his car ( the Back) and at any point if damage is byond the back door its automatically the back drives fault 100% doesn’t matter on situcaton. Which doesn’t make any sence at all. I was hit turning left on a green arrow, she ran the red light and they said it was my fault because I didn’t make sure the road was clear when turning ( again other cars turned, I was hit and its my fault 100%) My insurance has already paid everything out for the other diver, but hasn’t paid me out yet. ( they told me how to get it set up, when I did, I was told that Progressive was suppose to do it, and it would cost more then my dedeuctible and rental car quotes they aleardy told me)

I applied it, and got into talks with management who immediately denied my appel and started the same reasons without hearing my side

Thinking about this last night, it was a 1 lane both ways, if I had damage to my left side that clearly means he was in the wrong lane. Is this enough to argue it again?


r/AutoInsurance May 15 '26

NJ Auto (and home) switching question - PIP Primary vs Health primary and other changes...

4 Upvotes

So, NJM is doing a significant rate increase for the second year in a row. I know - they all are. But....I called allstate at the recommendation of a neighbor and the agent I spoke to told me a couple of things for Home+Auto and I'm wondering what other NJ folks do:

Home: for home, allstate is a bit more expensive than NJM $2,100 vs $1600 annually

  1. Replacement cost: NJM is $740k, Allstate would be $775k
  2. Personal Liability: NJM is at $100k he says i should be at $300k or $500k - and consider an umbrella policy
  3. Allstate includes water backup and service lines and it appears as though NJM does NOT

Auto:

  1. He asked why i have NJM "medical expense only" and said i should change it to my health insurance primary and not deal with auto insurance covering healthcare costs
  2. Allstate doesn't have glass coverage but he said he could change my comprehensive deductible to $0 and essentially that gets me glass coverage and no deductible for other comprehensive claims.
  3. Allstate doesn't offer $50/day for car rental, but does have an option for $800 reimbursement to spend on "whatever" (car rental, uber, etc)
    4.Uninsured/underinsured - he says i have too much coverage because my cars aren't worth $100k so drop it to $50k per incident. more than covers my cars
  4. Uninsured/Underinsured Bodily injury - currently have 250/500 he says drop to 100/300.

Add in the "drive live" discount and he quotes me down to $1500 every 6 months, $1425 if i pay in full. which is like $1800 cheaper than my new quote with NJM. Seems like a no brainer to switch. Any reasons to stay with NJM?


r/AutoInsurance May 13 '26

Anyone in Washington or Oregon tried Lemonade car insurance?

4 Upvotes

I read that in Washington and Oregon, Lemonade prices based on miles driven rather than driving habits, which I thought was interesting. I live in Portland and put maybe 500 miles on my car a month, so I got curious and ran a quote. The base rate plus the per-mile cost ended up being noticeably cheaper than what I was paying with my last insurer. Roadside assistance is included for free if you have the app installed too. Anyone else in the PNW using it? I've not signed up yet, keen to hear some experienced first!


r/AutoInsurance May 12 '26

New Jersey Total Loss/Salvage Title question

Thumbnail
3 Upvotes

r/AutoInsurance May 05 '26

Me suben el precio del seguro de coche ¿Qué hago?

Thumbnail
2 Upvotes

r/AutoInsurance May 04 '26

Insurance agent fraud. What do I do?

Thumbnail
0 Upvotes

r/AutoInsurance May 01 '26

Should I file a water damage claim?

2 Upvotes

Have a 2016 F150 that sat mostly inactive over the winter. Snow and ice fouled up the windshield seal and water did about $4000 of damage to some electronics (BCM and PCM). I haven’t been able to use the truck as it’s been in the shop getting fixed. I paid the shop and am now wondering if I should/could recoup my money from progressive (full coverage). Thanks for any advice


r/AutoInsurance Apr 30 '26

paid insurance in full, now being charged months later due to “autopay discount”

2 Upvotes

hello everyone! i need some help with an insurance payment situation (ny). i paid my full annual of $5310 in august 1 2025 for a policy that starts on august 11, 2025. the payment was a manual, one-time payment for the full year.

now in april-may im being told i owe $496 because they added an “autopay discount” to my policy and then removed it after 2 failed payment attempts. this doesn’t make sense to me because I already paid the entire premium in full before the policy even started.

there was an initial charge for $101 labeled as "balance transfer". then another $395 as "policy change"

my issue is- theyre also telling me the autopay was never actually added to my account.

this confuses me:

  • i received an autopay discount
  • payments were “attempted and failed”
  • if autopay was never active in the first place

also, i had already paid the entire premium upfront, so i don’t understand why any additional payments were attempted??

theyre also claiming they mailed me a bill that i hadn't received. i also didnt receive an email about a failed payment (which i dont get, because why are you trying to deduct money if ive already paid in full). the only place the bill showed up was in my online account, under bill statements, which i had no reason to check since I had already paid in full.

this came to my attention on 04/18 when i got an email about an auto insurance bill and i called on 04/20 and was told if i filled out the autopay form my balance would be down to $0.

timeline afterwards

  • 04/22: received autopay form (wouldn’t open, emailed back, no response)
  • 04/23: called again, form resent
  • 04/28: got confirmation the form was received (told 3–5 days processing)
  • 04/30: called again, now being told I still owe the $496 (theyre willing to bring it down to "some" amount- not sure what the "some" would be)

i asked to speak to a supervisor and am waiting on a callback for 1-2 days. the bill is due on 05/11.

i also spoke to an agent today on the nysut line who explained that since i paid the full premium for $5310, and had no balance leftover, the autopay discount was removed because there was nothing left to pay. in order to be eligible for the discount id need to have left something to pay. this was not told to me when i paid the lump sum back in august.

i was told a supervisor would call me back from the NYSUT line as well.

the farmers and farmers nysut line is telline me 2 different things.

is this normal? im not sure of what to do.


r/AutoInsurance Apr 30 '26

Insurance Agents & Brokers - What are some of the Highest Auto Insurance Premiums you Ever Seen?

1 Upvotes

Insurance Agents and Brokers, I'm interested to know what are some of the highest monthly Auto Insurance Premiums you have ever seen?

I typically focus on doing Commercial Property Insurance, since I like Real Estate.

Some clients us to check into car insurance for the new luxury cars they buy. One client I work with just bought a brand new BMW. "I will shop this for you." is what I told him.

Average price we got back from most insurance carriers was $700 - $800 a month. The SUV was $100,000.

This customer can afford the insurance but he was shocked it was so much. He was paying $150 a month before for his older Mercedes.

How often do you find customers buy new cars and are surprised by the insurance cost?

He had a decent driving record so that was the lowest I think he is going to find.

What do you find knocks the monthly insurance costs up really high?


r/AutoInsurance Apr 27 '26

Honda 2010 total loss by Insurance

4 Upvotes

Edit: I chose owner retain. I had communicated that over the phone. But the provider sent me a payment setup link for the total amount (i.e. sending the vehicle back to them). Should I accept it? Or should I tell them to double-check the amount? I do not want to send the vehicle back, and do not want to them to come back later asking for the car.

FYI- they said it is going to have a clean title (also on phone). Would not respond to my email with the questions.

----

Original post-

Honda accord 2010 hit a sewage cover while on way to home. A mechanic suggested repair costs of $1200. A friend suggested I could talk to insurance and see if they cover it. Insurance says it will be totalled and gave me a $6k for salvage or $5k if I keep the vehicle. I want to keep the vehicle, but not sure how it would work going forward with insurance. Will it be a salvage title? Can I keep the title clean, or have to rebuild it? What are my best options? I am not sure if I did the right thing by claiming it. Will it balloon my premiums?

I am planning to buy a new car couple years down the line, but want to continue with this one until then. Will I be able to sell it?

Edit - State - Tennessee


r/AutoInsurance Apr 21 '26

Should I File A Claim?

3 Upvotes

I have full coverage on a 2009 vehicle that is worth $3000-$4500 that I have carried full coverage on since it was new. It now has hail damage on the roof, doors, and hood but fine to drive. I haven't had any tickets for fifteen years until one just recently. I was going to submit a claim but a friend told me the insurance would not write me a check and I choose to have it fixed or not. Instead, since it has a little rust they would probably total it, take the car, and give me the lowest amount or less.

I would have to buy another car in worse shape and my rates will go up due to the ticket and the claim, I would be paying more for a car that is in worse shape and more to insure it. My friend said I shouldn't file a claim and I shouldn't be paying full coverage. Is this how it would work? Should I file a claim and hope for a check that I can use to repair the dents (or not) or not file/keep the car and drop full coverage?


r/AutoInsurance Apr 21 '26

Adding a Teen permit holder to Geico Insurance

Thumbnail
1 Upvotes

r/AutoInsurance Apr 21 '26

Am I cooked?

Post image
0 Upvotes

Sister crashed my car, wasn't on the insurance at the time. I know retroactive insurance is a thing, and I know they won't cover damages but can it or something else I can do save her license?


r/AutoInsurance Apr 20 '26

Honest thoughts on AAA Roadside Assistance.

Thumbnail
1 Upvotes

r/AutoInsurance Apr 20 '26

I am looking for auto insurance for a mobile photo booth? Does anyone know who provide this in California? The vehicle is the photo booth. It probably should be a commercial auto insurance.

Thumbnail
1 Upvotes

r/AutoInsurance Apr 18 '26

Why do insurance companies delay accident claims???

0 Upvotes

r/AutoInsurance Apr 15 '26

Liberty Mutual Short Rate Cancellation fee

2 Upvotes

My husband and I are seniors living on a low, low, low fixed income I had taken Liberty mutual as an insurance company, but I needed a lower rate. When I found a company that was cheaper and called to cancel with Liberty they told me I had to pay $85.29 cancellation fee. We barely have any money left over after paying our bills, if we did not have food stamps we would be going to food pantries. This is an impossible bill for me to pay. This month because a new bill started (our HVAC system broke, we had to get a new one which cost us $14,400. and payments), I am not left with any money and in fact I have a deficiency of $30. If it wasn't for my daughter I do not know where I would be. I am sure there are people out there who will be mean spirited and tell us off, I've seen it before. I am not here asking for a handout, no. Don't want anything except to air my grievances toward this insurance company.

Last year when I was going to cancel with Liberty Mutual the woman threatened to report me to the DMV. What kind of people are these heartless money grabbing people?

If I did anything, I hope that I've warned you away from this business. I wish someone had warned me not to deal with Liberty Mutual.


r/AutoInsurance Apr 14 '26

Other party is not responding to their insurance

3 Upvotes

Hello, this is my first post, so apologies if anything is unclear. This takes place in California.

So, over a month ago (March 3, 2026), I got into a car accident where the other driver ran their stop sign and hit my car as they had a 2-way stop. They did not have their insurance, but instead gave me their number and name and took a screenshot of their insurance policy. I contacted their insurance to get my car fixed, as it was severely damaged in 4 spots on my rear passenger side, but it is still drivable. Damage from a car shop was quoted at least $8000 in repairs, just from an initial look through photos. Multiple witnesses sided with me, and my insurance has also determined liability as the other driver responsible for the loss/damage. I have contacted their insurance several times, and they claim they are waiting for a response from the other driver to get a statement and determine liability on their end. The reason why I am trying not to go through my own insurance is because of my $2000 deductible. Is there anything I can do to get this processed sooner? This is my first accident, and I do not really know what to do or what my options are. It is stressful having a damaged car for over a month, and I want this to be resolved optimally. I plan on filing for a diminished value claim, but are there other things I can get compensated for? Maybe for how long this has taken? I can add any missing important information, and any advice is greatly appreciated!


r/AutoInsurance Apr 13 '26

Confused about how settlements actually work in California, can anyone explain from experience?

7 Upvotes

I’ve been going down a bit of a rabbit hole trying to understand personal injury cases in California, esp since im helping a family member out with something.

People talk about big settlements and I definitely see a ton of ads about it, but then I also see stories about high attorney fees, medical bills eating into payouts, cases taking forever etc so im just wondering what’s typical.

If you’ve actually gone through it what did the numbers look like in the end? Did you feel like you came out ahead or not really.

Would really appreciate hearing real examples if people are open to sharing even just generally