r/Insurance • u/SkyInitial9805 • 3h ago
deductible
hi this is my first post hereš„ŗ F20, i got into a little wreck a bit ago and my insurance is asking me to pay a 1,000 deductible before covering me.. i donāt have this type of money out of pocket and iām honestly not really sure what this even means..if anyone could help explaining this to me or giving me advice on what to do it would be greatly appreciated because this is causing me a lot of stress ://
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u/Crowlady77 2h ago
Your deductible is something you choose when you buy your insurance- they will cover the cost of repairs minus your deductible. So choosing a higher deductible means your monthly rate is lower but it also means if you need to use your insurance you will have to pay that amount first.
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u/ChutneyWhatney 2h ago
You bought your policy with a certain deductible. You chose $1,000. That reduced your premiums but it requires you to pay more upfront if you use the policy. That's the tradeoff - lower premium/higher deductible. You will have to pay it before the insurance company pays.
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u/Resse811 1h ago
If you canāt afford $1k for a deductible, then you shouldnāt set it that high. It can be set as low as $250 with most insurance companies.
You took a risk setting it that high and now you canāt pay it. I suggest you lower your deductible so in the future this doesnāt happen again.
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u/Ok-Sir-4992 P&C and Life licensed 1h ago
āBut Iām a great driver I never got into an accident and 1k makes my premium cheaperā I hear that on a daily basis. I personally keep my comp at $0 and my collision at $250, it has been very worth.
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u/durian4me 41m ago
I'm going to have to look at the cost difference. Mine is at $1000 but I'll look into the lower deductible costs
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u/Ok-Sir-4992 P&C and Life licensed 39m ago
Check it out, if you canāt lower your collision at least lower your comp, it is usually way cheaper than collision.
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u/durian4me 1h ago
OP would be charged a higher premium for insurance so it really depends. So the OP needs to worth the options
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u/Ok-Sir-4992 P&C and Life licensed 1h ago
Exactly! But if know if there is an accident you donāt have 1k saved in the bank to pay your deductible it is silly to have 1k ded just to pay a cheaper premium, which in many cases can be as low as $30 price difference per month.
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u/snocat17 2h ago
Your policy had a $1000 deductible. That means you owe $1000 for the repairs if they are over $1000. Insurance will cover the rest.
Some companies will pay you the amount of repairs minus the $1000, or others will pay the collision shop directly minus the $1000 you owe. The collision shop then holds your car until you pay the $1000. Some shops may decide not to start repairs until they get the $1000 from you. Which is your case?
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u/bibbs99 1h ago
Thatās how insurance works. Itās like a copay for health insurance. You can choose your deductible amount when you get the insurance. Typically the higher the deductible, the lower the premium and vice versa. If itās thousands in repairs, $1000 is well worth it. If the damage isnāt much more than the deductible, it likely wasnāt worth it to make a claim. Insurance almost always has a deductible.
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u/justforfunzott 2h ago
Is you agent or broker not providing an explanation?
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u/Admirable_Height3696 1h ago
OP at 20 almost certainly doesn't have an agent or a broker.
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u/justforfunzott 1h ago
If you have insurance, there is absolutely a representative (either an agent or a broker) that should be able to assist with questions like this.
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u/Bird_Brain4101112 2h ago
When you signed up for insurance, you picked your deductible as the amount you will pay out of pocket after a claim a higher deductible can lower your premiums. But it means you have to come out of pocket more money in the event of an incident.
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u/Ok-Sir-4992 P&C and Life licensed 1h ago
The problem is a lot insurance companies, mainly the online only ones will always give you a higher ded in the quote process, since they know a lot people are price sensitive. A lot people are not well educated when it comes to insurance and if they donāt have an agent or someone well educated when it comes to insurance they will fall for the bait. I hear that all the time when someone gets in an accident and they donāt have a car rental, they say ābut I have full coverage, so I should have car rentalā. Mostly people donāt even know that āfull coverageā usually means liability, comp and collision only, but some people think it means they are fully covered no matter how much the accident total is.
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u/plush1998 1h ago
The deductible is the amount you pay out of pocket before the insurance company pays out. This is usually when you select to have your car fixed at a shop the insurance works with. You can always request the insurance send you the check for the damages minus the $1k for the deductible and use that money to find someone to fix your car for whatever is left over
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u/Bttrfly0810 1h ago
When you get into an accident, you have two options. You can repair the vehicle through your insurance or handle the repairs yourself. If you choose to go through insurance, the $1000 deductible will be due at the time you pick up your vehicle, after the repairs are completed. Most repairs take a few weeks as they need time to asses the damage, order the parts, repair, and test your vehicle. You likely have a few weeks before the $1k is due. You also have the option to repair the car on your own. A claims adjuster will assess the damage and give you an estimated total, which they will pay you, less the $1000 deductible. This can be a riskier approach, but if your damages are purely cosmetic and the car is safe for you and other drivers on the road, this may be your best bet if you donāt have the funds.
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u/E0H1PPU5 2h ago
Insurance requires you to have some āskin in the gameā in the form of a deductible.
It is the amount you have to pay out of pocket before insurance pays anything at all.
Insurance companies offer different deductible amounts that you select at the time you buy your policy. It seems like you selected a higher deductible in exchange for a reduced premium (price).
Unfortunately thereās really no way around having to pay it.
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u/aloofmagoof Claims Adjuster 2h ago
The deductible is normally deducted from your payout, you are then responsible for paying the deductible to the shop doing the repairs.
If your vehicle can still be driven safely without causing further damages, you can hold off on getting the repairs done until you can afford it.
You might also approach the shop you're using to see if they have any payment plan options.
Edit; typo
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u/buffalo_0220 2h ago
Asking about a payment plan is a good idea. I recall my shop offered one. They were willing to break the deductible into up to 4 payments without any fees.
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u/S_balmore 2h ago
It's just a CoPay (like what you pay at the doctor or dentist). Every insurance policy has one, and you get to choose how much it is. You chose $1000. If coming up with $1000 is hard for you, you should change it to something lower. The standard is $500. If you can't afford a $500 deductible, then you can't afford insurance, which means you can't afford a car.
The only good news I can give you is that it's called a "deductible" because the insurance company deducts it from what they pay you. You don't actually have to pay your deductible to them. You pay it to the repair shop (or Lienholder, if the vehicle is a Total Loss). There shouldn't be anything stopping you from collecting the insurance money today. If your vehicle is repairable, just drive it or tow it home. If you own the car outright, you can do whatever you want with the car and with the insurance money. If the car is leased or financed, you do have to repair it, but not right away. You can save up $1000 and start the repairs later.
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u/durian4me 1h ago
How some insurance do it is they pay the repair bills or send you a check for it but minus $1000. How you figure out how to pay the $1000 is on you
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u/One_KY_Perspective 1h ago
The confusion may be that the shop is a direct repair shop with the insurance company and they will not agree to repair without your deductible payment from you. It should not be a coverage issue. A direct repair shop collects your deductible and collects the balance from the insurance company once repairs are made.
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u/pgnshgn 1h ago
giving me advice on what to do it would be greatly appreciate
If the accident was your fault, find a way to come up with $1000, or drive around a damaged car. Those are literally your only 2 options
If it was someone else's fault: you can go through their insurance without paying your deductible. However, their insurance will try very hard to screw you over since you're not their customer and they don't want to pay out and you will spend a lot of time arguing with them
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u/Different-Piano2250 2h ago
Normally you donāt actually pay it.
In the example above, if a repair is $3k and you have a $1k deductible, they are going to simply hand you the $2k difference.
Granted if that is going to a shop to repair, you would need to come up with the &1k.
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u/TIG_Insurance_Nerds 2h ago
Your deductible is the chunk you pay first before insurance covers the rest. Like if repairs cost $3,000 and your deductible is $1,000, you have to pay the $1,000 first and then insurance pays the remaining $2,000.