Uninsured motorist hit parked car. Insurance rates doubled for 20 year old owner of parked car
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Uninsured motorist hit parked car. Insurance rates doubled for 20 year old owner of parked car
My daughter’s car was hit by an insured vehicle with an uninsured driver. The insurance provider of the car that hit hers, denied the claim. Her insurance company denied the claim as well, since it was a collision, and she only had liability insurance uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. Now, 8 months later, her insurance company doubled her rate, and as she is shopping for insurance, all companies are quoting her high rates because of the accident. Her car was parked in front of my house and was unoccupied, as it was 04:30 am when the accident occurred. Is this standard? Is it legal?
Asked on February 17, 2017 under Accident Law, Texas
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
The short answer is, "yes." There is no government oversight of insurance rates for all practical purposes (apart from do not discriminate on a racial, etc. basis in setting them): insurers are free to set, adjust, increase, etc. rates at will, and will typically do so whenever there is any event, accident, incident, etc., even if you were in no way at fault. They come up with all sorts of fancy justifications for how being in accident, even if there was no fault on your part, somehow shows that you present a higher risk, but the real answer is, they do this because they can: it is legal.
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