I could not believe it, an hour before everything was still fine. I went on the road and actually! Half of the fender was gone the bumper was bent away. No trace of the person who caused the accident! What now?
The police could not help
The police came by and recorded the accident. Who caused the damage? Did the neighbors see anything? Unfortunately, no one saw who caused the accident and hit and run. No witnesses, no chance! But who actually pays my damage now?
My insurance pays for it, doesn't it??
Annoying, because if the person who caused the accident can't be found, you're left sitting on the damage yourself. You have done nothing wrong, but now you have to pay for this damage. Who has taken out a comprehensive insurance, is lucky. As a rule, the insurance company will also pay for your own damage. There are now two possibilities:
- Pay the damage out of my own pocket
- Report the damage to the insurance company (makes sense with comprehensive insurance)
If you decide to report the damage to the insurance company, the insurance company will pay for the damage (in the case of comprehensive insurance). So it was also with me. However, I later received an unpleasant letter from my insurance company.
The increased insurance premium
I was already pissed off in this situation. Luckily I had comprehensive insurance, otherwise I would have had to pay for the damage caused by someone else myself. But of course, then came the message from my insurance company: my insurance premiums should be raised. Already very annoying, if you can do nothing for it yourself. But there is nothing you can do now or?
A tip from a colleague helped me to pay even less for my car insurance
I also told the whole story to some of my work colleagues. That was a good thing, because one of my colleagues gave me a tip that helped me pay even less for my car insurance policy. The tip was simple: if your insurance company raises the premiums, you can cancel the contract and switch to another insurance company!
"But with another insurance company I have to pay more?" I then said. "No, because you go up with your percentages, but your new insurance company will make you a better offer to attract you as a new customer". This sounds interesting.
The tip with the insurance change really worked!
I then did exactly what my colleague advised me to do. I have looked for a new car insurance. Their contributions were even lower than those I had to pay before the hit-and-run accident. Not only did I not pay more, but I saved money each month.
My advice: if you have a hit-and-run accident and you don't want to be left with the damage
In retrospect, I can say that two things helped me not to be stuck with the damage:
- My vehicle was fully insured
- I changed insurance when my insurance company demanded higher premiums from me.
I recommend the same to you if you got into this situation through no fault of your own. It can't be that you are punished for things you didn't cause yourself!