What Can My Tampa Car Accident Lawyer Do if My Insurance Rates Go Up after a Car Accident That is Not My Fault?

You’re in an auto accident in Tampa. It's not your fault. You call your Tampa car accident lawyer and ask the typical question, “Will my insurance rates go up because I was in an accident even though it was not my fault?”

Your personal injury attorney is likely to say no, your rates will not go up. Your accident attorney may explain to you that the Florida legislature passed a law many years ago that prevents insurance companies from raising your rates if you're in an auto accident that is not your fault. The reason that they did that was so that insured policyholders were not discouraged from contacting their insurance companies when they were involved in a car accident that wasn’t their fault for fear that their insurance company may drop them or their rates may go up. The legislature figured that if you have been paying your insurance premiums, you should not have to worry about reporting a claim to your insurance company. Even if you are in more than three not at fault accidents within a three‐year period your insurance company cannot by law raise your rates, although with that many not at fault accidents reported to them they do have the right to drop your coverage.

So what should you do if you are in a car accident that is not your fault and you receive a premium notice showing that your insurance rates did go up. The first thing you might do is contact your personal injury attorney to discuss the issue and to make sure the law has not changed since this article was written. Likely your Tampa auto accident attorney will tell you that you should contact your insurance carrier and request a written letter explaining why your rates went up. The insurance company may be able to claim that your rates went up not because of the accident, but because they raised everybody's rates or because you moved to an area that has a higher incidence of car accidents so that their rate increase is justified. What they are not allowed to tell you is that they raised your rates because of your not at fault auto accident unless they have proof in their file that you were “substantially” at fault.

Often, if you approach the insurance company with the knowledge that they are not allowed to raise your rates because of a not at fault accident, the insurance company may quickly decide to reverse their decision to try and raise your rates knowing that they are in potential violation of the law. If they don’t lower your rate, you should contact the Department of insurance and report the insurance company’s illegal tactics so that not only will your premiums not be increased but so that other Florida citizens will also be protected from these illegal actions.

Unfortunately for those that are in auto accidents that are their fault, the law allows insurance company to either raise your rates or drop your coverage. If that happens, your best bet may be to contact other auto insurance companies to look for a better rate.

Should you have any questions about this issue or if you are in a car accident in the Tampa Bay area, please feel free to contact our law firm. One of our experienced personal injury attorneys would be glad to talk with you about how to make sure that insurance companies doing business in our state follow the law.