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Ltryptophan's avatar

How do I get an accident off of my record (besides the passage of time)

Asked by Ltryptophan (12091points) June 28th, 2010

Made a claim for a scratched wheel. The scratch was very minor. I still have the wheel. The funny thing is that the new wheel still got scratched somehow! lol

Now that was considered an at fault accident since I admitted that I was the one that scratched it! Being truthful to a fault. Geico paid out under $500 for the accident.

To make matters worse about two years ago I got in another at fault accident. I bumped a lady at a red light while I was scooting up at three miles per hour. (I was distracted by my note cards on the way to a law school final.) Geico paid out Under $500 here as well. The woman even found me at my job and gave me $100 she felt so bad, because she thought that it was rediculous that they replaced the styrofoam under her bumber because it had a hairline crack.

So, now I have these two accidents. Is there any possible way for me to challenge these? Pay them back? Snuff them out? Expunge them?

They have just jacked my insurance up through the roof and it would have been better had I paid for both of them out of pocket than pay for even one six month policy period at this cost! What to do! Help!

I have not been with Geico for three straight years and I don’t think they offer accident forgiveness anyway, so that is out.

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8 Answers

tedd's avatar

Unless you are under the age of 18 (which judging by the law school thing I’m guessing your not), they will never go “off” your record.

BUT, most car insurers no longer count them against you after 5–7 years, and also will give you lower rates if your last accident was a while ago.

In the future, I would suggest not reporting things like a scratch on your wheel. Though the insurer may cover most of that bill, you’ll make up for it and then some by your increased rates.

Adirondackwannabe's avatar

Just about every insurance company, regardless of type (house, car etc) gives only two strikes before cancelling your policy or jacking the rates. You would have been better served by eating the costs even though it would been covered.

Seaofclouds's avatar

I don’t think there is any way to get it off your insurance. You could call them to see what they can do for you. You could also call around to see what other insurance companies would charge for a policy and then use that information when you call Geico to see what they are willing to do to keep you with them.

Dr_Lawrence's avatar

Just a reminder to everyone – hardly any collisions that damage vehicles or people are “accidents.” They are the predictable outcome of poor vehicle maintenance, driver impairment, distraction, inattention, or carelessness.

If a hippopotamus is picked up by a whirlwind and is dropped on your vehicle parked in your driveway, that is an accident.

The at-fault collisions are supposed to stay on your record so that your rates will be affected. If they did not stay, then everyone else insured by an insurance company would have to pay more to cover the damages attributed to you. That is the principle of insurance.

I sympathize with your financial burden and hope your rates are adjusted downwards as soon as possible.

Ltryptophan's avatar

Ok, so far I have found out that there is a system called “CLUE” by a company that seems to be out of business called Choicepoint. They seem to have been taken over or are being serviced by Lexis Nexis strangely.

Anyway, CLUE is like equifax for reporting accidents rather than credit errors. If you have a negative action letter from your insurance company you can get a copy of what they have on file for you, but it seems like otherwise you are out of luck.

This clue report it seems is top secret info. I have never heard of an Insurance Score. This is all a revelation to me.

Ltryptophan's avatar

Clue folks very helpful

john65pennington's avatar

You never use your auto insurance for minor accidents. you save it for the big one down the road. you have discovered why, correct? sorry to say this is not going away. even if you changed insurance companies, your two infractions are still there and will be for a long time. points are the killers for a person at-fault in auto accidents. these points will stay on your drivers license for a long time, also. if you have a minor scratch and dent auto accident, its best to settle the cost of repair between the two parties, rather than involve your auto accident. like i said, you save it for the big one, not the small one(s).

Ltryptophan's avatar

Definitely not wise to make the claim for the wheel scratch. I am pretty sure that insurance policies have a stipulation that all accidents need to be reported during a policy period. Not reporting could void your policy if that is the case.

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