If I Get Into An Accident, Will My Car Insurance Be Canceled?

A lot of people assume that getting car insurance will not be too hard to do. It will just involve getting an agent from the right company and getting the car insurance policy that you want. There are some details that you have to be aware of. If it is your first time to get a policy, you are strongly recommended to get an agent.

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There are so many types of car insurance available that finding the best one for you will be a bit confusing and overwhelming. Do you also know that there are so many things that may affect your policies?

One of the things that you may think about is if your car insurance policy will be cancelled if in case you get into an accident.

When Will Your Car Insurance be Canceled?

What is a cancellation in the first place? This is the termination of your insurance with a company before the policy is supposed to expire. There are rules that should be followed about this. Car insurance companies cannot just cancel your policy especially if it has been 60 days since the policy became effective. The only times when your car insurance can be cancelled are for the following reasons:

You have not paid the premium amount for your car insurance.
You provided other information about yourself that is not true in your application.
Your driver’s license has just been revoked. Even a suspended driver’s license may be enough to get your car insurance cancelled depending on where you live.

Your Car Insurance May Not be Renewed

Non-renewal is different from getting your car insurance cancelled. This is the time when your car insurance company would decide that it would not renew the coverage for your vehicle when the contract expires.

You will be given notice about this so you can prepare to get a new insurance policy from another company. There are different reasons why the car insurance company that provides cheap auto insurance will decide not to renew your car insurance policy anymore but it cannot be because of the following:

Gender
Age
Race
Marital Status
Physical Status
Profession

A lot of car insurance companies may choose not to give you insurance if you are a high-risk driver and if you have been involved in a lot of accidents when you had a policy with the other company. Companies may also choose not to renew your contract if you have gotten too many tickets for not following the law.

What will happen to your car insurance policy if you get into an accident? It is not very likely that your car insurance will be cancelled. These are the situations that will probably happen:

You will be charged with a higher premium when you have to renew your policy with the company.
Your insurance company will choose not to renew your policy anymore.

It is highly likely that these things will happen if you have filed multiple claims during the short time that your insurance policy was available. This is also more possible if you have gotten into many accidents in a span of a few years. If you have committed a serious driving offence and you are known to have driven your vehicle under the influence of drugs or alcohol, your insurance company has every right to charge you a higher premium or to choose not to renew your policy anymore.

How Legal is it for Insurance Companies to Not Renew Your Insurance Policy?

There are many guidelines that are being followed by different insurance companies. Just remember that some of these guidelines may change depending on the state that you are in. For example, if you live in Tennessee, insurance companies will have the ability to cancel your insurance if you get into an accident wherein it is your fault.

In other states, the rules that will be followed by insurance companies will be different. They may have the ability to remove some of the coverage that your vehicle is supposed to have. Remember that most insurance companies will not immediately get rid of the coverage that your vehicle has unless there are other factors that will make them decide to do so.

If you have gotten into an accident and the accident is obviously not your fault, you can expect that your insurance company will not cancel your policy. Your insurance may only get affected if the other party involved does not have insurance.

An accident that has occurred before the insurance policy becomes cancelled or not renewed would still need to be paid for by the insurance company. Just remember that if you want to avoid your insurance policy from getting cancelled, you may need to think hard before you file a claim. If the damage is just minor, it is best that you pay for it yourself rather than letting your insurance company pay for everything.