Each location has its personal practices in relation to insurance coverage premiums and what impacts them. On this case, I’m speaking concerning the insurance coverage surcharge you may face after an accident in Massachusetts. Immediately, I break down the steps for the attraction course of and why it’s necessary.
What’s an Insurance coverage Surcharge?
A surcharge in your insurance coverage is a price that’s added to your premiums. This normally occurs when you’re commonly concerned in at-fault accidents, pay your premiums late, or have a lapse in protection.
Nonetheless, a surcharge can even have an effect on your insurance coverage when you’re merely including one other car to the coverage. In these circumstances, although, you may work with the insurer to see if there are reductions obtainable for multiple-car insurance policies.
On this article, I’m specializing in interesting the insurance coverage surcharge that comes after an accident.
Steps to Enchantment the Insurance coverage Surcharge
The insurance coverage surcharge will kick in if the insurer deems that you’re greater than 50% at fault. In keeping with Massachusetts regulation, you’ve as much as 30 days from the discover of the surcharge to file an attraction with the Division of Insurance coverage Board of Enchantment.
1. Full and submit the Enchantment Type that’s positioned on the bottom of the Discover of At-Fault Accident Dedication. You’ll want to surround the $50 submitting price made payable to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The handle is positioned on the Enchantment Type.
2. You’ll obtain a discover within the mail acknowledging the receipt of your attraction.
3. In roughly three weeks, you’ll obtain a listening to discover. At this listening to, you may attend your self, submit a press release no less than 5 days earlier than the listening to, or have a consultant seem in your behalf.
4. The listening to will final round 15 to twenty minutes to find out the justification of the surcharge.
5. About two to 4 weeks after the listening to, you’ll obtain a choice from the Board of Appeals as as to if the insurance coverage surcharge will stay.
Word: If the surcharge is added to your insurance coverage premiums, you’ll nonetheless need to pay the extra quantity. In any other case, the insurer can cancel your coverage.
How A lot Will Charges Enhance if You Don’t Enchantment?
The elevated quantity of your insurance coverage premiums will rely on numerous elements. It’s not precisely a one-size-fits-all reply, to be sincere.
For instance, price will increase are topic to:
- your earlier driving document.
- what number of years you drive which are accident-free.
- how usually you file insurance coverage claims.
Basically, all of it comes all the way down to how a lot of a threat the insurer deems you for protection. When you’ve got a spotless driving document and make your funds on time, the rise could be nominal.
Use the Appeals Course of Accurately
The appeals course of is supposed to assist the harmless keep away from paying out when accidents have been clearly not their fault. So long as you clarify your place to the Justice of the Peace, and usually are not at fault, you could keep away from these further charges.
At Vargas & Vargas Insurance coverage, we may help you additional perceive the method and what you want after an accident. Contact us right now to grasp your choices and what you are able to do to keep away from points like this sooner or later.