Car Insurers Consider Potholes Your Fault
Everyone knows that insurance companies are the opposite of caring and understanding. Still, this little-known policy nuance is a shocker: many car insurance providers actually consider pothole-related damage to be an at-fault claim. Yes, they believe that if your car is damaged by a defect on a state or local road, it is your fault.
The issue here is that, by rule, auto insurers operate under the assumption that a driver is (or should be) in full control of their vehicle. If they are in complete control, therefore, the driver should be able to slow down and avoid the pothole.
Insurance providers are not in the business of ‘maybe’ or are they interested in nitpicking grey areas of who is at fault. Claims adjusters assess cases coldly, meticulously, by the black and white criteria determined by their superiors. If a driver was in complete control, they should be able to navigate hazards on the road. If the driver was not in control, they have no business filing a claim anyway.
In order to prove their innocence, the driver would have to be able to show that the city or state was negligent in not fixing the pothole and had known about it for over 30 days.
How your auto insurance provider handles pothole damage is an important piece of information to know during these winter months, when extreme cold and temperature fluctuations cause asphalt to split and crack. Knowing your policy, and knowing the stipulations of your insurance deductible, will help you decide the right course of action when disaster strikes. Depending on your policy, it may be more prudent to forgo filing a claim if the damage is minor and would cause a dramatic spike to your insurance premiums for an extended period of time. Some insurers forgive the first claim you make, or claims of certain kinds. Not all insurers handle potholes as at-fault claims.
Whether you are with Geek, Progressive, Allstate or any other provider, check your policy now before the winter-related pothole damage costs YOU money.