You will not have to pay the price of your deductible if your vehicle is not damaged, but the car you hit is damaged. This is because if the person files a claim against you, you are protected under your liability insurance, which doesn’t have a deductible.

What if damage is less than deductible?

Clearly, if the amount of your loss is less than your deductible there’s no point to submitting your claim. For example, if your deductible is $1,000 and your suffer $800 in damages, then your insurance company isn’t going to pay anything. The amount of damage is less than your deductible.

Is it better to have a car totaled or repaired?

In some cases, whether your car is repairable or is totaled becomes a substantial problem. Most insurance companies will want to consider the car “totaled” if the repair cost approaches the value of the car. For instance, it would not make sense to pay $8,000 to repair a car that is only worth $6,000.

Can a car insurance company pay for a car accident?

Depending on the scale of the accident, the car’s liability coverage may not be enough to cover the damages. If this happens, and the driver has their own insurance, then their policy will pay for the rest. Or they will if the limits are higher than what were on the car driven in the accident.

Who is responsible for paying for car damage after an accident?

If another driver caused your accident, he or she is responsible for paying to have your car repaired. In most cases, of course, the other driver has insurance that will pay. If he or she doesn’t have insurance, you can have your insurance company pay to repair your car damage — if you have collision coverage on your damaged car.

Who is liable for a car accident if the driver has no insurance?

Depending on the scale of the accident, the car’s liability coverage may not be enough to pay for the resulting damages. If this happens and the driver has their own insurance, their policy will pay for the rest — assuming they have enough coverage. If the driver of your car is uninsured and causes an accident, you could be liable for everything.

How are car insurance payouts based on damage?

In general, an insurance payout is based on returning your vehicle to the state it was in when an accident occurred. So if there is existing damage to the vehicle at the time of the accident, an adjuster will factor that into the claim. As always, the best source of information on specific claim issues is your insurance company and/or agent.