Damage to fog light insurance claim

I cracked my bumper and my fog light is also damaged. My deductible is $500. Should I file a claim? While looking for parking at an event, I decided to pull off the road to turn around and continue looking for parking. There was a vacant lot on the street that I turned into, there was no proper lighting so I didn’t see there was a mound of dirt on the right hand of my path and I ran into it. I saw that I cracked my bumper in a few places and my fog light was also damaged.

So there are a few things to consider before you file the claim.

1. How much does it cost to repair the damage to your car? If it's less or close to the amount of your deductible, then you wouldn't want to file a claim because they wouldn't pay much for the damages, if any at all.
2. Is the damage is more than your deductible?
3. Will the claim will be listed as an at-fault accident.

An at-fault accident will negatively impact your rates for three to five years. The average premium increase for an at-fault accident in Washington state in 2020 was $595. However, you need to think about this value over 3-5 years - as that is how long much insurance companies will charge you. Over a 3 year period, you should expect to pay almost $1.8k in premium increases.  Check out our guide to filing claims to learn more about what to expect from the process as well as a how-to.

Good luck and if you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask.