How Much Does Insurance Go Up After an Accident in California?

You just got hit, or you hit someone, and the next worry is the bill that comes at renewal. Good news first: California has a written rule that protects drivers who did not cause the crash. This guide explains that rule, how insurers decide who was at fault, what two published studies say a surcharge can look like, how the Good Driver Discount works, how long an accident follows you, and what to do in Los Angeles if your insurer charges you more than the law allows. It also explains the difference between claiming on the other driver's insurance and your own, including uninsured motorist coverage. This is general information, not legal advice for your crash. If you were hurt, call (323) 716-1992 any hour for a free review.

The short answer: fault decides whether your rate rises

California Insurance Code section 491 says an auto insurer's rating plan may not provide for a premium increase based on an accident in which the insured is not at fault, in any manner. Fault is decided by the accident report or by the insurer. If the insurer wants to find you at fault when the accident report says you were not, the statute says it may reach that conclusion only after an investigation. The California Department of Insurance puts it in plain words in its auto insurance guide: if the accident is not your fault, your insurance company does not charge you more. If you are at least 51 percent at fault, your premium can go up when you renew. That increase is called a surcharge. So the honest answer to how much your insurance goes up is this. If another driver ran the red light and you did nothing wrong, the law says the crash cannot be the reason for a higher premium. If you caused it, or share more than half the blame, expect a surcharge at your next renewal. No official table says how big it will be, because each company files its own rating plan. Your premium can also change for reasons that have nothing to do with the crash, such as a ticket on your record, so read any renewal notice closely.

What principally at fault means under California regulations

The Insurance Commissioner's regulation on this topic is Title 10 of the California Code of Regulations, section 2632.13. It sets the test insurers must use. An insurer may not decide you were principally at fault unless your actions or omissions were at least 51 percent of the legal cause of the accident. The crash must also have caused bodily injury or death, or property damage above $1,000. The regulation lists situations where you are presumed not principally at fault. Your vehicle was lawfully parked. You were struck from behind and were not convicted of a moving violation in connection with the crash. You were not convicted of a moving violation, but the other driver was. A hit-and-run driver damaged your car and you reported it to the authorities within a reasonable time. The crash involved an animal, a bird, or a falling object. Or you were alone in the car and a hazard you could not reasonably have noticed or avoided caused it, such as black ice. These are presumptions, so an insurer can try to rebut them. They still help you. A police report that records the other driver's citation, or records a hit-and-run, is the paper that proves your point later.

What the published numbers say, and what they measure

No state agency publishes an average surcharge, so be careful with any single figure you see online. Two commercial studies give a sense of the range. Both measure price quotes for one made-up driver. Neither measures what real Los Angeles drivers were charged. ValuePenguin collected quotes in all 50 states through Quadrant Information Services, using insurer rate filings. For a 30-year-old man with good credit, a 2018 Honda Civic EX, full coverage, and $500 deductibles, it found California had the largest jump after an at-fault accident: quotes rose 98 percent, nearly double. CarInsurance.com, also using Quadrant data from 2026, priced a 40-year-old man with a clean record and full coverage on a Honda Accord LX. After one at-fault accident with property damage over $2,000, the annual rate rose from $3,444 to $5,785, an increase of $2,341, or 68 percent. Look at the gap. The two studies used different drivers, cars, and crash types, and they landed 30 points apart. Your own number depends on your insurer, your driving history, your age, your ZIP code, and how serious the crash was. Treat these as a warning that an at-fault crash can cost thousands over several years, not as a prediction. The number that matters is on your renewal notice, and the first question is whether the law allows it.

How an at-fault accident affects the Good Driver Discount

Proposition 103 created the Good Driver Discount. The California Department of Insurance explains that a Good Driver is a person who has been licensed at least three consecutive years and has no more than one point on the driving record. An insurer's rate for a Good Driver must be at least 20 percent lower than what a driver who is not a Good Driver would pay at the same company. Every auto insurer must offer coverage to Good Drivers. Insurance Code section 1861.025 sets the eligibility rules, and they look back three years. One test is that you were not the principally at-fault driver in an accident that caused bodily injury or death. Under Title 10 regulation 2632.13.1, a principally at-fault crash that hurt or killed someone ends eligibility for the discount. A principally at-fault crash with property damage only counts as one violation point. Because a Good Driver may have one point but no more, that crash alone may not cost you the discount. A crash plus a speeding ticket can. This is where the real money sits. Losing a discount of at least 20 percent hits your whole premium, on top of any surcharge. It is also why the fault finding matters so much. Fighting a wrong finding can protect the discount as well as the surcharge.

How long an accident stays on your record and your rate

Two clocks run after a crash, and people mix them up. The first is the legal look-back. Title 10 regulation 2632.5 requires insurers to check each listed driver's DMV Motor Vehicle Report when the policy starts, when a driver is added, and at least every 36 months while the policy continues. An insurer may not rate or underwrite a renewal based on a Motor Vehicle Report older than 36 months at the time of renewal. The Good Driver Discount rules in section 1861.025 also use a three-year period. The second is how long companies actually charge for an accident. Published estimates are not law. ValuePenguin says an accident will usually affect your rates for three to four years, and in rare cases five or longer. CarInsurance.com says an accident typically stays on a driving record for three to five years. Those are industry observations. Ask your insurer in writing how long the surcharge applies and on what date it ends. If an accident leaves you with several incidents and standard companies decline you, the Department of Insurance says the California Automobile Assigned Risk Plan can provide liability coverage. Its number is 1-800-622-0954. After a number of years, the guide says, the accident may drop off and you may be able to buy a standard policy again.

If your insurer raises your rate wrongly: what to do

Start with the paperwork. Under regulation 2632.13, an insurer cannot label you principally at fault until it has done a thorough, fair, and objective investigation, and it must keep records of that investigation. It must give you written notice of the result. The notice has to state the basis for the at-fault finding and tell you about your right to ask for reconsideration. You have 30 days from receiving that notice to request reconsideration. The insurer then has 30 days from your request to give you a written decision with its reasons, and someone other than the person who made the first call must review it. The regulation also says an insurer may not report you to the claims database as principally at fault unless it followed these rules. And it says an insurer that finds its insured principally at fault may not refuse to tell the people involved in that accident about the finding. Send your request in writing and keep a copy. Attach the police report, photos, your witness names, and any citation issued to the other driver. If the insurer will not budge and you think the surcharge breaks the law, file a complaint with the California Department of Insurance. You can file a complaint online through the Department's website or call its Consumer Assistance Hotline at 1-800-927-4357 (TTY 1-800-482-4833). The Department lists unfair underwriting practices and delay in settlement among the problems it takes complaints about. Include your policy number, the company name, the claim number, and copies of your documents.

Claiming on the other driver's insurer versus your own policy

You usually have more than one place to turn after a crash, and the choice affects your premium less than people fear. A claim against the at-fault driver's liability insurer is a third-party claim. That company pays for the damage and injuries its driver caused, up to its limits. California's minimum liability limits are $30,000 for one person's injury or death, $60,000 for all injured people in one accident, and $15,000 for property damage, according to the Department of Insurance. Many drivers carry only the minimum, which is often too little for a serious injury. Your own policy has first-party coverage. Collision pays to repair your car after your deductible. Medical payments coverage pays limited medical costs for people in your car, whether or not you are at fault, with a minimum limit of $1,000 per person. Your insurer may then try to recover what it paid from the at-fault driver's company. The Department of Insurance calls that subrogation. Using your own coverage does not by itself justify a surcharge. Section 491 looks at who was at fault, not at which policy paid. When the other driver caused the crash, a claim you make on your own policy should not raise your rate. If your insurer says otherwise, ask it to show you the at-fault determination in writing.

Uninsured and underinsured motorist claims and your premium

If the driver who hit you had no insurance, too little insurance, or drove off, your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage can step in. The Department of Insurance describes uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage as paying for injuries to you and anyone in your car in a crash with an uninsured driver who is at fault. Underinsured coverage helps when the other driver's insurance is too low to cover the damages. Uninsured motorist property damage coverage pays for your car up to $3,500, and only if the uninsured driver is identified. These claims depend on another driver being at fault. When the crash was entirely the other driver's fault, section 491 is your protection against a rate increase. You are claiming on a policy you paid for, for a crash you did not cause. Moe Abdallah Law, P.C. has handled this kind of claim. In one case a woman was rear-ended by a driver who fled, there was no police report, and other firms had turned her down. Moe opened an uninsured motorist claim and recovered the $100,000 policy limit. Past results do not predict a similar outcome. A hit-and-run also helps you on the fault question. Under regulation 2632.13, a hit-and-run crash reported to the authorities within a reasonable time carries a presumption that you were not principally at fault. Report it to LAPD or the California Highway Patrol right away and get the report number.

Steps in Los Angeles that protect both your claim and your rate

Your fault finding gets built in the first days, so act early. Call police when anyone is hurt or damage is serious. In the City of Los Angeles, LAPD takes collision reports, and the CHP handles freeways and unincorporated areas. Ask for the report number and read the report once it is ready. If it names the other driver's violation and says you were not at fault, section 491 gives that finding real weight. File the DMV SR-1 within 10 days if the crash caused injury or more than $1,000 in damage. This is separate from any police report and separate from your insurer's claim. Tell your own insurer about the crash promptly. The Department of Insurance says to report accidents immediately to law enforcement and to your insurance company. Give facts, not guesses about who caused it. You do not need to say sorry, guess your speed, or sign anything you do not understand. Take photos of the scene, the vehicles, and your injuries. Collect names and phone numbers of witnesses. See a doctor even if you feel okay, because adrenaline hides injuries. Keep every letter from your insurer. If a notice calls you principally at fault, the 30-day reconsideration clock starts when you receive it.

If you were hurt, Moe handles the injury claim

Insurance rates are one part of a crash. If you were injured, the bigger question is who pays your medical bills, your lost income, and your pain. A premium fight does not answer that, and the other side's insurer is not on your team. Moe Abdallah Law, P.C. handles injury claims only for people hurt in motor-vehicle crashes: car, truck, motorcycle, pedestrian, bicycle, Uber and Lyft, bus, hit-and-run, and uninsured motorist cases. It does not take crashes that caused only property damage, and it does not take workplace, product, or premises cases. If you were not hurt, this guide and the Department of Insurance are your main tools for the rate question. If you were hurt, there is a deadline. California generally gives you two years to file a personal-injury lawsuit against a private party (Code of Civil Procedure 335.1). Claims against a city or other public entity have a six-month window to present a claim first. The consultation is free, available 24/7, and Se Habla Español. Moe works on contingency, so you pay no fee unless we win. In one case an at-fault insurer offered $900, and Moe secured $75,000 total. Past results do not predict a similar outcome. Call (323) 716-1992.

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Authoritative resources: California Courts, self-help for injury claims · Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1, 2-year deadline · California DMV · California Office of Traffic Safety, crash data