Vehicles are undeniably a depreciating asset. They depreciate arguably 10 to 15% per month depending on what source you reference. So a vehicle currently valued at $20,000 is depreciating at $200 to $300 a month. For this example let’s use the lower of that figure over a year. So every month, in the case of a total loss, your insurance owes you at least $200 less for your vehicle than it did the month before. Over a year, your insurance owes you $2400 less than it did one year before. So if they owe YOU less, shouldn’t you owe THEM less? You would think but that’s now how it works.
It’s funny how people are so afraid to use their insurance because they think it will make their insurance go up, when in fact their insurance is going up every month whether their premium increases or not and regardless of claims or not. If you bought a gallon of gasoline for $2 and every time you go back, you get a little less gasoline every time, even though you are still paying $2, you are getting less value per $ than you were before, hence the price for what you are getting is indeed increasing. This is exactly what is happening with your insurance.
Here is the fact of the matter when it comes to hail claims which fall under your comprehensive part of your insurance. Comprehensive rates are based on your billing LOCATION unlike collision rates which are based on your location AND your risk potential ie your prior driving record, accidents, claims etc.
If you live in a small population, I don’t care if every single man and woman makes a claim on every car they drive, comprehensive claims in that insurance territory are NOT going to change. On the other hand if you live in a heavily populated area and 100’s of thousands of people make claims, comprehensive insurance rates are going adjust in that area regardless if you fix your vehicle or not.
In both cases not repairing your vehicle leaves you with a greatly devalued asset and your premiums are going to do what they are going to do based on the population density in your area regardless if you fix your vehicle or not.
One reason the rich get richer and the poor stay poor are due to their financial habits. The rich let the poor pay for the repairs of their vehicles by using their insurance and the poor let the rich benefit from their premium payments by paying their insurance and not using it.