Accident Response Fees and Your Insurance Premium

Posted on by Kate

Accident response fee or crash tax as they are being referred to be is a form of fee that one is required to pay when an emergency vehicle comes to the scene of an accident. Prior to recent regulations, the fees for emergency aid was covered by the state government, but now several states have been enacting the new rules to have people pay for the emergency support. These fees are basically for police services, ambulance and fire-fighters. As residents of the city, we already pay for such services through the taxes we pay. The accident response fee can be regarded as an additional cash grab for the state.

The accident response fee that is incurred during a crash is billed to your insurance company. Now, here is the kicker; sometimes, both drivers get billed the accident response fees. So, even if you are not at fault, your insurance company will still receive a bill to pay, which initially increases your premiums. In some cases, only the person at fault will be held responsible for the fee. There have been several incidents where both drivers have been sent accident response fees for different amounts. If the at-fault driver is not yet determined, both insurance companies receive the bill. Once the at-fault driver has been determined, his/her insurance company will be required to pay the crash tax.

There have been questions as to whether the crash tax should be sent right to the individual rather than the insurance company. Some people do prefer to have the bill sent to them because this does not cause an effect on the insurance premiums they are currently paying. Having your insurance company pay for something that you weren’t responsible is not so great, as it affects both parties in question.

There has been a major dispute between residents and government officials because fire department officials come to the scene of an accident, where they have no apparent issue to resolve. An accident scene with no major issue still calls for a fire department run. In the end, the insurance company or individual is billed for this unnecessary service, which no one used. City and community officials find these crash tax programs to be very attractive as opposed to cutting spending on needed services. Collection companies are in charge of billing insurance companies when a crash occurs and calls for police or fire runs.

Collection companies have the ability to bill your insurance company for accident response fees, without you knowing. When a collection company bills you, it will take a certain cut from the total amount you pay. So, not only is this a great cash grab for the city, but it is for these companies as well. Unfortunately, if you are billed a crash tax; you have no other option than to pay for it.