CHICAGO – Should you settle a car accident privately—paying for the damage out of your own pocket—to avoid notifying your auto insurance company or the other driver’s insurance company and possibly triggering a rate increase? Well, as with so many issues involving auto insurance, it depends on several factors.
Generally speaking, privately settling a car accident—without input from an insurance company or a lawyer—“would not be a very wise thing to do,” says personal injury attorney Patrick Salvi, managing equity partner and chairman of the Illinois-based law firm Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard.
