What happens after you file a car insurance claim
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2. Ask about penalties before you have to file a claim.
The best time to find out how lenient your company's renewal guidelines are is before you purchase car insurance from them. "Ideally, it's best to ask these questions while you're still shopping for a policy," says McCartin. "Ask on the front end, 'What are the rules for cancellation?' That way there's not a surprise."

He also advises customers to read reviews from companies such as Consumer Reports to find out which insurers rate high on customer satisfaction surveys. If a company gets low marks for not renewing policies, McCartin suggests policyholders take note before purchasing car insurance from that provider.

"The insurance company might be giving you a great deal pricewise, but the risk of sharply increased rates after an accident may not make the policy worth it." (To compare car insurance rates, use Bankrate's tool.)

If you're already doing business with an insurer, check your contract to learn about nonrenewal guidelines. Look to see what remedies are offered if you disagree with a decision not to renew your insurance. Some policies offer third-party arbitration. 

To have specific questions answered, contact a company representative.

"For personalized information, the best advice I can give to people is to contact their local agent," says Siemienas. "They are there to assist you and to help explain your policy and your coverage to you." 

3. One minor accident probably won't cause your policy to be dropped.
"We're able to renew policies for the vast majority of our customers," says Siemienas. "It's a very small percentage of people whom we would no longer offer coverage for based on the amount of claims filed."

McCartin agrees. "Every situation is different, but it's unlikely your coverage will end after your first at-fault fender bender," he says. For the insurance companies he works with, McCarting says a driver usually has to have two at-fault accidents in a three-year period, with damages over a thousand dollars, to be at risk for losing coverage. "That is for a preferred tier. If you were in a standard tier with slightly higher rates," he says, you might have even more leniency. 

The tier system is a way insurance companies evaluate the likelihood that a particular driver will get in an accident, based on the statistics of the tier group. A driver would be placed in a certain tier based on factors like the number of accidents they've been in over the past three years, the type of car they drive and their overall number of years of driving experience.

There are circumstances where even one claim could cause a loss of coverage. If alcohol is involved, the driver probably won't have the policy renewed, says McCartin. In addition, having multiple traffic tickets could be a cause for nonrenewal, even after only one accident.