Auto Insurance Claims: Appealing a surcharge, wide berth, metal fence

Question
Hello Richard,  I was recently involved in a car accident.  There was a jogger coming toward me on the side of the road.  I swerved to give him wide berth and because of the sun in my eyes I hit a metal fence post at the end of the road which was in the middle of the road.  There was no other cars involved and the damage to my car was $2000.  I was told by an insurance agent that I should appeal the surcharge since I was trying to avoid a jogger and am less then 50% responsible for the accident.  What do you think about appealing the surcharge?

Answer
Hi Richard,

You can certainly try to appeal. However, you will likely not win. You are required to always be in control of your vehicle. This is considered to ba an at-fault event. The insurance company may be willing to to lower your percentage of fault due to the circumstances, but, any percentage of fault still represents some level of fault that would trigger a premium increase.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh