Auto Insurance Claims

With all of the drivers on the roads today, everyone at some point eventually gets involved in filing auto insurance claims. But many of us hardly prepare for such an event and when it occurs, many people don’t really know exactly what to do and that can cost them.
But who gets the check from the insurance company of the one at fault? This is all based on several factors such as each of the drivers’ sides of the story of the accident, physical damage done to the vehicle(s), the actual police report, any other witnesses involved in the scene. We will discuss further on how to prepare for all of this in this section.
If an auto accident does occur, be sure to get the other drivers’ license numbers, phone number and insurance information, if you can, immediately. In many cases, drivers will literally get back in their car and drive away after giving the individual who was just hit a false insurance number.
Be sure to also call the police and get a police report on the matter. This will be extremely important in filing your auto insurance claim.
Next, look around for any witnesses such as security guards or employees if you are in a parking lot. You will need as much credible information as you can get when filing auto insurance claims as the offender’s insurance company will only listen to THEIR side of the story as they are a policy holder for their company and they look out for their best interest.
Again, security guards really help validate any auto insurance claims that are placed.
Once you have covered all of your bases as much as you could with the auto insurance claim, call your insurance company and report the accident. One item to remember is not to call your insurance company with questions regarding filing auto insurance claims as they often record these questions and could potentially be used against you.
If the other driver is indeed at fault and you are able to gather the other driver’s auto insurance information, give their car insurance company a call to report the accident. You never know. They may not have reported it and it is also good to let them know your side of the story in case they keep these types of calls documented.
Once everything is reported, recorded and underway, the repairs will need to commence.
The repairs can either be by an auto repair company provided by the other driver’s auto insurance company or one appointed by your own. In either case, be sure these details are clear so that everything goes smoothly and the job is completed. If you get a response and they say your car is totaled, then this amount should be around what the car is worth if you were to buy a similar used car of the same make and model.
If not you can file another auto insurance claim which is more commonly known as a form of arbitration which may allow you to receive even more payment for your car. This process may take several weeks but is very possible.
If they decide against paying more that you believe your car is worth, then the next step would most likely be legal action beyond just filing auto insurance claims and it would be recommended to seek guidance by a professional legal counsel or attorney for more information on the matter at hand.
Auto accidents are never something most people want to even deal with, but they do occur. Collecting as much auto-insurance claim information as you can and filing car insurance claims the right way can save many headaches in the future for you, the other drivers as well as those others involved in the auto insurance claiming process.