Before any accidents or misfortunes that require you to fill out auto insurance claims, it is important that you have done your homework and shopped around for the best car insurance rate possible. However, you want your insurance company to be one that also makes the auto insurance claim process rather painless.
So how can something so important not be such a headache? Well, there are certain steps that people should take when making auto insurance claims. Those steps are:
• Exchange auto insurance information with the other party at the accident scene, take pictures, and call the police so you can have a police report. Also, make sure you get the phone number of the other party since that information is not available on an insurance card.
• When at the scene, try to locate witnesses who are willing to tell their testimonial. Retrieve their contact information as well in case they need to be questioned later.
• Contact your car insurance company as soon as possible. You can call them right from the scene if you have a cell phone to start the auto insurance claim process.
• You can inform the other party’s insurance company that you are pursuing an auto insurance claim through your own company in order to receive reimbursement for costs your company will not pay.
• Prepare for a phone call from the other insurance company asking you for your account of the accident.
• An insurance adjuster will come to your vehicle’s location to assess the damage and provide an estimate of how much it will cost to replace or repair your vehicle.
• If you feel the adjuster’s estimate is too low, you can ask your auto insurance company to resolve the dispute by providing you with a form of arbitration. Otherwise, a check will be cut to you in the amount of the estimate and your car insurance claim will be settled.
Follow these steps so that you can successfully file your auto insurance claim. However, there are some things to keep in mind, such as the fact that some police officers will try not to file a report if they assume the damage is under $500. This is the amount of the typical car insurance deductible. It is also possible for a police officer to plead no jurisdiction if the accident occurs in a parking lot. Make sure a police report is created and that will make the auto insurance claim process much easier. Click on the links below for more information on filing claims:
