Automobile claims

Automobile claims.

It is never a pleasant thing to be in a car accident or find out that your car is stolen. It is traumatic enough. But, then you have to deal with “after shock process”: the police, insurance company, the paperwork… What can you do? You have a great insurance coverage, on which you’ve spend a lot of money over the years. Now it’s a perfect time to collect some, get that damaged car of yours fixed or replaced, pay your medical bills or get reimbursed for car rental expenses.

When in an accident (regardless of fault) you need to file a claim. Insurance adjuster will investigate it and determine the settlement, checking if you have coverage for your claim and making sure the repair or replacement costs are reasonable. Then they negotiate the settlement offer between you and insurance company.

It is very possible to meet some claim problems, which may arise because of poor communication, lack of adjuster’s interest or “passion”, should I say, for his (or her) job. Here are some tips on how to make already unpleasant and your precious time consuming claim to go more smoothly:

have your claim number and get phone numbers of your adjuster and his supervisor, who you can talk to in case you are not happy with the performance of your adjuster (some do not even explain what the settlement is based on, which is important, especially if it’s less than you’ve hopped for), or simply being unreachable;

do not accept any payment without the agreement on a price between the adjuster and a body shop (you may just get a check and a repair estimate by mail, for you to find a body shop to fix your vehicle);

If you have a car insurance agent, ask him to negotiate for you a better settlement, for example;

in some states you can choose a body shop you want to work with - so pick the one you’ve been a customer with - they will do a great job;

Sometimes the body shop may try to pull more money, saying they did more repairs (yes, unfortunately this happens. Everybody wants a piece of cake or money for that matter). Don’t forget to send that invoice to insurance company.

You want new parts for your car and the insurer won’t pay for them. Well, you have the right to demand new parts, after all your clean, nice and low mileage baby deserves the best, but since the parts you had were used, the insurance company has the right to replace them with used ones as well. What you can do is check, if the parts are in a good condition, or get the new ones by paying the difference between the costs of new and used parts;

Auto insurance is not one, but a 20 some page contract, which should not be taken lightly. Read it. Keep it updated. Make sure there are no gaps in your policy to avoid an underpaid or denied automobile claims.

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Automobile claims.