Car Insurance Claims: Vital Steps You Need to Take
How to make car insurance claims.
Do you know how to go about making your car insurance claims? Having insured your car, it is important you know what to do in order to make the claims from your insurer. It is one of the car insurance myths to believe that once you insured your car, that your car insurer is obligated to repair your car whatever the case may be. The truth is that, if you don’t know the steps to take or the process involved in car insurance claims, you may lose out at the end of the day. To avoid this type of frustration, this article will provide basic tips on how one can go about making car insurance claims. Please, you need to understand that the steps you need to take in make car insurance claims will depend on some factors such as the insurance policy you bought and the cause of the accident. For an example, the steps you will take to make car insurance claims for repairs of a car involving road accident may be different if the damage is caused by storms. Since, most of the damages to cars involve road accidents; let’s quickly go through the important steps that are involved in making such car insurance claims.
Collect vital information: If your car is involved in an accident which may necessitate that you make insurance claims, you need to quickly collect the vital information about the driver of the other vehicle. You need to ask for the name and address and phone number of the other driver. It is most likely that the address will agree with the address on his driver’s license. You need the registration number of the other car. Find out the information about the car insurance of the driver. You should be willing to exchange your information with the other driver too. It is also important that you quickly take the photos of the two cars in the position of the accident. If the accident occurred in a busy road, it may be necessary to quickly move the two cars from the scene of the accident in order not to cause traffic jam. However, you should ensure you take the photos of the two cars from different views before they are moved. If you find out that the other driver is not unlicensed or his car is not insured, you need to report this to the police immediately. In the same way, if your car is stolen, you need to quickly report the theft to the police.
In addition to the information above, you need to take note of the time, date and the location of the accident.
Don’t admit liability: A lot of drivers make the mistake of accepting liability where the accident occurred. However, if you are convinced that you are the cause of the accident, you may need to concur in order to avoid unnecessary argument. Otherwise, I will advise that you allow the police or insurer to decide who is at fault.
Contact your insurer: You need to contact your car insurer as soon as possible. Even if the accident is minor, you still need to contact your car insurer. Failure to contact your insurer on time may invalidate you car insurance claims. Essentially, your car insurer will need the information you collected earlier on. That is, you need to supply your car insurer with the name and address and phone number of the other driver. You also need to provide your car insurer with information regarding the time, date and the location of the accident. The photos of the scene will also be useful to your car insurer. Usually, when you want to make insurance claims, your car insurer will give you a form to complete. This form will provide them information that they consider useful for the processing of your car insurance claims. Your insurer that you provide details of witnesses that were present when the accident happened.
The steps your car insurer will take in order to process your car insurance claims will depend on who was at fault. If you are at fault, your insurer may take up the responsibility of fixing your car. However, there are instances where your insurer may reject your car insurance claims. I will talk more about this later. If the driver of the other car was the one at fault, your car insurer will help you contact the insurer of the other driver. Meanwhile, in order to avoid delay in the fixing of your car, your insurer may repair the car. They can later present your car insurance claims to the other insurance company for reimbursement. Some insurers may insist that you need to use their mechanics to carry out the repairs. In the same way, if you carry out the repairs by yourself, you should find out your insurer’s policy regarding this so that they don’t decline you the reimbursement of your costs of repair.
Why Insurance claims can be denied
The essence of buying car insurance is for you to be able to file for insurance claims any time there is need for that. The fact that you have your liability covered in case anything happens to your car gives you some degree of peace. But I want you to know that it is not automatic that your insurance claims will be approved. There are instances where insurers may decide to turn down insurance claims. This may sound punitive but insurers usually have their reasons for doing that. Below are some of the reasons why auto insurance companies may reject car insurance claims.
The car was faulty: If you drive a car that is not roadworthy and as a result you get involved in an accident, you auto insurance company will definitely reject your insurance claims. For example, if the brake of your car is not working properly, this can lead to collision. Of course, the collision is avoidable. If the brake of a car is not effective, may be the brake pad has chopped, the car may not stop immediately you apply the brake. Any accident caused in the process is a clear case of negligence on your part. Therefore, you should not expect the insurer to honour your insurance claims on this. If you don’t want your car insurance claims to be denied, you should ensure that your car is roadworthy.
Unlicensed driver: If you allow an unlicensed driver to drive your car and the car get involved in an accident, your car insurance will not cover the damage. It doesn’t matter who is at fault. Ordinarily, it is an offence for unlicensed driver to drive. Even if the person is more skilled than you are in driving, it is the act of driving without being licensed that is wrong.
Over-drunk: It is not good to drive under the influence of alcohol. A drunk-man is never in a perfect state of mind. Drunkenness can make someone become dizzy. In fact, there has been various campaign that if you want to drive, you should not drink. This is the best practice. Don’t say that you just want to drink a little.
No write-off policy: If your car is severely damaged and your policy does not make provision for write off clause, your auto insurance company may reject your insurance claims. If the damage is beyond repair, the insurer can replace your car for you if it is explicitly stated in the policy. In a situation where this not stated, it is advisable that you make enquiry about this before you buy the policy. If you wait till the time you want to make insurance claims, you may be greeted with surprise as the insurer may tell you that your policy does not cover “write off”.
Read Also: How to Get Really Cheap Car Insurance Quotes
Leaving the scene of an accident hurriedly: If accident happens, you need to stay there to ensure that all necessary formalities are completed before leaven the scene. Photos of the scenes can be taken while law enforcement agent(s) may be involved.
No vehicle inspection: At the point of writing the policy, it is expected that your car is inspected to examine any existing damage to the car. If the inspection was not carried out, your insurer may not honour insurance claims that (seem to) relate to the existing damage.
Improper usage: If you use a car that was insured as a personal car for business purpose, you owe it a duty to let your insurer know about this. This may require that you pay additional premium to cover the extra risks. However, if you withdraw this information from your auto insurance company and they find it out, your insurance claims will be rejected. The insurance policy can even be cancelled completely.
Lack of tracking device: If your insurance policy requires that you install special devices that can monitor your speed and what you do behind the wheel, you need to comply with this. Failure to do so will make your insurance claims to be rejected.
Conclusion
In most cases, it is usually the drivers that cause their car insurance claims to be rejected. Some will just sign a policy without taking time to find out the terms and condition governing such policy. In order to avoid the pains of having your car insurance claims being rejected, it is always advisable read the terms of the contract before signing the policy. If you need clarifications on certain areas, you are free to ask questions.