So You Had An Auto Accident – How Should You File a Claim?
Most people will get into a auto accident at least once in their lives, and many people will get into an accident several times. Practice makes perfect for the CA auto insurance accident veterans, but for those who are on the first go around, how many will know what they need to do in the event of an accident or have any type of detailed idea about what they need to do to start their claims process? Not many, which is why many people in the U.S. end up getting far less in claims payments than they are actually entitled to. If you follow the correct procedures, though, then you will be able to get the most out of your auto insurance claim.
- First step.
Once the accident has happened, you need to come to a stop and exchange information with the other driver. If either are injured, you need to call 911. If necessary, then you might also need to call the police so that they can come and file a report. The report will include a lot of necessary information for your auto insurance claim, and you should get the information as well and, if possible, a copy of the police report so that you can use it in your claim.
The police report will have info such as the kind of car driven by each person, their names and contact information, but it will also have details about the crash itself and anything that might have contributed to it, such as the weather or the conditions of the road.
- Then…
Your insurance policy will give you a period of time in which you are able to file your insurance claim. Try to get the claim filed as soon as possible, but you absolutely most file it in the time period provided. Make sure that you wait to have someone repair your car until an insurance adjuster comes out, looks at the car, and approves the repairs. It might still be a good idea to leave the car at a body shop (of your own choice or the one required in your auto insurance policy) so that they can’t say that any damages have occurred since the crash happened.
- Also:
This is actually going back before the insurance claim itself, but it certainly affects it. Many people every day are denied their auto insurance claims because they did not provide the auto insurance company the right information when they signed up for their policy. It is perfectly legal to do this. In order to avoid problems, you need to give the best information, and then double and triple check it.
Filiing an Auto Insurance Claim in California?
Making a claim for auto insurance in California often involves the big fish in claims terms of injuries related to the car accident. When you receive an injury as the result of an auto accident, it is in your best interest to contact a car accident lawyer. Injury claims are very high stakes and complicated, and while I can give you an idea of them so that you don’t go into your claim for auto insurance in California completely ignorant, you would do better if you had an attorney to help you on the issue.
These attorneys are good for a variety of things. Not only are they able to aid you in getting the health care that you deserve and need after your accident, but they can also make sure that you have the right documentation for all of your bills and other damages. Doing this, they are better able to prove to the company for auto insurance in California that you indeed do have the right to money for your injuries.
You cannot simply choose any lawyer for auto insurance in California, though. First of all, you need an attorney who is experienced on the matters. Hiring a general attorney at law who also dabbles in car accident claims will not cut it. It is best to either get an attorney who only works for victims of car accidents, or one who has does significant work in the area. When choosing a lawyer to help you with your claim for auto insurance in California, consider also what percentage of his cases he has one and how high the damages paid were for each of those cases.
Whenever you get into a car accident, it is possible that your company for auto insurance in California owes you money for several things, from lost wages to any kind of permanent physical therapy that you might need as a result, to something as unquantifiable as pain and suffering. To make sure that you get this, hire a car insurance accident lawyer.
Should You File Car Insurance Claim In California?
The California car insurance claims process is a difficult one to wade through, at least when you’re the at fault driver. Unlike the more easy filing for when you are not at fault, you are required to do more and deal with the same problems. It’s a good idea to read your car insurance policy ahead of time so that you know what the steps recommended by your CA car insurance company are, and here are a few steps that you can follow as well.
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Should you, or shouldn’t you?
The first thing to do is determine whether or not to file a car insurance claim at all. Anytime you decide to file a claim on your insurance policy, it will become part of your CLUE report. In the future, other companies who you buy insurance with will see this report, and you will have to pay more for your insurance with them, so you have to be careful.
If the damages are fewer than your deductible and no one else is involved, then there’s obviously no point in calling the insurance company. If you only get into a fender bender and feel you can take care of it alone, then there is no need.
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Follow the steps.
Make sure you take the correct steps after your car insurance accident to make sure that you have the events properly documented. This way, should there be any controversy down the line as to who is at fault for the collision, you will be able to show real proof supporting your position.
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Get it done.
If you’re going to file a insurance claim, then you need to file it now. While claims are open and you are able to file it a couple of weeks down the line, the longer you wait, the more likely you are of having your claim denied. It is also possible that if you the at fault driver and there is another person involved, they will call the car insurance company first, and you will be in trouble.
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Be prepared.
It’s possible that if another driver is involved in the accident, their own insurance company will give you a call. They will do this to get your side of the story. When they call, be sure to keep track of what goes on in the conversation and to write down the name of the person you’re speaking to.
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Repairs.
Once your claim has been given the go ahead, you will be able to have an adjuster look at your car and the damages. Then you will be able to have your car repaired, and the end of your insurance claim is in sight.
What Will Happen if You File an Automobile Insurance Claim?
My husband’s car was hit last week by another vehicle, and we had to file a car insurance claim with that person’s automobile insurance company. The company was AllState, and the claim went smoothly. They looked at the car, we took it to the rental agency and got a rental car, and then we dropped our own car off at the repair shop recommended by the insurance company. Everything went well and, a couple days later, we had our car back as good as new (and vacuumed!).
That is how things should go. Whenever you get into a car accident and another driver is at fault, you, the victim, should have an easy time of it, right? All you should have to do is call up their insurance company, and then they take it from there. However, this is not always the case. Sometimes it’s just the problem of the automobile insurance company, and other times whenever the claim involves an injury the claims process can be more complicated.
Whenever you need to get repairs done on your vehicle after an accident, be sure to call the insurance company beforehand. Many companies do not like to be told after the repairs are being done, and if you take the car to the shop without telling the company then you might not get your claims check later on. So, first things first, make sure that the insurance company of the other driver understands that they are liable, and make sure that you get an approval from them on paper, even if you have to fax it.
How To Report an Auto Insurance Claim
It’s almost winter time, and around this season the amount of car accidents rises. The colder weather and icier roads are mostly to blame, but the constant rush of the holiday season has to take some of the guilt as well. When you’re in the traffic rush to get that last minute costume on Halloween or that last minute gift on Christmas, you need to take extra caution around other drivers.
One thing that will always stay the same, though, is that after you get into car wreck, you need to follow a few steps to make sure that your auto insurance claims process goes as smoothly as possible.
- What’s the damage?
Once you have your wits about you, check yourself and the others in your car to see if there are any injuries. Get out of the vehicle if possible and safe and do the same for those in the other vehicle, if there is one. If no one is hurt and you are able to move the vehicles, take them off to the side of the road. Once you are out of the way of further harm, examine the damages. If anyone is injured, you need to call emergency medical services.
- Who you gonna call?
Once you have done all of the above, you will need to get a police officer on the scene so that they can file a report. If the damages are small, they may not do so, but if you have even the slightest suspicion that the events of the accident might be contested, you need to do the foot work all by yourself.
The police officers will ask for your information, and for your version of the event of the accident, and will do the same with the other person.
- Why keep a secret?
It’s a known fact that the more you say something and the more people you tell it to, the more the notions of what really happened get twisted. If there are other witnesses, avoid talking about your experience of the accident with them. Try to only recount your version to the police officers. If you limit your storytelling, then you will be able to remember the details more easily instead of them getting mixed up with other people’s details.
- Where should my priorities lie?
You need to focus about getting all of the details about your accident once you have told your version of events to the police officers. Make sure you acquire the policy number, name, phone number, driver’s license number, make, model, license plate number, and so on from the person whose vehicle hit you (or whose vehicle you hit). Also get the names and numbers of any witnesses.
- When do I report it?
Right away. As soon as you are able to get off the scene of the accident and get to a phone, call up your auto insurance company and report the accident to them.
Auto Insurance Claims – The Other Party Does Not Accept Blame?
Reader question:
When the owner of an auto insurance policy in California who crashed into your car doesn’t want to take the blame, what do you do?
Mark
Thanks for asking, Mark.
Sometimes a person will be completely apologetic at the scene of the car accident, but when it comes time to file a claim with their auto insurance policy in CA, you find that they’ve told a whole other story to their car insurance company. The company that sells his auto insurance policy is going to go with his story unless forced to believe otherwise, because they want to pay the least money and stick by their policy holder. If it’s your fault, then they don’t have to pay anything.
Normally this happens when an accident hasn’t had a police report filed for it. There’s a good reason for calling the cops every time right there. However, sometimes even when a police officer comes, they don’t file a report. Why is that? It’s because if the police officer believes the damages of the accident to be $500 or less, then it isn’t necessary to file one. However, what might seem like only a little bit of damage at the time could be worth several thousand dollars at the mechanic.
While you might try to convince the police officer to follow a report, it’s not something that you can reasonably do. Instead, do things yourself. Ask witnesses and get their statements about the accident, get the other driver’s statement about the accident, and make sure you take your vehicle to a repair shop as soon as possible so that the damages can be checked out and no one can say that they didn’t come from that accident.
Make sure you get names and numbers of the witnesses, as well as the name, number, and policy number of the other driver. Take pictures of the vehicles, and if there is a police report filed, you can get a copy.
If the auto insurance policy still gets you a no to your claim, you can get more serious. Go to small claims court with the other driver, or even get an attorney. Make sure that they can’t push you around.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
Auto Insurance Claim Filing in California – What To Do Next?
If you’ve gone and decided to make a claim for auto insurance in California, then you should be ready for the consequences. The second you call to report a car insurance accident, even if you do not end up filing a claim for it, that information goes straight to your file, and from your file it will go onto your CLUE report. This report, or something like it, is ordered by any company for auto insurance in California that you are considering getting a policy with, and the information will be used to determine whether or not they want to insure you, and how much they will charge if they decide that they will.
According to State Farm, all the companies for auto insurance in California are doing is trying to fulfill their obligation to you. You pay them every month, or every six months, or every year, or whatever it is, and so they are obligated to pay for your damages if you get into an accident. With their company, getting into an accident, even an at fault one, does not guarantee you an instant raise in your premium for auto insurance premium. Some people will have an accident forgiveness waiver, and others are looked at individually before a premium raise is given for the circumstances.
If you’ve been a good, long time customer, you might not see your rates raise even if you don’t have an accident forgiveness waiver, which are usually only for the first accident. Some things that State Farm and other companies for auto insurance in California consider are whether or not anyone was hurt, or if the damages were significant enough to warrant a huge payout.
Who Gets Paid From The Insurance Company During a Claim?
Reader question:
When I get into an accident, who does the car insurance company send my claim check to?
Gabby
Great question, Gabby.
There are two types of payments that you might get, depending on your situation when you file for a claim with your car insurance company. The first type is the first party claim, and the second would be the third party claim. Let’s look at what the two entail.
- First party claim.
After you get into accident that is your fault and have to file a collision coverage claim with your car insurance company, the company will pay for the damages after you have paid your deductible first. In a claim like this, the insurance company you have your policy with gets to decide who to write the check to. In some cases, they will write it directly to you and you will then pick a repair shop to which you will pay the money for having fixed your car. Another insurance company might make the check out to the repair shop as well as you, so you don’t have much choice of what to do with it.
Don’t get annoyed if they make it out to the repair shop, too. They do that to get rid of car insurance fraud.
Sometimes, you won’t get a check at all. About a week ago we had to file a claim with another driver’s company, and we had our car fixed with the insurance company ‘s own repair shop. Never saw a thing.
- Third party claim.
Normally, if you were in our situation (someone crashed into you), then the claim you make with the other person’s insurance company will be much more simple. Since you never signed on to a policy with that insurance company, they can’t tell you where to go. Unless you choose to go to the car repair shop of their choice, then they will send you the claim check.
If you get your car completely wrecked, though, you will have to talk with the place your paying your loan off with if you’re still buying your vehicle.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
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