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.
California Injury Liability Insurance
Reader question:
What is injury liability insurance?
Miranda
Thank you for asking, Miranda.
There are two types of California auto insurance injury liability. One is for the death or injury of a single person, and the other extends the first coverage to take care of the deaths or injuries of multiple people. It isn’t necessary to distinguish them when you go to buy your California auto insurance, though, as both are required. No California auto insurance company will sale you less than the required amount, which is:
- $15,000 for one person
- $30,000 for more than one
However, most California auto insurance companies will suggest a higher level of coverage, and it would be advisable to take their suggestion to mind, considering how much medical bills tend to be. They suggest you get at least $100,000 of liability for one person, and another $300,000 for multiple people.
This type of California auto insurance coverage is the key kind of liability. If you should cause a car accident through your negligence, then the person who is injured in that accident can sue, which is why you need high levels of this type of insurance. If the other driver sues for pain and suffering, or for wages they’ve lost, then you could be out of a lot of money if you don’t have liability California auto insurance coverage.
When you get into an accident, the bodily injury California auto insurance liability applies in a strange way. The first limit, for a single person, is what will apply to each person, but the second is for the entire accident. So, if you get into a car accident and one of the injured’s medical bills come out to $20,000, but you only have the required $15,000 per person California auto insurance coverage, then you will have to pay the difference.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
Affordable Classic Auto Insurance in California
Getting classic auto insurance in California is rather easy. All you have to do is add your new classic vehicle to your regular car insurance policy. But is that the wise thing to do? I would say it isn’t. If you add your classic car to your regular auto insurance in California that would mean that if you total your vehicle, they will give you the same as they give for every other kind of car–what it’s worth after depreciation. For a car that is forty years old or more, that won’t leave you with much, and it doesn’t take into account the classic value of the car.
Getting specialty classic auto insurance in California is slightly more difficult. Normally, there are some qualifications that you must have in order to insure your car with specialty classic auto insurance in California.
- A limited amount of yearly mileage.
- A few years of driving experience.
- Another car that is for regular use.
- No business usage.
- The car must be a certain age or over it.
After you qualify according to these standards, you can buy real classic auto insurance in California. While there are some companies that provide regular auto insurance policies as well as classic, it might be better to go to a specialty company for your classic auto insurance in California. It might cost a little more, but the classic auto insurance company will have the experts.
If you are going to get classic auto insurance in California, it would be advisable to insure your classic car under an agreed value car insurance policy. In order to do this, you have to agree with the car insurance agent on what that value will be, so that if you total your classic car, there will already be a set amount.
Typically, if the problems that your car has as a result of the accident are less than the amount of the agreed value, then the car can be fixed. However, if they are more, than you will be given the agreed value. One thing that you must remember is that after a repair, the car will lose some value.
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