Your day just hit a bump – literally. In the middle of a traffic jam, your car gets rear ended and that sends you, BUMP into the vehicle ahead of you.
You keep a cool head as you have rehearsed the plan of steps for an accident. Also, you know that in your glove compartment is the trusty cheat sheet of necessary information to gather at the scene of an accident.
You pull over with the other two cars in the accident. The police are called to the scene and a report is filed with them. You take photos of all the cars involved and their damage. You diligently fill out the sheet of information from the other persons. (Thank you insurance agent for that sheet! )
You call your insurance company on sight of the accident as that is the protocol established by your company. Most insurance companies now state that you will notify them of any accident regardless of whose fault for the accident. The gentleman who rear-ended you is late for a meeting and says that he will call from the office.
Days go by without news from the gentleman’s insurance company. What now?
Filing claim with other party’s insurance company
One doesn’t have to wait for the claim to be filed by the at fault individual. You can file the claim with the other insurance company. Remember that sheet of necessary information collected from the accident scene? That has all the information you need to file the claim.
What if you didn’t collect all the necessary information at the accident scene? You can request the police report from the accident and that should have all the necessary information including the at fault’s insurance company.
Now you call the other insurance company. If the claim was already filed, you can receive the proper claim information from that agent. If the claim wasn’t filed yet, then you have started the process. This allows all companies involved in the accident to start working amongst each other to cover any damages to cars and persons.
Car claim for damages
If your car sustained damages, your own insurance company sends an adjuster to evaluate the damage to the vehicle. That adjuster determines whether the car is worth repairing or declares it a total loss. If the car is deemed repairable, you can choose from a list of insurance endorsed garages to fix your vehicle.
Your insurance company may waive the collision deductible if the accident is not your fault.
Once the repair is complete, you get to take your car home. The repair bill is sent to the other driver’s insurance company. They reimburse the repair cost directly to your insurance company.
Throughout the whole motor vehicle accident process, your independent insurance agent is there to help you. He is there to advocate for YOU.
Now you are in the know! Protect yourself and your family.
The above article gives a general overview of the claim filing process. Please refer to your insurance agency for their steps in filing an auto claim.