I am sure just about all of you know trying to file a car accident insurance claim isn’t the easiest thing ever. The first thing we have to worry about is getting a towing company to actually tow the car which isn’t always the cheapest thing, then you have to worry about all the other small things such as whether or not they have auto insurance, what insurance company they are with, if there was a personal injury, how you will handle the injury settlements, and many other little things. Regardless of what car insurance company you are with, the good news is the fact that it doesn’t have to be as hard as you might think. Below are the Do’s and Don’ts of car accident insurance. Oh and on a side note-Aflac Accident Insurance is a company we highly recommend for accident insurance
The DO’s
Make sure you call the police right away because if you don’t you are breaking the law. Also, if you do not call the police right away then the other people have a better chance of getting away without having to pay much money. The insurance policy should cover most of it, but still if there was any sort of injury such as a back injury, you stand a better chance of being responsible.
Get our your cell phone and dial up your insurance company as soon as you can. The sooner they hear about it the sooner they will be able to take care of it. If you don’t already have an insurance company then you should get one now. It is best to look of company reviews and find the best insurance quotes.
If you used an insurance agent you should probably let him know also. Depending on what state you live in your agent may actually be able to get you a better deal so even if it was your fault, your company might be easier on you in the future..
Make sure you do not lie or stretch the truth at all with your information. Law enforcement will find out and it can look bad if you lied..
Make sure you completely understand your insurance policy and whether or not it covers medical costs even if it was your fault.
Keep track of what everyone says. Right when the accident happens, get out a pen and a paper and write down everything the other person says, write down what the police says, and what your insurance company says. If there is a lawyer and attorney involved make sure you write down what they say also..
Take pictures of everything that was damaged, whether it is on your car or their car. Having pictures for evidence can really help you out a lot, especially if the other people are claiming it wasn’t their fault when it really was.
Try to get an estimate of how much it is going to cost before you actually give your insurance company the price you think it will cost. If your insurance company tells you it will cost a certain amount and it ended up costing a lot more, there won’t be a whole lot you can do about it.
Make sure you know the terms of your insurance, this means make sure you read all the small print. Better yet, have a lawyer read and understand all the small details for you.
Check up a few months later to make sure your insurance company is doing everything they promised to do. This can be a life saver because sometimes they don’t follow through even though it is legally binding.
The DON’Ts
One thing people do a lot right when the accident happens is say “I am so sorry that was my fault.” If you say those words then there is not much you can do about it. There could have been many things that happened that you didn’t know about, let the officers be the one to judge whose fault it really was.
Do not leave the other party if you have not collected their insurance information yet. It will go by much smoother if you have all their insurance information.
Make sure you absolutely have to make the claim before you make the claim. If it is a cheap fix you might be better off fixing it yourself because the more claims you file the higher your monthly fees are likely to be.
If the damage is under what your deductible is, do not file the claim.
It is important to make sure you don’t take any types of payments until you understand all the legality behind it.
Don’t let the insurance company treat you poorly. If you feel they are treating you unfair let them know.
As you can tell, there are a lot of things to do after an accident. If you follow those tips then car accident insurance won’t be too much of a pain! Don’t get an attorney involved unless you feel you absolutely have to.
