This seems to be a question of power have always wanted to know, but I do not work with the Institute of Insurance longer. I still have my friends and family call me after an accident to ask me what to do after you’ve had an accident. After an accident, you should always inform the police, the exchange of information with the other person involved, and your insurance company. You do not want to admit fault or discuss the accident with anyone except the police or your insurance agent / Rep allegation So today I will examine the steps that I think you should do after an accident.
Step 1 – Call the police, regardless of their size or the size of your accident may be, is always important to have a police report done. Cost you anything to get a police report was made following an accident. If your in a parking lot or a busy street, you should always call. A police report does not always have to go to an insurance claim, but it validates their story and provide information on all stakeholders.
I understand that sometimes, if the problem occurs on private property, the police will not come, but at least you can call them and ask them. If you tell them you need something for your insurance company, usually leaving or have another option of what can be done. Some states require that you fill out an SR-22. I know in Indiana is required each time you just stopped for a traffic violation or if you have an accident. They usually give you 10 days after the accident so that the SR-22 form completed and signed by the insurance company. This is to check if you have a current insurance. If you do not return it within 10 days, will suspend the license.
If you decide to enter a complaint, the insurance company is usually to obtain the police report for you. It usually takes a couple of days after the accident for the police report, but generally the specialist will be responsible for all for you. In the company I worked for the way it was handled. Now, if you want a copy of the police report for the record, in most cases, if you ask your state regulator to provide a copy to you. However, if you do not want to wait or if your company does not provide them, you can usually get them at the station for $ 5 to $ 10.
Step 2 – Exchange of information you want to exchange information with other parties involved in the accident. You want information about the driver, vehicle information and insurance information. Make sure that if there are witnesses that bear his name, address and phone number as well. Want to write things in your car too. Playlist with you, where is the evil that was driving the vehicle and who it was. You should also list some information about the incident. Time and date of when it happened and what happened. You can also write the font information. The police department was the number of police report (if available) and what (if any) received a ticket. Also, make sure the list if there were no injuries. List your name, address and type of injuries that could have.
Step 3 – Call your insurance company, even if you do not know if you go to the application or not, it’s always best to call your insurance below. You can put a note in your system date and time of ‘incident and a brief description of what happened. It is easier to remember what happened immediately after the accident, not hours or days later. So you should always call when you are finished with the police or who is waiting for them to reach the site. Usually they ask what happened, who was involved, where it happened, and many things that I mentioned above. If you list all the information down and then is a quick process. If you do not have all the information just give them what they know and the rest you can get the police report.
Step 4 – get an estimate of the damage the next thing you need to do is get an estimate of damage to your vehicle. Need to know how much damage is done to your vehicle. No matter if you go on your own criteria or the other party. Need to know how much damage is done to decide whether you will pay out of pocket or get an application.
Most insurance companies have time to program it offers. When I worked there was called the first service provider. If you use the services of an insurance approved repair rate is usually the entire claims process. (If you end up in one) usually take pictures and send everything to your insurance company and send them electronically so that you do not have to do is take the vehicle will also provide a copy of the estimate. Once you look at the total amount of damage you can take the next step is to decide whether to enter into a purchase order.
Step 5 – Decide if you want to put a complaint after learning how much damage was done on your vehicle, you can decide if you enter an order or pay out of pocket. Want to see your deductible by the amount of damage. I have been asked by many people, if they filed a claim would raise prices? Honestly, every time you enter a claim against your policy, you run the risk of increasing their rate. In general, complete applications not influence policy as an accident. But you can always increase after a disaster. That’s why we want to evaluate the risk vs. demand for payment of pocket. The rule of thumb that I always used was gone less than $ 100 for my deductible, and if I had the money to cover both, I would just pay out of pocket. But if I had no money when I could go before putting the question.
Insurance companies usually work with you. If you have a higher deductible and are having a hard time just around him money, let them know. Sometimes you can not wait to get into the issue by having money withheld. Remember to tell the insurance company that you do so they can note your account. If you do not know, it feels like you’re hiding something. Flag It is a red when someone is entering the right to ask after an accident. If the call a couple of weeks or months after the accident, the insurer will want to know why only now begins its claim or to let them know. Again, another reason why it is so important to call immediately.
If you decide to add a question, your insurance agent or representative should help, although the process. I always used to call the person a week until the claim has been resolved, but many companies do not. Then you will continue with them. I think the industry standard is 30 days from the moment you enter the application to be resolved. Some will do more depending on the size of your order and others are solved in a few days. It just depends. Bad claims is one of the main reasons why people change insurance companies. So if you have problems enough to want to start shopping.