Car accidents are not funny and truly an unpleasant experience. Knowing that, people purchase auto insurance to mitigate the possible effects of road mishaps that will be brought into their lives. We know that not all prayers are answered, and when it happens, you ought to know the things you should do and what your insurer is expecting from you. Few of them are below.
During an accident, check if no one is seriously hurt. Call the police immediately for assistance. Control yourself or your passengers and calm down. You won’t be able to think properly if you are shaking like hell or raging why it happened. The police will investigate the incident and will ask you questions. The other party will have the chance to air their sentiments as well. In fact, all people involved during the accident may give their personal opinions as well.
After a careful deliberation, the police determine who the at-fault driver is. If you feel that the decision is partial, you can always appeal your case for a review or similar undertakings afterwards. The next step is to contact your insurance company to start the insurance process.
The police officers will prepare a police report after determining the fault of the accident. In most cases, the at-fault driver will receive a ticket. After all angles have been carefully determined, the involved parties are now free to go on with their respective businesses. If the accident has caused damage to the vehicle, the cost of repair is usually prepared by a shop duly accredited by the insurer. If you are the at-fault driver, the estimate will be sent to your insurer for the insurance to take effect. If the other driver is the at-fault party, the estimate goes to your insurance provider.
The reimbursement shall be taken from the at-fault’s insurer. Because of this, you need to have a sufficient coverage to make sure that all possible medical and repair costs are covered fully in case you are in the same shoe. If your limits are too low or have already been exhausted, you end up shouldering the remaining expenses using your hard-earned money. It doesn’t matter whether you are the at-fault driver or not. Insurance companies are encouraging their policyholders to report these incidents for record-keeping purposes. If tickets were issued, your insurer will be most interested in knowing the exact violation. Typically, the driver becomes the at-fault party in a rear end collision accident for the failure to avoid the accident itself.
As mentioned earlier, the amount that can be covered to pay for medical or repair costs is stipulated clearly in the contract. Before you file a claim, you must have the police report with you, because, sure enough, they would need to see this. In addition, the other driver’s insurance policy number is also needed to facilitate your request. Now you know how important auto insurance coverage is. All states in the U.S. require drivers to have some sort of coverage protection before hitting the road. Though mandatory and punishable by law for carrying none, still, many drivers don’t have insurance coverage or severely restrained coverage limits. This opens up another problem should they ever get into a car accident in the future.
