Tips for Handling Damages After a Car Accident

While you may not have suffered severe injuries from your car accident, your vehicle may have. If your vehicle was damaged in an auto accident, one of the first things you’ll want to do is get it fixed to good working order. In many cases, your insurance company can help get you the compensation you need to pay for the value of the car or to have it repaired. Understanding your options after a car accident can help ensure that your vehicle if fixed or replaced at a fair price.

Directly after a vehicle accident, contact your auto insurance company. Taking photographs of the vehicle and getting the other driver’s insurance information can help the process of making a claim go much more smoothly. In some cases, the insurance company will have the car towed immediately or will dispose of a totaled vehicle.

If you were in an auto accident that was someone else’s fault, you are entitled to compensation for damages to your vehicle. Any damage done to your vehicle or to your personal property within the vehicle may bring you compensation payments. However, if any items in the vehicle were lost or stolen, these items are usually not covered.

Learning about the different types of coverage can help you understand whether or not you’re entitled to payment for damage done to your vehicle. If the other driver’s insurance company accepts fault in the auto accident, the victim is generally paid a standard amount. This money is used to have the vehicle repaired or replaced, depending on the severity of the damage.

Collision coverage is typically a faster and easier way to collect compensation for damage done to your car. The repairs needed for your vehicle is paid under your own insurance, regardless of who took fault in the accident. For this type of coverage, you must pay the insurance company an upfront deduction. This deduction will be repaid back to the driver if the insurance company is paid by the other party.

In the case of an uninsured driver, the victim is paid under uninsured motorist coverage that can be found within your own auto insurance policy. An upfront deductible may have to be paid back to the insurance company depending on what type of auto accident occurred and the events that led up to the accident.

If your vehicle is still drivable, it’s best to contact the insurance company of the other driver to inquire about an estimate for repairs. Someone from the insurance company will look at the vehicle and its damage to come up with a fair estimate. A second estimate can be obtained by bringing the vehicle to a body shop. The insurance company will then issue a check to the body shop to pay for repairs for the vehicle.

For vehicles that are no longer drivable, the insurance company will send someone to estimate the damage done to the vehicle. The vehicle should be towed to a body shop of your choice. The other driver’s insurance company will pay for the repairs needed for the car by issuing the body shop a check.