A little friendly advice, if I may, about Auto insurance: If you are involved in an accident with another vehicle and the accident is clearly the other drivers fault, then it is usually best if you make THEIR insurance should pay. Why? You might say, I pay all these premiums for full coverage insurance to cover me. Why shouldnt I file a claim with my own insurance company and let them handle it? Well, you can do this, but you will have to pay at least the deductible of you uninsured motorist coverage, and then your insurance company subrogates (collects the damages from the at-fault drivers insurance company) to recoup their losses. When and only when this is completed, you get your deductible back - maybe a year or more and maybe never. The thing you are not seeing here is that full coverage insurance is primarily to cover damage to your automobile that is YOUR fault - not the other drivers. Their LIABILITY insurance is to cover damage to your automobile when it is THEIR fault and this is why it is best to pursue the other insurance company. *It is ALWAYS imperative that you call your own agent ASAP to inform them of the accident, but in most cases, it is best to let the other drivers insurance cover the damages when it is truly not your fault under traffic law. Be sure to gather as much info as possible about the other drivers car, insurance and the particulars of the accident. You really need to obtain the other drivers insurance agency name, phone number, insurance company and policy number so you can contact the insureds agent and give them your information. That will at least make it possible for a claims adjuster to get in touch with you once they have verified the accident with their insured. *Never forget that when you are NOT at fault, you have every reasonable right to be indemnified (to be put back where you were before anything happened, within reasonable ability to do so) and dont settle for less than this. *Whenever you are contacted by a claims adjuster or other claims representative from the insurance company, this is your opportunity to get questions asked and answered. Getting BACK in touch with them quickly can be difficult so make the best of your opportunity when the call comes. Your insurance agent wants to be as helpful as possible, but we cannot answer questions dealing with the particulars of a claim, such as dollar amounts, what will and will not be approved or questions about when payments will be made. Insurance agents are not trained or licensed to properly deal with adjuster questions, so questions about the claims process should be reserved for claims adjusters and representatives, who ARE trained and licensed specifically to deal with the claims process. I always advise my clients that they should get a pad of paper and write down questions as they come to mind while waiting to be contacted by a claims representative. *Inform your insurance claims adjuster of any offers the other insurance company makes to you BEFORE you sign anything or cash any checks. Insurance companies may (but this is not always the case) try to get by as economically as possible and you may need and deserve more than you are offered by some claims adjusters. Your insurance company MAY be able to help you with this. Simply put, YOUR insurance is primarily and usually to cover the other person or yourself when it is YOUR FAULT and sometimes when there is no fault, such as a comprehensive glass claim or animal collision. When an accident IS ruled as the other drivers fault, then it is their insurance companys responsibility.
Posted on: Wed, 27 Nov 2013 17:29:43 +0000
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