How To Make An Auto Collision Insurance Claim

The purpose of collision car insurance, or auto collision car insurance depending on where you are from, is to provide you with financial compensation should your vehicle require repairs or needs to be replaced after an accident on the road.

Collision car insurance provides you with this coverage regardless of whose fault the collision was.

If the collision was your fault, you will be very thankful to have taken out collision car insurance coverage, because it is only one of two places where you can get money to compensate you for an accident that you caused. The other place you can get money is from your own bank account.

How To Make A Successful Car Insurance Claim

Claims made against your auto collision insurance coverage can be reported either to your insurance agent or the insurer of your collision coverage policy.

After filing a claim, you will later be asked to get one or two estimates on how much it is going to cost to repair your damaged automobile.

Alternatively, someone from the insurance agency may come down and inspect your vehicle for themselves and then give you an estimate for the cost of the repairs.

It is at this point that claimants tend to experience some kind of problem in getting their insurer to fulfill their collision coverage, and this is what we shall be looking at in the rest of this article so that you will be able to get the full amount that you are entitled to.

Below are listed some of the problems that are commonly experienced when trying to claim collision car insurance and what you can do about them.

If you ever need to make a claim in the future as a result of being in a road or traffic accident, or are currently in the process of making a claim, these tips should help to make things run a lot more smoothly for you by telling you how to make a successful collision car insurance claim.

Car Shops

Some auto insurance companies will only allow you to go to certain car shops because they have already established a partnership with them.

Make sure that you find out before you sign your policy agreement what you insurers policy is on this. Can you go to any automobile shop that you want? Or are you limited to where you can go?

Ideally, you should be allowed to go anywhere you want, as this gives you the greatest amount of control over the final claim outcome.

However, whether or not you are allowed to do this ultimately comes down to what company you are dealing with, and some may have stricter regulations than others which will be beyond your control.

Requests For 2-3 Estimates

Asking for one estimate of the cost of the damage to your vehicle is reasonable, as this is needed for you to make a claim and receive compensation.

You may not be happy however, if you are asked for a second estimate. At this point you can refuse and ask your auto insurer to send an appraiser to work out a price with your car repair shop. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as from an insurance company’s perspective it helps to keep the process honest.

But if you are asked to provide a third estimate then you should refuse outright, as it is unreasonable for any insurer to request this of you.

Insufficient Vehicle Valuation Claim

Sometimes you may find that your auto shop will refuse to repair your vehicle for the amount given to you by your insurance company.

This may occur for example if the adjuster missed some damage on your automobile and as a result set the valuation price for the repair too low.

If this occurs, simply call the claims adjuster and ask him to work out a new repair price for your car and then to issue you with a second check.

Remember, you should never accept an estimate and payment from your car insurance company until your auto repair shop agrees to do the work for that amount, as this puts you in a much stronger position should you need more money for the repairs.

The Auto Repair Shop Wants More Money From You

Sometimes an auto repair shop may request extra money from you before it agrees to release your vehicle. This may occur because your adjuster approved additional damage costs, but the car shop has not yet received a check to cover these additional costs.

There is also the possibility that some mechanic at the car garage did extra repairs without your authorization in the hope of getting more money out of you.

You should only pay for work that you have authorized and not for work you haven’t. If the auto shop protests, let them sort it out with your insurance company.

Claims On New Parts

When your car is replaced, the car insurance company has a right to replace your used parts with used parts, providing they are in good working condition.

If you feel that they are not in good condition however, you can refuse to use them and request an alternative replacement part or ask for new automobile parts to be used instead.

If you do opt for new parts, be advised that you will have to pay for them. This will be calculated as the difference in cost between the new parts and old parts.

Getting Cash From Your Car Insurance Company

In general, the insurance company will decide whether to repair your vehicle, replace it or pay you cash. However, some insurance companies will give you a choice so that you can ask for cash if that is what you prefer.

There are two main types of cash payouts that you can receive from your auto insurer. The first, and best, is a full repair cost cash payout. In other words, you will be paid the full amount for what the repair would have cost to carry out.

The second, and less desirable cash payout option, is called an appearance allowance. This compensates you for the loss in value of your damaged vehicle, although this will usually result in you receiving less than expected in your settlement claim.

If you are not happy with the value given to you by your insurer, then you can go to a used car dealership and ask the manager to write on his letterhead the pre-accident and post-accident values of your vehicle.

The difference between these two amounts is what you are entitled to if you opt for a cash payout rather than having your auto repaired.

When The Car Accident Was Not Your Fault

If you are involved in a car accident that was not your fault and you have collision car insurance coverage, then you have the option of using your own collision coverage or collecting from the driver’s liability insurance.

Generally, it is advisable to use your own collision coverage under such circumstances. The reason for this is because you will be dealing with your own insurance company and so will be dealt with quicker. If you go through the other driver’s insurance company, your claim will be delayed pending an investigation.

By using your own collision coverage you also help to bypass something known as comparative negligence, which basically states that not all road accidents are 100% the fault of one driver.

As a result, since you are both to blame somewhat for the accident, you could end up receiving less in your insurance claim than you originally set out to get.