Making An Auto Insurance Claim: A Brief Primer

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Making An Auto Insurance Claim: A Brief Primer

If you're needing to submit a car insurance claim, you've probably been in an accident recently, and need to get the matter dealt with and your life back in order. It's a stressful time, but the process doesn't have to be something you dread, as long as you follow some basic steps. We're going to take you through those in this article. Most people are not thinking too clearly after an accident, so it's a good idea to keep an accident check list in your wallet, purse, or glove compartment.

The very first thing to do after any accident is to determine whether anyone needs medical attention. Take a moment to assess your own condition, and make sure there is nothing serious that the adrenaline is hiding. If all is well, take some deep breaths and get on with the process of documenting the accident. If there is any sign of injury, make sure that is taken care of before doing anything else.

* Write down the make, model, and license plate of every car that stops at the scene of an accident, whether they were actually involved in the incidence or not. Those who were not in the accident may be important witnesses that you will need later.

* Get information from each driver involved in the accident, including their name, address, phone number, and the information from their insurance card. This includes the insurance company, their policy number, the dates that the policy is valid, and any other details listed on the card.

* If there are witnesses, get their contact information as well, and a brief description of what they say. They may each have a different view, so taking notes about each one's account will help to build a full account of the accident later.

* Write down your own account of the accident, in as much detail as possible. Start with the date, time and location. State which lane you were in, whether the traffic was light or heavy, whether there was any construction, blinding sunlight, and so on. Then list exactly what you were doing right before, during, and after the accident. Put down any details of the appearance and actions of the cars around you.

* If you have a camera available, take as many pictures of your car and the incident scene as possible. Take pictures of damage to any vehicle, skid marks, obstacles in the road, obscured road signs-anything that might be relevant to the accident. Keep a disposable camera in your glove compartment for this purpose; if your phone has a camera, you can use that as well.

* You should talk to your insurance company as soon as possible after the accident. They will ask you a lot of questions, but their process is very efficient and based on thousands of accident reports, so all you have to do is answer carefully and completely.

* If the police are called to the scene, they, too, will have a set procedure for getting information about the incident. Be patient and polite, and answer their questions as completely and accurately as possible, too. Make sure you receive a copy of the accident report, as this will be important as part of submitting a car insurance claim.

Once the actual incident is over, make sure you follow up on everything your insurance company is doing. The whole claim filing is now often taken care of by phone on by mobile insurance vans. Still, you need to follow up. Calling the insurance company once a week to check wouldn't be a bad idea and, obviously, return any call from them as soon as possible. Finally, check to see whether your cheap auto insurance quote will change because of the claim.

There's no way to completely alleviate the stress of being in an accident, but you can make the process easier if you stay calm and make sure to get all the information and follow all the steps. Take care to get it right, and you'll find your claim process is much faster and easier.

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