CLAIMING ON YOUR CAR INSURANCE

5 key steps to claiming on your car insurance.

 Is it worth it?

 Car insurance companies will record virtually every action you take, and this even includes telephone calls you may make that don’t even result in you making a claim. It is vital that you keep your car insurance record as clean as possible so the first thing you should do is determine whether or not you really need to make a claim. Put simply, if you can afford to pay for the repairs yourself then you are better doing so. If the repair would cost less than your excess then you might as well pay for it yourself. By doing this you are helping to keep your car insurance records as clean as you need them.

What to do before claiming.

 There are several things you should do before making a claim to your car insurance company but you need to do them quickly in order that you can file your claim as quickly as possible. The first and most important thing is to check there are no injuries, and then you can check the extent of damage to your car and any other vehicle involved. Try to make mental notes of the damage to other cars. Call the police and report the accident with them.

 You should receive a full accident report before you leave the scene and you should only talk to them regarding the accident. Don’t discuss it with the other drivers or passers by. Finally you need to make sure you have as many details about the other person and car as possible. Description and registration of the car is a good idea but at the very least you need to have names and insurance company details.

File it quickly.

 Sitting on your claim for weeks, or even days is a bad idea. You need to file your claim with your insurance company regardless of who is at fault and you should do so within a day or two of the damage being done. Your insurance company will handle everything from your side even if the damage isn’t your fault.

Prepare for a dispute.

 It is a sad fact that may car insurance claims are disputed by the other party if you are claiming no fault. You should prepare yourself for the other insurance company ringing you up to ask you questions. They should be polite and courteous and you should do the same. They are only trying to find out the facts. It is often a good idea to write down key points about the accident or damage and keep this list next to your phone just in case. It is also important that you write down what you say during the conversation and that you take the name and phone number of the person you are speaking to. You may need this information later and as good as your memory is, there is a reasonable chance you will forget exactly what was said.

The next step.

 Once these steps have been completed you should get a call from your insurance company regarding the fixing of your car. They will either send out an assessor to assess the damages or give you the details of a local repair shop where you should take your car to have any work done.