Filing an auto insurance claim

A person who is at fault may handle their auto insurance claim very differently than someone who was not at fault. If you are in an accident that was your fault:

• California, New York, Michigan, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Nevada, Rhode Island make the owner of the vehicle responsible for all damages caused by a driver given permission to use the car.
• Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia allow the owner to rebut a presumption that the driver who caused the accident was authorized to use the car.
• Six states (Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia) bar you from compensation if your own carelessness substantially contributed to the accident. (This is called "contributory negligence.")
• Intoxication is no defense and drunk drivers are held to the standard of conduct of a reasonable sober person.
• How much your carelessness actually contributed to the accident is usually negotiated with the insurance adjuster.
• If during claim negotiations your adjuster calculates a percentage of your carelessness, ask them to explain why you bear that percentage of responsibility for the accident.
• You may still receive compensation from anyone else partly caused the accident through carelessness or recklessness (called comparative negligence). Below are states that have comparative negligence statutes:
  
  

  Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi

  Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Dakota Texas Utah Vermont Washington West Virginia Wisconsin

If you are in an accident that wasn't your fault:

• Write a letter to the at-fault person's insurance company requesting to be paid for all reasonable costs as a result of the accident, including payment for repairs to or the total-loss value of your vehicle, diminished value of your car, medical expenses, lost wages, and rental cars.
• Making a claim on your insurance policy for payment of property damages likely will require you to pay your collision coverage deductible
• An insurer also might allow you to make your claim under your uninsured motorist coverage
• Most state laws prohibit insurers from surcharging policyholders for accidents in which they weren't at fault
• Nothing prevents your insurer from dumping your policy at renewal time if you've made a couple of recent claims.
• If you lose wages because of an injuries from a car crash that was someone else's fault, you can expect that person's insurance company to pay for your lost income up to at-fault driver's bodily injury liability insurance limit
• If you're hit by a driver whose liability limits are not high enough to cover all of your medical expenses and lost wages, you can make a claim under your own uninsured motorist coverage for the remainder
• If you live in a no-fault state, your PIP coverage will pay for your lost wages up to the limits of your coverage.
• When another driver wrecks your car beyond repair, you can expect the at fault drivers insurance company to pay you the actual cash value of your car minus depreciation is the amount of money your car has devalued over time.

Other tips if you get into an accident:

• If you rent a car and reasonably and the insurer insists on cutting the amount of its reimbursement, ask the insurer to put its reason in writing
• If your car is totalled, the insurer also should pay for the sales tax on the new vehicle that you purchase with the insurance money.
• State laws generally allow insurers to base the actual cash value of your totaled car on the prices of similar vehicles in your area.
• Insurers must inform you in writing of their decisions to deny or reduce payments.
• If your car is totaled, the industry standard definition of actual cash value is "replacement cost" minus "depreciation.
• Remember, you have the right to recoup the costs associated with fixing the life disruption you experience, including all of the costs of renting a vehicle while your own vehicle is unusable.
• Rent a vehicle only if your own is not safe to drive, rent a vehicle that is similar to your own and return it promptly when your own vehicle has been fully repaired;
• Ask the investigating officer if you can obtain a copy of the police report. You will probably need it when you submit your claim to your insurance company
• Calling a company approved tow truck. If necessary, have the car towed to a repair shop
• Find out if the insurance company wants an adjuster to inspect and appraise any damage before repair work is done
• Call the other parties insurer because motorists who cause accidents often may be reluctant to report it
• Obtain the most complete insurance information from the at-fault person at the scene of the accident: insurance company name, claims phone number, address and insurance agent's name
• Call your insurance agent as soon as possible, regardless of who is at fault. Your adjuster determines whose at fault, not you. Find out whether you're covered for this loss
• Ask your agent to give you forms or documents needed to support your claim. The insurance company will require a proof of claim form and a copy of the police report
• Find out if you are required to obtain a specified number of estimates for the work before approval
• Ask your insurance company handles supplemental damage in case the repair shop finds something caused by the accident but not on the original estimate.
• See if your carrier requires you to use auto-repair shops approved by the company
• Get copies of any bills related to the accident.
• Your state law requires all accidents of a certain value or more in damages be reported to the DMV. You have only a number of days to file the form. You must provide insurance info on the form. You can get the form from the DMV or your insurance company.