Without memorizing unpleasant moments, most of us have, at some time or another, been in car accidents that caused major or minor damage. For a lot of victims filing the car accident insurance claims has turned out to be more traumatic than the accident. Therefore, it makes sense to know the basic know-how of filing a car accident insurance claim. Here are few things to watch out while filing claims to ensure a smooth ride:
You can either go to workshops listed in the insurance company’s network garages and file for a cashless claim, or bear the expenses yourself and claim a reimbursement later.
The first thing as a thumb rule, in case of cashless claim, you can do is to contact the auto insurance company as soon after the accident as possible. In order to know what to do and say when you call, make sure you go through every inch of your car accident insurance policy when it arrives. That way, you know exactly what you are entitled to and how much you can claim before you are unlucky enough to be in an accident.
Once you call your insurance company, they will guide you to the nearest workshop. Then surveyor will carry out the inspection and authorizes the claim, after which claim will be settled by workshop on a cashless basis. It is crucial to provide complete information on own vehicle involved in the accident and any other vehicle or person that may have been involved in the accident to the surveyor.
In case you carry out the repairs at your own expense and file for a reimbursement claim subsequently, you need to provide the surveyor with the requisite proofs like repair bills from the garage. In case of reimbursement claims, the disbursal process could take a week, post the submission of documents asked for.
A very vital aspect of the claims submission process is complete honesty. Sad though it is, you would be surprised at the number of car accident insurance claims that are disqualified owing to the fact that the customer supplies misleading or downright false information. It is therefore imperative that you be absolutely honest with your insurance company.
Over and above of getting your car insured you need to go through your policy document closely to know all additions and exceptions (inclusions and exclusions). It is important to keep your driving license and a copy of policy document as it is required at the time making claim.
Other thing to know in case of car accident is to assess the extent of damage caused to your car and you need to take a decision whether to apply for claim or not because sometimes amount of claim, in case of minor damage, is very little and it makes little sense to file for a claim since you will have to forego the ‘No Claims Bonus / Discount’ (NCB / NCD). In case you do not make a claim in any particular year, you are entitled to No Claims Bonus in the following year, the percentage of which keeps on increasing year by year. So making more claims means losing out more discounts due to No Claims Bonus strategy.
For renewal policies, if you are switching insurers, providing the correct information regarding claims filed is advisable since nowadays it is easy for insurers to keep track of your claims history and misleading them may land you in trouble.
