What's the Process of Claiming an Auto Insurance Claim?

If you're new to insurance and don't know what to do in the case of an accident, you may have to ask someone for help in figuring out the process involved in an auto insurance claim. How you handle things after an accident may make the difference of how quickly you get your insurance settlement or if you get one at all. If you have a good insurance company, they'll help you with the entire process of claiming an auto insurance claim.

As soon as you have an auto accident, you should immediately contact your insurance company or insurance agent. There is a time frame of when your accident should be reported and it's usually within a day or two of the accident. If you are out of town and don't have your agent's number, contact any branch of your insurance company and they can help you. You will have to give them your name, policy number, date, time, status and location of your accident or claim, model and make of your automobile as well as the names and contact numbers of everyone involved including yourself.

Once your insurance company gets a claim from you, they will assign an adjustor to your claim. It will be the responsibility of the adjustor to investigate the damage done to your vehicle, your coverage and the cause of the loss or damage.

If the adjustor has questions regarding the loss, they may contact you as well for additional information. The adjustor will also make the determination as to if your vehicle can be repaired or if it's a total loss. If the adjustor determines that you car can be repaired, you'll have to have to get repairs from a body shop that the company approves. Many insurance companies are flexible in this, but may request that estimates be obtained from two different body shops and they will choose the body shop with the lowest estimate. The insurance adjustor may also contact the body shop or inspect the car while it's at the body shop being repaired.

Once the repairs are done on your automobile, the insurance company will submit a check to you or the repair shop for the repairs on your car. If your insurance policy had a deductible on it, you will have to pay the deductible before they'll pay the balance. Although some insurance companies are slow in this process, most of them will pay promptly, as soon as the vehicle is finished. Some of them will pay before the car is even completely repaired.

If it is determined that your car is a total loss (the damage amount is equal to or greater than the value of the car according to Kelly Blue Book value), the insurance company will pay you for the retail value of the car, prior to the accident. As soon as they pay you for the total value of the car, you will have to sign over the title of your car to them. If your automobile was financed and had a lien on it, the insurance company will usually make the check out to you and the finance company.