Tip #1: You can choose which insurance company to use.
If you are not at-fault for the accident and you have both comprehensive and collision coverage on your policy then you have the option to go through your auto insurance company to handle the damage to your vehicle. (If you have liability only on your auto policy you will not have the choice to go through your own insurance company.) Of course, you can also go through the at-fault driver’s insurance company to repair or pay you the total loss amount of your vehicle. There are pros and cons to each. If you go through your own insurance policy, you will have to pay the deductible outlined in your policy which is usually $500.00. You would eventually be reimbursed by your insurance company for your deductible, but many accident victims do not have an extra $500.00 laying around given mounting medical bills and missed time from work. A pro to going through your insurance company is that it is usually much faster because you don’t have to wait for a determination of liability before starting repairs on your vehicle.If you go through the at-fault driver’s insurance company, it’s likely you will have to wait at least the 5-10 days for the accident report to be generated before the company will process your claim. The at-fault driver’s insurance company will not start processing the claim until a formal determination of liability is made which can take up to 2 weeks. Once they admit liability, the advantage is you didn’t have to come up with the $500.00 deductible. Some people might ask, “Why would I go through my own insurance company? This will cause my premiums to go up.” Premiums go up based on fault. The insurance company is trying to assess future risk. They don’t go up based on claims. If you make a claim and you are not at fault for the accident, your insurance will likely not go up.
Tip #2: You can pick the auto body shop of your choice.
Insurance companies usually have a preferred auto repair shop that they use. They will give you the name and contact information of those shops and recommend you use them. You can go with the repair shop the adjuster suggests BUT you don’t have to. The repair shops that work with a particular insurance company regularly are probably not shysters, but it’s fair to say that those shops are motivated to keep costs down to keep getting the insurance company’s business. You do have the right to take your car to the shop of your choice however, the insurance company may require that the repairs are fixed for the same amount that their shop bid or that their adjuster bid.
Tip #3: You can choose whether to fix the car, or keep the money.
You can actually choose to fix your car or not. If your car is not totaled but it is damaged, but you prefer the cash rather than the repair, you have that option. Let’s say your car has $1500.00 worth of cosmetic damage but the issue isn’t something that bothers you. You can opt to take the money and not have the repair done. They owe you that money whether you get the car repaired or not. You could also have a bid from a shop that is high and then take the car to a friend or someone that will do the work for much less and then pocket the difference. That is your choice. If you do decide to take the money and not get the repairs done, the insurance company may exclude that portion of your car from any future repair in case another accident were to occur and damage the same area of the car. Another fact to be aware of if that if you have a lienholder, or lender, on your auto then you will probably need to get the repairs done. If you do not, you may encounter a problem when you try to sell the car. Body damage causes the value to go down and may actually cause you to be “upside down” on your auto loan. Meaning you owe more than the car is worth.
Tip #4: You can choose to keep the car after a total loss of not.
If your car is totaled in an accident, you can choose to keep the car or not. What this means is that if your car is damaged and the repair estimate comes back higher than the value of your vehicle, then the insurance company, whether it’s the at-fault company or your own, has the option to pay you value of your vehicle. They can do that, it is their option. If they do choose to do that, they will run an evaluation, or a fair market analysis, and come back with a value and make you an offer. They may or may not be low on that offer and you may have to negotiate with them as well and prove that the car is worth more. For instance they may not have considered that your car has very low miles or you had made special upgrades to it that made its value go up. But that’s not the point, the point is whether or not you want to keep the car. Let’s say your car is worth five grand. They are going to pay you five grand but maybe that car can still run. Even though it is totaled and even though it has major damage it can still get around. Or maybe you want to take the tires off of it or salvage the parts. Whatever that reason might be, you have the right to keep it. You can have the insurance company deduct their salvage value from their offer. So if their offer is $6,000 and their salvage value is $500, they would give you a check for $5,500 and instead of them picking the car up, you would keep the car. Keep in mind that if you plan on driving the car, it will need to be able to pass inspection and be insurable. Your own insurance company would probably exclude the existing damage from future comprehensive or collision coverage unless the repairs are made at some point.
Tip #5: You do not have to accept their offer.
This goes back to a total loss of your vehicle. Just because they say they figured out your car is worth $5,000 and they send you a check in the mail—that doesn’t mean that you have to accept that amount. You have to agree. If they are offering you $5,000 and you think your car is worth more then you will have to go through the effort of proving how much your car is worth. Facts that could affect the value of your car would be details like extremely low mileage, upgrades by the manufacturer of yourself, custom paint jobs or limited edition automobiles. Any of these factors could increase the value of your car and the insurance company needs to be aware of them. If you have brought these details to the adjusters attention and the final bid is still too low, then you could contact a local attorney and they could help you figure out how to provide proof of the value of your car.
