Communicating With Your Insurance Company After An Auto Accident

It is important to handle communicating with your insurance company appropriately, or you can negatively impact your claim. If you have questions about how you should be handling your claim or what an insurance claim adjuster is telling you, you can always consult with an auto accident attorney.

There are some things that you should do right away.

• Contact your insurance agent as soon as possible. Call your agent as soon as you get home or even before you go to the doctor if you can.
• Review your coverage before you call your insurer. You should make sure to pay extra attention to the “Coverage” and “Exclusion” sections of the policy.
• Make sure to take notes during your conversation with the insurance company. Write down all of the names and phone numbers they reference, as well as job titles and supervisors’ names.
• Sometimes people have other insurance policies that could also cover the accident. It could be useful to take a moment and consider this. If you have homeowner insurance policies, or other umbrella policies, it could be very beneficial to identify whether or not the accident could be covered.
• Take pictures of your injuries, the accident scene, and any damage to your vehicle.
• Be honest with your insurer about the details of the accident.
• Keep all receipts and bills from the time of the accident to the moment when you get a settlement.
• Understand if you have replacement coverage and depreciated or actual cash value. Take some time to look into and understand the differences and which coverage you have. If you have replacement coverage you should make sure not to settle for “actual cash value.”

There are certain things you should avoid doing as well. These include some of the following:

• Do not give written or recorded statements to your insurer prematurely. You want to make sure you fully understand your coverage first. You do not have to let the insurer record your conversation. If you are uncomfortable or have questions, this would be a good time to contact an auto accident attorney and ask for advice.
• Do not immediately accept the estimate that the insurer gives you. They may try to give you a low estimate for repair costs initially, and you should be aware of this and respond accordingly.
• You should also refrain from signing waivers or releases until you speak with an attorney. If you sign or accept anything prematurely, you may be unable to do anything about it later. Discussing the situation with an attorney could cause you to remember inventory or other losses that you may have forgotten. Make sure to read the fine print.
• Take care not to accept a check that says “final payment” until you are satisfied with the deal.
• Take care not to ignore time limits set forth by your policy. There is usually a time limit on when you have to have your signed proof of loss submitted. Failing to comply with this requirement can be detrimental to or nullify your case. You can sometimes obtain a written waiver from your insurance company if you need more time.
• You have a contract with your insurance, so do not forget that they have an obligation to provide you with the coverage described in the contract.

If you are having trouble coming to an agreement, or if time is dragging on you should contact an car injury attorney as soon as possible.