DEALING WITH DAMAGES TO YOUR CAR AFTER AN ACCIDENT: PART II
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Having your car repaired through an insurance company after an accident can be a frustrating experience, especially if you’ve never been through the process before. This article is the second in this series on dealing with damages to your car after an accident. The first article dealt with going through the other driver’s insurance if you felt that they were responsible for the accident and possible issues that could come up in that process. This article will discuss the option of going through your own insurance coverage and answer some questions that you may encounter.
Do You Have Valid Coverage to Repair Your Vehicle?
The first thing you need to determine is if your insurance policy will cover repairs to your vehicle. When you purchase a policy directly from an insurer or agent, you’re actually buying a series of different coverages. The two most common are liability and collision/comprehensive coverage. Liability coverage protects you from personal liability in case you’re responsible for an accident and pays for the other driver’s damages. Collision and comprehensive coverages protect you against damages to your vehicle, with collision coverage protecting your car from accidents involving other cars or objects, and comprehensive coverage protecting your car from theft, vandalism and damages from natural causes such as damage from a fallen tree. These coverages are usually sold in tandem and are rarely available separately. California law only requires that you carry liability coverage on your vehicle and not collision or comprehensive coverage; in fact, the term “Full Coverage” usually refers full liability coverage and not necessarily collision or comprehensive coverage.
Because collision coverage is an extra coverage, you pay an additional premium for the coverage – the price of which depends on the value of the vehicle. If you do not own the vehicle outright and are still making payments the finance company will usually require that you carry collision coverage to protect the value of the vehicle. If you own the vehicle outright, people sometimes forego obtaining collision coverage because of the price of the coverage, without knowing that they are also foregoing any protection for damages to their vehicle. If you think your policy provides “Full Coverage,” make sure to periodically check the terms of your policy to see if your vehicle is properly protected. After an accident your insurance company will be able to tell right away if you carry the appropriate coverage or not.
Do You Have to Pay Your Deductible?
Collision and comprehensive coverage will usually carry a deductible. The deductible is the portion of damages that you pay out of pocket before your insurance policy kicks in and starts paying for any damages to your vehicle. Deductibles usually come in levels between $0.00 (no deductible) and $1,000.00, with the level of the deductible determining the price of your policy – the lower the deductible the more expensive the coverage. Collision and comprehensive coverages are “No Fault” coverages, meaning that they apply whether you were responsible for the accident or not. Because of this, your deductible also applies regardless of who is responsible for the accident, a situation that can be frustrating if you feel you weren’t responsible. There is also an additional coverage available that protects you in case the other driver did not carry insurance at the time of the accident – called “Uninsured Motorist Waiver” coverage. Under this coverage your insurance company will waive your deductible if it turns out the other driver was uninsured. This is an additional coverage and not automatically added to your policy, so double check with your adjuster to see if this coverage applies to your situation.
Will You Get Your Deductible Back?
If your insurance finds that you were not responsible for the accident, they will attempt to collect for anything they paid out from the other driver’s insurance company, or the other driver directly (if they are uninsured), plus your deductible. If they do collect, they will then reimburse your deductible to you. Unfortunately, this is usually a long process and can take up to a year to complete. Because the process can take so long, insurance companies can sometimes lose track of reimbursing you for your deductible. If you were in an accident and paid your deductible, check in periodically with the adjuster handling your claim for status on any collection efforts.
Will My Insurance Premium Increase?
People are sometimes hesitant to go through their own insurance out of fear that their premiums will go up. Your insurance company will conduct an investigation into the accident and if it finds that you were not responsible for the accident then your insurance company cannot raise your rates due to the accident. This doesn’t mean your insurance premiums won’t go up for other reasons not related to the accident. If it turns out that you were responsible for the accident, then any increase in premiums will depend on a variety of factors including the extent of damages, if there were any injuries involved, and other facets of the claim. An adjuster usually won’t be able to answer any questions regarding your premiums since any adjustments won’t occur until your next policy period.
Repairing Your Vehicle
If you own your vehicle outright and are not making payments, you are entitled to the dollar amount for the damages and are not required to have the vehicle repaired. It is your prerogative if you decide to pocket the money and not repair your vehicle. Also, under California law you are not required to take your vehicle to any shop recommended by an insurance company and you are free to choose any shop of your choice, including a dealership or a body shop you a have a prior relationship with. Your insurance company will then negotiate with your shop for a price to repair your vehicle. This can sometimes lead to a delay as reviewing the damages to the vehicle and estimating the costs may require multiple inspections by an insurance adjuster. During this time your insurance will not pay for a rental vehicle unless you have that specific coverage in your insurance policy. Some shops will offer a loaner vehicle but this may require an advance appointment. If time is an issue, insurance companies will usually have a list of preferred providers they can recommend where you can take your vehicle and have the repairs started without prior insurance approval. These shops go through a rigorous vetting process and are well established shops that usually work with multiple insurance companies.
Standard of Repair
Under the law the standard for repairing your vehicle is that it be repaired to the condition it was prior to the accident. This means that any signs of the accident or the repair process should not be visible or detectable after the loss. Your body shop should conduct a thorough examination of the vehicle to make sure they catch all the damage that was caused by the accident. Unfortunately, if you chose the body shop yourself and the deficiency in repairs is due to shoddy work by the body shop, the insurance company bears no responsibility for the repairs. However, if you chose one of the insurance company’s preferred shops you can hold the insurance company accountable even if the faulty repairs were due to the body shop’s work.
Although going through your own insurance company for repairs to your vehicle after an accident can be easier and more convenient than pursuing the other driver’s insurance, it can have its own complications that you should be prepared for. If you find yourself having difficulty with an insurance company regarding your damages or any other issue, feel free to contact my office for a free consultation.
