If you have been involved in a destructive or large car accident then this might probably lead to rounds of meetings with auto body shops, claims adjusters and insurance agents. You might also not consider filing for a claim if the accident was just a fender bender car accident but when it comes to accidents that are in between the two situations that we have just mentioned, what do you do? Can i fix my own car with insurance money article is here to provide you with answers to all of the questions that you have today.
When it comes to accidents, the list of questions are always endless and you also battle with thoughts of wanting to file a claim or not. This is because even though an accident might look ordinary, there is always something that tends to make it unique or maybe a particular aspect of the accident claims processing which you really didn’t pay attention to unless the said condition happens. This is where things that you have actually never considered start coming up.
Can I Fix My Own Car With Insurance Money
Lets say you have been involved in a car accident and no matter who is paying for it whether it is the insurance company of the other driver at fault or your insurer, an estimate has already been made and plans are for you to head a local trusted auto body shop to get the repairs done. The plan is for them to get your car repaired while the insurance company directly pays them but then, you are also skilled at carrying out minor repairs yourself and would prefer getting the job done yourself.
This is the main reason most people ask this question “Can I Fix My Own Car With Insurance Money” and just like in other insurance cases that we have, the answer is dependent on some factors. One of the factors that you must consider is if there is a lien to your vehicle. If there is then you are most likely not going to carry out the repairs yourself because whoever has the money that is on the line might not really trust you to carry out repairs since they are not sure if you know what you are doing or not.
This is why it is important that your loan conditions are checked so you would know what really applies to you and you are definitely going to find a clause in there which would tell you whether you would be able to carry out the repairs yourself or if the repairs have to be done by an auto body shop. However, the situation becomes more different if you are the outright owner of the vehicle. This is where you are left to do whatever you want to do with whatever money the insurance company leaves you with.
This includes you taking the car to the auto body shop for repairs or not fixing the car at all or even fixing the car yourself. Furthermore, this might not always be true too and that is whey thorough reading of your policy is strongly advised. Asking your insurance agent for some advise on this matter is also very necessary as well. I guess by now you are wondering if fixing your car by yourself might get to affect your coverage in some kind of way. The answer is yes and i am going to explain why it would affect your coverage too.
The thing is even if you are the outright owner of the car and you do not necessarily have to make use of an auto repair shop to fix up your car with the settlement gotten from the insurance company, your insurer would still be concerned of the repairs you claim you can get done by yourself. Without a guarantee from any auto repairs shop, it would be difficult for them to tell if what they ended up paying for is up to standard or actually any good. They would not be able to tell and that is bad business for any insurance company with integrity.
This is why insurers are not willing to provide people with collision or comprehensive coverage and one of the ways that you can get by is if you are able to provide photo evidence of what you have actually worked on. If it works, your insurer would never pay up for any additional damages that comes up and if you get involved in another accident, your insurer is also not going to pay for any damage that you have worked on by yourself in the past.
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