Can You Keep Insurance Claim Money – Must You Carry Out Repairs?

In most cases, if you have been involved in a car accident and you need to get on with driving, you still have no option but to fix the car. However, the case becomes a bit different if you have been involved in a minor fender bender accident which leaves you reluctant whether you should part with the money that the insurance company must have left you. It leaves you with strange thoughts like can you keep insurance claim money? Do you really need to fix your car? Can you pocket the money and just flow with the vehicle that has dent?

The fact is whether the accident is considered to be a major or minor one, you are required and expected to make the repairs after your car has been involved in an accident and the check has been offered. It is also dependent on one or two factors and we understand that most times, car owners do not really want to go through all the stress of repairing their vehicle and staying without their car throughout that period. It might also turn out to be that the vehicle still has a loan on it in which you lender would want it repaired regardless.

Can You Keep Insurance Claim Money

Just like how most car owners think, if the dent or damage done to the vehicle during an accident isn’t that bad then keeping the insurance check becomes very tempting for you. One thing that we want you to have in mind is that you would need to fix the car if there is a loan on it. The damage needs to be done by a mechanic, probably one that was recommended by your insurance carrier and any owner of the car would definitely want it to be fixed and functional once again.

You actually do not own the car yet if you are still making payments on it. You are still a partial owner and that is why it is important for you to fix the damages on the car in a timely fashion. Many car lenders nowadays want this to be a part of your insurance policy but when the vehicle in question here is yours, you can be flexible with your thoughts whether you want to repair the car or not especially if the damage done is a minor one.

What the insurance company would do is provide you with option where you either have to repair the car, buy back the car or total the car out and buying the car back simply means you having the car back. However, if you intend continuing with your collision and comprehensive coverage then the insurance company would ask for the car to be repaired. This makes sense because the insurance company would not want to insure a vehicle for physical damages suffered if the vehicle has been damaged and wasn’t fixed or repaired.

Suffering another accident is going to compound the first damage suffered on the vehicle and if it happens that the insurance company actually paid you for the first damage the vehicle suffered, there is a very high possibility that they would not want to pay for any other damage that the vehicle has suffered. Every insurance company’s standard procedure is asking you to tender physical damage coverage if a vehicle wasn’t repaired. A claim check is done to ascertain whether a repair was carried out or not and it is done by a body shop.

Making use of insurance money on something else other repairing your damaged vehicle is very tempting and this becomes very true and clear if the damage is a cosmetic one. Always remember that there is a reason why physical damage coverage is being paid and if you truly want to help the value of your vehicle to stay up then make sure that every damage it suffers is handled and fixed so that you can would be able to sell it at a decent price if the need arises.

One other thing that i would want to leave you with is it is very possible to leave the damage on your vehicle and keep the insurance money to yourself but on the other hand, it is a very wise decision to get some guidance and knowledge from an insurance claim adjuster so you would not ending taking a step or an action that would accuse you or hold you accountable for insurance fraud.