Once you buy car insurance, you and the insurer get into a legal contract where the insurer promises to provide you with compensation if ever you suffer any form of loss as a result of a car accident. In order for you to be able to have access to such payment or compensation, you would need to pay some amount of money which are referred to as premiums. This article today talks about car insurance claim rules as it would be taking you the claims settlement guide in general and you would learn few things you had no idea about.
Take for example, you are recently involved in a car accident in which you suffer serious loss and damages, you would be expecting to get some compensation just as your insurer has promised so what you must do first is for you to file a claim. The process of making a claim is telling your insurer of your accident and expecting to get some reward or compensation from them. This is why we always advice that you go for an insurer with a good reputation for paying out claims promptly.
Car Insurance Claim Rules
A claim is an application to an insurance company where you request compensation based on what terms are included in your insurance policy. However, a claim settlement ratio refers to the percentage of the total claims that has been settled to the total claims that was received by the insurance company in a business year. This would help you as a victim in understanding the possibility of the insurer paying out your claims or giving you compensation for the loss and damages that you have suffered.
What we are trying to say is that claims settlement ratio is the best way anyone can get to measure if an insurance company is truly going to keep to its word of paying you compensation for the losses and damages that you have suffered in a car accident. Furthermore, this brings us to the point where there are certain key or important factors that one has to consider when trying to select an insurance company and these features include;
Financial Stability – If you are able to figure out the financial stability of an insurance company then you might as well be able to tell of they are going to pay you some compensation especially when it involves a larger claim.
After Sales Service – Being able to provide you with good after sales service is also another way by which one would be able to tell if an insurer can pay out his claims or not.
The Claims Process
Third Party – If you are at fault for the damage that has been done to a third party then you would also need to contact your insurer immediately. If another driver is at fault for the damages that your car has suffered then you should get the contact details of the at fault driver and also his insurance company but if the accident is a major or larger one then it falls down to a claims tribunal to figure out who would be paid compensation.
Own Damage – Having a comprehensive car insurance policy and your car eventually gets damaged would also cause you to reach out to your insurance company real soon. Anytime within the week is okay to reach out to your insurance company and tell them of the damage and loss that you have suffered. The next step would be the assigning of a surveyor to figure out the extent of the damage as well as the reason for the damage which would cause the insurer to either approve your claim or deny it.
However, while this is actually going on, you are free to take your car to a body shop for repair or you can talk to your insurer to do that for you. After all of these processes, you would be compensated for losses incurred.
Theft – Informing the police is the first thing that you have to do if your car gets stolen and documents that would need to be submitted includes FIR from the police, your drivers license as well as your car registration certificate. There are insurers that would also go as far as asking you for the car keys. Issuing a non traceable certificate only happens when the police fails to find the car over a reasonable period of time and this would also prompt your insurer to move towards settling the claim that you have filed for.
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