After an accident happens sometimes, the major that needs to be dealt with is the car itself and that is if you end up being lucky in the accident. In other cases, it might be very difficult and can end up being a hard experience. This is the point where you start asking yourself questions like what do you do next and where do you start from. Should you go ahead and sue the person who is at fault for the damage? Suing for property damage car accident isn’t as easy as it sounds and that’s why you have this article to guide you through it.
Does it just involve submitting a damage claim to the insurance company? Do you think you have what it takes to deal with the insurance company of the driver that is at fault? Should you go ahead and get multiple estimates as well. Have you forgotten about police report as well. The first thing you should know here is what property damage actually means and it means harm or injury suffered by another thing but not a person. This could either be a fence, home, tree, car or any other thing that you can think of.
Suing For Property Damage Car Accident
Damages are well explained or illustrated by their cost of repairs, value to replace them or the loss of use pending when the items either gets repaired or replaced. It is up to insurance companies to handle property damages that happens when a car has an accident but one thing that we want you to note is that insurance companies also have a time limit that they place on a property damage claim when an accident happens. This is why some of our articles advice that you file a claim sooner the accident happens.
This offers you enough room and time to negotiate for a better settlement or compensation amount if you are not pleased with initial offer that the insurance company has made or offered you. In addition, the state also has a time frame that anyone can file for a lawsuit against another person or company for property damage. This time frame usually lies between two to six years but at the same time, it is also dependent on your state.
How To Proceed With A Property Damage Car Accident Claim
Just like in every other claim, the first step is always the same. The most important thing is making sure that nobody got hurt in the accident and after that, the next thing you should do is get a police report. This record would be important later to be submitted to the insurance company and you should also make your own accident report too. This report should look like this:
Damage done to the at fault driver vehicle and your vehicle
Weather
Where the accident happened
The properties that got damaged in the accident
Road conditions
Other relevant details which you have made out of your own convenience
One other thing that you should not forget to do which we always try to remind you is making sure that you get the contact information of the other driver involved in the accident and also his license plate as well. Taking photos of the scene of the accident could also be helpful when you want to make an insurance claim later on. If the at fault driver makes a statement that are not in his own interest then you should write them down and such statements might include ‘I’m sorry, i’m at fault, a bear jumped in front of my car”.
The clause that you have in your insurance contract is that any accident that happens regardless of who is at fault or not should be reported to your insurance company. This would be of great help if the insurance company of the other driver is not being hasty in fixing up your damaged car. The next thing that you should do is place a call with the at fault driver’s insurance company and then you will have a claims adjuster assigned to you. This claims adjuster is going to hand you a case number.
This is generally referred to as a third party claim. You don’t really need the help of an attorney during an insurance claims process. What really needs to be done is just constant phone calls between you and the insurance agent and also the auto shop in charge of fixing your car. That is all that actually needs to be done.
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