Understanding your car insurance claims process

Car owners buy car insurance so that they don’t need to face financial loss after an accident, theft, and can get coverage for repair costs, medical facilities, etc. In case of an accident or theft, the insured individual is required to place a claim. But are you aware of the car insurance claims process?.

There is a simple and definite procedure to claim the insurance facilities. Relevant and appropriate information has to be provided to the insurance company for hassle-free and quick processing. If you are wondering how to claim your insurance, this article is for you.

How to place a claim after a car accident?

This is the most common case that happens and you need insurance facilities for repairing and medical facilities. So, how would you place a claim in the case of a car accident? Let us check out.

1. Your very first duty after an accident, if you are not severely injured, is to collect photographs and take notes. If you have been involved in an accident with another car, pen down the car number, owner’s name, model, etc. Click photographs of the driver, car, your car, and the exact scene after the accident. These are valid pieces of evidence that you would need to show to the police and the insurance company.
2. Though it is optional, it is always a good decision to report the accident to the local police station. Get a copy of the police report so that you can show it to the company. This helps in the quicker processing of the claim.
3. Now is the turn to inform the company. You should go step by step. So, now you would require to fill a claim form. The claim form is available on the website of the insurance company or you can collect the form from the office. Fill the form carefully giving each and every detail.
4. Once the claiming process is primarily done the company would send a surveyor to the accident spot to see the situation and examine the severity of damage to the car. You can provide the information and photographs you collected if the surveyor asks for them.
5. The surveyor would prepare a report providing information and detail about the accident, damage details of the car, etc. He would send this report to the insurance company and submit a copy of the report to the insured person.
6. Once the report is made, the assistance needed by the insured would become clear. The surveyor will then accompany you to the garage and offer the required guidance.
7. Once the repairment is done and the car repairment bills are in your hand. This bill needs to be handed over to the surveyor. He would send the bills to the insurance authority.
8. The insurance company would evaluate the bills and provide the payment to you.

However, always remember to report the accident immediately to get the maximum reimbursement. If you report it late, you may not get the expected amount. Therefore, the very first take is to inform your insurer about the accident and let a surveyor come to review the condition. It is your responsibility to ensure that every required detail is conveyed to the surveyor with relevant supportive proofs, like photographs, etc. It is highly recommended to bring every tiny piece of information to the notice of the surveyor in order to gain the maximum benefits.

Information needed to file a claim after a car accident

What information should you collect to file a claim? There are a few things that can help to make your case stronger and can act as solid evidence. Here is a list of the basic information that you must collect before filing a claim.

• Note down the insurance policy number from the policy card.
• Mention the date, time, and location of the accident.
• Try to click some photographs of the accident scene. This will help the insurer to have a clear picture of what exactly happened.
• Provide an in-depth description of how the accident happened.
• If another party is involved in the accident, you would need to provide the insurance and contact details of the party.
• You would have to provide the police station name where you reported the accident along with the report and the report number.

How to file a claim in case of car theft?

Now how would you file a claim if your car gets stolen? The process is more or less like the claiming procedure after an accident. You need to follow a few simple steps, let us take a look into the procedure.

• Your first task is to file a police complaint about the theft.
• Share the copy of the FIR with the insurance company authority.
• Now the insurance company would send a representative for investigation.
• You have to wait until the investigation is finished and the claim is approved by the insurance company authority.
• Once your insurance claim is approved, you are required to submit the RC book of the car along with the duplicate keys.
• Now the name of the car owner would be changed from yours to your insurer’s name.
• You will also require to submit a subrogation letter along with some other papers that the insurer would ask for. Make sure to put on the signature on the papers.
• Once the paperwork is done, the insurance authority would go ahead with the reimbursement of the claim.

The procedure is pretty simple. You just need to act rationally whenever an accident or incident of theft occurs. In case of an accident, don’t blame the other party. Don’t panic in that situation. Let the insurer handle the situation and figure out who is at fault.

Similarly, in the case of theft, report your insurer instead of panicking. Whenever the case is genuine, the insurer is always there to help you out. So, nothing to worry about.

Before buying insurance, read out and learn about the claiming procedure so that you can take immediate action after a mishap and make the car insurance claims process seamless.