After an accident, there are several things that are running through a person’s mind. They may find that they are thinking about the claim process and what they need to do in order to ensure that this runs smoothly. Those that file a claim with their auto insurance company should be aware that these claims are not approved within a day or so. They take several days to complete and once they are completed, depending on the type of accident, those that were involved and the like could mean waiting a few more weeks for an answer. It is not unheard of for someone to wait three or more weeks to hear back about a claim. For those that have their car damaged, they could be given a rental vehicle during this time depending on their car insurance and if this is a coverage that they have on there. Or they could have to drive the car as best as they can, as long as it does not break any major laws that are in the state.

 The first step in getting your claim processed is to ensure that you have all the necessary information for your insurance company. They are going to require that any police reports be faxed to them or taken to their office, while they will also want to get your side of the story as to what happened. If there were other people involved in the accident they are going to want to know this information as well, including just how much damage their car had and if they were taken away by ambulance or treated for injuries. They will want to see any pictures that you have taken at the scene in order to log this as evidence in their case. In the event that it was someone else’s fault and you live in a tort state, then the insurance company will more than likely tell you to deal with the responsible parties insurance, instead of yours since they are going to be paying for the damages.

 Once all this information has been processed, the auto insurance company will want to look at the vehicle that has been damaged. This is where they will deem just how much damage has been done and just how much this will cost. In most cases, they will either come to the car if it is unable to be moved or if this is able to be driven, they will ask that the person bring this by in order to look at it. The company uses a body shop in their network that will give them the prices of how much it would cost to fix. Once the price has been determined, the auto insurance company will decide as to whether they should fix this or total the vehicle out. Usually a vehicle is only totaled when the cost to fix this is more than the actual value of the vehicle.

 Once the estimates have been received, and people know just how much of their car insurance is going to pay for the damages, then comes time to get the car fixed. Most companies are going to have the choice of three companies in the surrounding area that the person can go through in order to get their car fixed. And when getting this fixed through the company the person will find that they do have a guarantee on the work. Those that are fine with going through their own company will get a check from the insurance company to use to fix their car. The person should note that this check is meant to be used for their car and not used for any other purposes.