Car insurance claim decision
Reader question:
I got into an accident recently, and my car was considered a total loss, and they gave me a number. Is there some way that I can challenge this car insurance claim decision?
Mohammed
That’s a good question.
It all comes down to the contract you signed when you took out your car insurance policy to begin with. It may state that your car insurance company has the last word in all car insurance claim decisions, or it may not. In the case of the latter, it will be either impossible or extremely difficult to challenge the car insurance claim quote that the company gives you. You will probably have to take some extraordinary measures.
This is why I always recommend that you read your car insurance policy before, not after, you sign on the dotted line. If you do this, read it, and make sure that you understand it, then
- you won’t have problems later, or
- you’ll have seen those problems coming from the beginning.
It’s pretty simple. However, if you don’t have this problem, that is to say, if your car insurance company does not claim the last word, then I would suggest you take steps to take things into your own hands. You can do this by hiring your own person to do the appraisal. You can get a professional car insurance accident appraiser and use their quote to fight the car insurance company with. The benefit in this is that the appraiser that you hire is automatically on your side, since you’re the one paying him. The one hired by the auto insurance company to determine the worth of your car insurance claim is under pressure to give the company the lowest price so that the company will continue to hire them.
If the appraiser route doesn’t work, then you might want to take the next, slightly more expensive step up by getting a lawyer. This doesn’t mean that you automatically have to take them to court. Normally, a lawyer will just help in the way of going in there and negotiating for you where you have been having trouble negotiating by yourself. If push comes to shove, though, the car insurance accident lawyer can help you take your case to court to fight for a better quote for your car insurance claim.
If none of this works, and the car insurance company seems set on treating you unfairly, and you are absolutely sure that you are in the right in this situation, then the next thing for you to do is to take it to the department of insurance for your state. This step is pretty easy. All you have to do is go to the department of insurance’s website, where they will normally have a complaint form to fill out about the problems that you are having with your car insurance company. Remember that this is the last step. Don’t resort to this unless nothing else works and it is obviously the case that the car insurance company is trying to screw you over.
Normally, the department of insurance will then request documentation from you. This is where all of that keeping track of things comes in handy. Be sure to know why you should get more and be able to prove it. If you really have a case that the car insurance company is being unfair, then the department of insurance will take action.
I think that problems like these are the reasons that people should be very careful when they are choosing a quality car insurance company. It may seem nice to begin with, but what happens when you have to make a car insurance claim? It is in your best interest, not only to get the best instant online car insurance quotes, but also to do things such as ask friends, call your department of insurance, and look on online car insurance company review sites to see what the down and dirty is on the customer service for the company.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
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