Insurance Claims
by: Alan Jason Smith
When you are involved in an accident insurance claims may not be the
first thoughts on your mind. However, there are some procedures you should
follow in order to preserve your right to file an insurance claim. This
may be anything from hail damage to a stolen vehicle and does not refer
solely to car accidents.
The first thing you want to do is prevention. Most insurance claims can
be prevented even before the incident occurs. For instance, to prevent
auto accident’s be cautious and think about taking a defensive driving
course. To prevent stolen vehicle insurance claims, keep you vehicle
locked up and parked in a secure place. To prevent damage from the forces
of nature do not travel in bad weather and keep your car in a covered
parkway. There are many ways to prevent yourself from incurring loss. Most
ideas are just common sense. However, for more information contact your
insurance agent for ideas on prevention. Next, you will want to remain
calm. When disaster strikes people react. That is our nature. However,
sometimes people’s reactions can make things worse on their insurance
claims.
If you’re in a car accident this might mean taking the blame, leaving
the scene of an accident, or putting your self in danger. If you’re car is
stolen you may act on your reaction by accusing innocent persons. There
are a number of problems that can arise when people over react that is why
it is essential to your insurance claim for you to remain calm.
Now, the next thing you need to be aware of is time. You see, time is
not on your side when filing an insurance claim. The longer you wait the
less your chances are of recovering your loss. Most insurance companies
will not even consider a claim if it was turned in a certain amount of
time after the incident. It is also harder to prove the longer you go
before submitting an insurance claim.
Finally, you will want to follow procedures and document everything.
Insurance companies are hit with frauds all the time. In order to weed out
the actual claims from the fraudulent ones, they have to have clear cut
procedures. Unfortunately, this can sometimes be confusing to actual
victims. Yet, they are in place out of the need to protect the company.
This means that you will have to educate yourself to what the policies
are. Find out what documentation you need and what forms you will have to
file. If you need help, contact your insurance agent. That is what they
are there for. If you follow this advice, you should be able to file a
claim relatively easy and with the least amount of lag time before
payment. |
