If you own a car, chances are that at least once in your lifetime, you will get involved in some kind of accident and need to file a car accident claim. Most insurance companies are very fastidious when it comes to making payouts, which means that you need to be very keen on how you file such a claim for it to be accepted. There are a number of things that might seem minor, but which might end up having a profound effect on whether or not the insurer pays out, and how much they pay out if they do so. It’s important for you to always be aware of such things so that you can minimize the chances of claim rejection. Some of these include:
Don’t assign the blame to anyone, especially officially
Once you are involved in an accident, you should not claim liability or suggest that it was the other party at fault. If you do this, especially the former, the insurance company might end up denying the claim. When you are reporting the accident, the standard operating procedure is to say exactly what happened, and let the insurance company and authorities judge who was at fault. This is a mistake that many people fall into, but which can end up jeopardizing your chances of getting a payout.
Try to document everything as much as possible
As far as you can, try to document everything related to the accident for future claims purposes. After the accident, take photos of the scene. If you have to get emergency medical care, make sure that you get the receipts, and attach them with the claim form when submitting it. This increases the maximum payout you can get from the claim, and also makes it easier for the insurance company to verify the claim.
