Are there any rules about reporting a single vehicle accident? If so, what are they? Here are the guidelines from legal and insurance experts.
What factors might contribute to creation of a single vehicle accident?
• A vehicle’s part malfunctions
• An animal runs into the road
• The driver loses control of the vehicle’s wheels.
Who must pay for the damage?
If the driver has collision coverage, then the insurance company should cover the damage. If the driver does not have such coverage then he or she must pay the cost of the repairs.
Should you make a claim if you have been responsible for a single vehicle accident?
Was any property damaged? If the answer is “yes,” then you should file a claim.
Was anyone harmed during the incident that involved just one vehicle? If the answer is “yes,” then you should file a claim. Do not assume an absence of injuries, in order to avoid the obligation to contact the insurance company. It never pays to assume that the forces associated with a given accident had no effect on the bodies of the vehicles’ occupants.
Take the damaged vehicle to a mechanic that you trust. Get an estimate for the cost of any needed repair work. If the cost for repairs is greater than your deductible, then you should file a claim.
What happens to those that have completed the claim-filing process, following their involvement in an accident with a single driver/vehicle?
The Personal Injury Lawyer Fort Erie knows that an insurance company adds to the driver’s record a note that he or she has had an accident that did not involve any other drivers or vehicles. If you have been a safe driver, that notation should not mar your record to any great degree.
As a rule, the insurance company likes to reward safe drivers. Consequently, the addition of one accident to an almost perfect record might not force the company to raise the policyholder’s premium immediately. What the policyholder might get is a warning.
For a minor accident, the policyholder might be told that if there are any other accidents within the next year, or maybe 2 years, then the insurance company will raise the premium. If a larger accident was reported, then the policyholder might be told to remain accident-free for the next 6 months, or be ready to pay a higher premium.
All policyholders need to expect some inducement to work on avoiding accidents. Money for any repair-work must come from the insurance company’s bank account. For that reason, it must work to limit the number of times that it has to reach into that same account. The practice of increasing premiums helps to ensure maintenance of the desired limit on claims.