How to File a Car Insurance Claim After a Fender Bender

Fender benders come in all shapes and sizes. Regardless whether you are at fault or not, you have some responsibilities to cover after you are involved in a car accident. Depending on your insurer and your state of residence, there may be some variations in precisely what must be done. However, some general rules apply in nearly every situation.

You should contact the police, sheriff or highway patrol that has jurisdiction in the area where the crash occurred.

Most states have a legal liability to do this if the dollar amount of the accident is high enough. Usually, this is a low limit like $200 or so. It is never wrong to file a police report even if the damage is negligible. Since most people are not body shop workers, it is unlikely that you can be certain about whether the amount is sufficient or not. It is better to be safe than sorry in this case. This report should be filed in most states within 24 hours of the accident. Immediately is better. Your insurer will generally require this report before they will begin to process your claim. It is just best to get it taken care of while the details are fresh.

Follow the instructions on your insurance card for reporting an accident to your insurer.

Most of the time, this claim will be made directly to the company. Eventually, your agent will be notified. People who have a local agent will often find it more satisfying to simply tell their agent and let him or her direct them from that point regarding what to do next. You will need to know the location of the accident, some details about how the accident happened, and the precise date and time for best results. If you have your insurance card in front of you, it will be easy to supply other information like your policy number when it is requested.

Make sure that you get as much information about the other driver as possible.

Insurance companies are bad about not doing a great job of pursuing the other party to pay for your claim if you are not at fault. They are frequently content to pay your claim and let you eat the deductible. The problem with this is the insurance company will also put the claim on your record and penalize you for it. If you have the information, you can sometimes pursue the other party on your own and get some resolution. Do not expect too much from this route because a deadbeat is a deadbeat, whether you are chasing them or the insurance company is chasing them.

Fill out all of the paperwork sent to you by the insurer.

Depending on the size and complexity of the claim, this can be a big job, or it may be a matter of just signing the forms and returning them. You may be asked to complete a drawing of the accident scene, including the location and traveling direction of the cars involved. Your insurance company wants to be able to compare your story to the one submitted on the police report to verify that the fault was correctly assessed.