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Winter is upon us and with it comes slippery and hazardous road conditions. No matter how cautious you are driving in less than perfect conditions, others might not be. People in 4WD vehicles have a false sense of safety thinking they can maintain control of their car or truck in any kind of weather and tend to travel at a higher rate of speed than they should. 4WD does nothing to help you on ice. And we all know the first instinct is to slam on the brakes to avoid an accident, but in the snow and ice, brakes are not your friend. Pushing the brakes down trying to stop is only going to cause the vehicle to slide. Filing an accident claim may be your only choice.
So, you’ve done your best to get home safely in a snow storm, but you find yourself in getting rear ended on a bad corner. What’s next? After establishing that you, the other driver and anyone else in your vehicle isn’t hurt, move the cars off the road to a safe location. The last thing you want to happen is to have a third car hit you. Call the police next.
The police will determine if anyone is at fault. They will give you the report number to give to the insurance company. Copies of any police report might not be ready for several days and the insurance company will want the police report number. When you speak with your insurance agent, remember, they understand how upsetting an accident is. They understand you might be a bit agitated or nervous. Try as best you can to answer all their questions. When you can, check your policy information to ensure you are getting everything you’ve paid for, like a rental car or the repair shop of your choice.
Most insurance companies will have an adjuster call you as soon as possible to set up a time to inspect the damage to your car. If your car was towed to a service garage, the adjuster will go there for the inspection; you don’t need to be there. The adjuster and the repair shop will agree on a price and your car will be repaired. In today’s electronic world most insurance companies will send you statements and other important claim information via e-mail. Either print out a copy and file it safely away or save the e-mails in a folder on your computer for future reference.
The claim process for an accident isn’t something anyone wants to go through. There are many horror stories about less money being paid than was promised or shoddy work by the repair shop, but keeping copies of all the insurance transactions can make all the difference for a smooth experience.