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how do car accident claims work
[Music]
hey there everyone my name is Peter
Geraci the slam dunk attorney and my
goal is to make sure that everyone with
a car accident case makes their case a
slam dunk and today we're discussing how
car accident claims work now full
disclaimer this is going to be a very
broad overview of the claims process
there's no way we can get into the nooks
and crannies of every single portion of
the claims process because you can
really end up going down some rabbit
holes this video is simply meant to kind
of give you a broad understanding of how
the claims process works so Step One is
reporting the claim itself nothing
happens in the case nothing happens in
the cloud until the claim is reported by
someone and that claim is usually
reported by someone's representative
themselves or their attorneys and
usually the claims reported over the
phone or online through some sort of
form or a bunch of questions you call on
the phone you'll usually end up with a
claims representative they'll ask an
onslaught of questions related to the
accident how it happened whether there's
any evidence photos videos things of
that nature that call can usually go
about 30 minutes to an hour depending on
the the person on the other side and how
long it takes them to get the
information they need once the claims
reporting process is complete you'll
move on to the next part which is the
investigation stage this is where the
insurance company is going to
investigate and try to determine fault
this portion of the claim involves the
collection of documents various evidence
photos videos statements from Witnesses
statements from the parties involved and
pretty much any other information they
can get their hands on here's a tip if
you're involved in a wreck where the
other person's at fault and you know for
sure they're at fault and they're saying
they're at fault make sure you get that
person on camera pull out your phone
record them and have them repeat that
they're saying they're at fault for the
wreck they'll help you out a lot oh and
another thing make sure you never admit
fault at the scene once fault's been
determined then you move on to the next
stage and that next stage is property
damage assessment so your property
damage can actually be handled by either
insurance company that's involved in the
case depending on the available coverage
if you're found at fault and you have
Collision coverage on your policy
then you'll be able to have your
property damage claim taken care of
through your own Insurance Company
Collision coverage protects your vehicle
in the event that it's involved in a
collision irrespective of whether you're
at fault or not the only caveat is
you'll have to pay the deductible if
you're not found at fault you'll have
the option of handling your claim
directly with the other person's
insurance company or with your own
insurance company if you have Collision
coverage and I'll say this the only
reason you'd want to use your own
insurance company in that situation is
if the other insurance company's taking
way too long to determine fault and you
need to get your car looked at typically
most insurance companies will not
proceed on a third party property damage
claim until fault is determined if you
do opt to use your insurance company
your own insurance company in that
situation you'll get your deductible
back once your insurance company is able
to obtain their money back from the
other insurance company now there are
two ways that a typical property damage
claim can go either the insurance
company will determine that your vehicle
is a total loss or they'll determine
that it's repairable if they deem it a
total loss you'll have the option of
either accepting that total loss payment
or taking a percentage of the total loss
payment and retaining possession of your
vehicle but with a branded title most
people typically choose not to accept
the vehicle with the Branded title
because it really really reduces the
value of your vehicle before anything I
would suggest you obtain an independent
appraisal of your vehicle after it's
deemed as a total loss just to make sure
you're getting paid exactly what you're
meant to be getting paid and once it's
deemed a total loss you've decided to
accept payment what you'll do is you'll
send in uh your title to the insurance
company if you've got it if you're still
making payments on the vehicle you'll
just provide your lien holders
information and then they'll send a
payoff letter to the insurance company
and then they'll pay off your lien now
if the deem your vehicle repairable
here's what will happen you'll have to
find a body shop to get the repairs done
on your vehicle that would be necessary
after the Collision most insurance
companies will try and direct you to a
particular shops and say that they're
better but it's usually best for your
you to do your own research and paper
shop that you feel comfortable with once
you've found a shop you you'd want to
notify them and let them know that
you're planning on taking your vehicle
there to get assessed for body work now
if you're handling the repairs to the
other person's insurance company or if
you've got rental coverage on your own
policy you'll be able to get a rental
for the duration of the repairs on your
vehicle at the shop also if for any
reason your vehicle is not usable or not
drivable at any point before that you
could also obtain a rental during that
period as well once your vehicle's
repairs are complete you're going to
want to get a appraisal for diminishment
and value what that means is that
essentially when a vehicle is involved
in a Wreck It suffers a loss in its
value and you know what they say a
vehicle never drives the same effort
it's been involved in a wrecks you want
to make sure that you're getting that
assessed by somebody good and expert in
that field once you've obtained that
diminished value appraisal from your
expert you're going to want to send it
off to the insurance company and demand
payment from them now while the property
damage portion of your claim is going on
you're probably likely going to be
treating for your injuries now I'm not
going to get into the weeds of all this
but you'll likely see various doctors
throughout the course of your treatment
chiropractors orthopedic surgeons
neurosurgeons physical therapists
therapists I mean anything you really
see a number of doctors just depending
on the extent of your injuries now
here's another tip I would suggest you
obtain an MRI on every single body part
that you've injured in the wreck you
never know what's going on under there
and it's always great to have objective
proof that an insurance company cannot
argue with to show in their face and say
hey I was injured as a result of this
accident and you need to pay me for this
once you've completed your treatment you
move on to the next phase which is
preparing the demand to send to the
insurance company for payment now there
are two ways this can typically go
if you were determined to be at fault
for the accident your only recourse will
be through pip which is personal injury
protection through medical payment
benefits which is exactly the same thing
pretty much as personal injury
protection or no fault benefits which
again essentially function the same way
these are coverages that'll pay for your
medical expenses in the event that
you're involved in Iraq irrespective of
a fault the biggest thing with this is
being mindful of the amount of coverage
that you've got on your policy medical
bills can rack up really quickly and
they can be very expensive so just be
careful and make sure that you're not
going above your coverage limits now if
you're not determined to be at fault
that you have a lot more options
typically the first demand goes out to
the liability insurance company because
in terms of priority they come first if
they have sufficient coverage to
coverage to cover all your claims and
your medical bills and injuries and
everything then the claim will stop
there now if the coverage is
insufficient then you're going to want
to turn to your own policy if you have
the appropriate coverage now this is
where we go back to pip med pay and no
fault benefits and also you're going to
get into uninsured motorists and
underinsured motorist benefits now those
last two are new so we're going to talk
about those
uninsured motorist benefits come into
play when the other person that hits you
or is at fault doesn't have insurance at
all that covers their vehicle and so at
that point you'd send your demand to
your insurance company they'd cover you
and then they'd go after the person
personally to obtain their money back so
you don't have to do it yourself
underinsured voters is kind of the same
thing same line of thought if the other
person is underinsured or they don't
have enough coverage to cover all your
injuries medical bills pain and
suffering so forth your insurance
company will step in pay you and then
they'll go after the other person for
the excess amount and I'll say this most
people don't have good coverage on their
vehicles they're going around here with
the minimum coverage on their vehicles
and just driving around just because
they think that's all they need to get
around so because of this you want to
make sure you have uninsured motorists
underinsured motorist on your policy and
make sure they're high amounts just to
make sure you're protecting yourself in
the event that you're involved and
depending on how the insurance companies
respond to the demand you'll either
settle the matter through negotiations
or you'll end up deciding you're not
paying enough for my in injuries this is
unacceptable I'm taking you to court and
so then you'll file your case in court
and you'll go from there either way this
case is going to resolve somehow and
once it does you'll sign a release
you'll obtain a check you'll pay your
medical bills get rid of any liens or
anything outstanding and then you'll be
on your way and that's it guys that's
really it in a nutshell I know I blew
through that and it was really fast and
there was a lot of information but these
claims process can be pretty
overwhelming I tried my best to simplify
it and give you guys a broad overview
please let me know what else you guys
would like to see leave a comment down
below like the video subscribe let me
know I'm here for you guys here to
provide you with as many resources as
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