Car accidents are terrifying and unfortunate
incidents, not only to the people directly involved, but also to their near and
dears. Accidents cause a lot of stress to the persons
involved and to their families. Various statistics have placed India among the
ones with most unsafe roads. The number of fatalities on our roads are also
among the highest, and are said to challenge the number of fatalities caused
due to natural, disease related deaths. Consciously or unconsciously we all take
efforts in the form of precautions right from the purchase of car, to avoid
such happenings. For instance, it is a reflex behavior to look for a car with
some space between rear seat and end of the car to offer more protection in case
someone crashes in to your car from rear. Also we do check the safety
performance of our car as per ratings by competent agencies, like from some
automobile magazines or news in general.
In-spite of taking all preliminary precautions, if
an accident should happen to you, then you should be aware of the further
procedures before-hand. Starting from the time one realizes about the accident
to the phase the person is recovers and to the phase when he needs to figure out
how to get his car repaired. In case you have to get the car repaired yourself
and by your insurance company, among the most important things that you need is
a proper valid insurance for your car.
- First things first, call the toll free number of the insurance company and inform about the accident. In some cases a copy of police report may also be required even if there is no person or vehicle other than you and your car involved in the accident. It is better to inform the local police station right away; this will save you from further hassles like declaration of no third party damage etc.
- If you have a valid insurance, take the car to a workshop with cashless facility of your insurance company. In case the car needs towing you have to call the road side assistance service once you are sure of locating a suitable workshop which offers cashless facility on your insurance claim. Also the location of the workshop should be so that you can monitor the repairs conveniently as accidental repairs are generally time consuming affairs. If your car does not have a road-side assistance package, buy one today at carworkz-assist.
- The car will have to be inspected by a representative of insurance company before repair work will commence. After inspection the person will approve the cost of the accidental repair as per the policy of the insurance company and the type of policy you have availed. This can be either a part of the cost as per estimate given by workshop for the repair or full cost as per estimate. There are certain factors that will be considered by the insurance company representative while giving approval, like age of your car which determines the depreciation or a damage which has resulted from an earlier impact and is still on the car without getting repaired cannot be claimed along with the incident for which the claim was made. That is, cannot get earlier damages repaired on a claim. These kind of decisions anyhow depend on the insurance company policy also and cannot be applied universally.
- In some cases, if the damage is minor as in a dent or a scratch, repairing it at one’s own expense is more practical as this will save money on next renewal of insurance, in the form of ‘no claim bonus’ which is given when no claim has been made in the present insurance period on the car. The workshop can help to compare the amount of no claim bonus, and repair cost at one’s own expense so that you can take a decision as to claim insurance or not.
- In case of heavy damage insurance company may decide to total your car, which means that the company will give you an amount and settle the claim rather than approving the repairs. This is done when the car repairing cost is not acceptable as it exceeds the present value of the car. In such cases your option will be to take the amount and go for a new car.
For any
kind of car accidental repair related job, visit carworkz.com/app today and make an informed choice for your car repair
needs. Wish you a long and safe relationship with your car.
