How does auto insurance work in accident when you are not at fault?

If you are not at fault, you can do the following:

• File a liability claim against the driver at fault. Then, that driver's insurance company will pay for any damage you have incurred. Now, if the settlement of the insurance company is not enough, you can also hire a lawyer to help you file a lawsuit against the driver at fault.
• File a claim against your collision coverage from your insurance company, in which case, you will be required to pay the deductible and this claim will also affect future auto insurance claims.

Now, if you were involved in a car accident that is not your fault, you need to:

• Get the erring driver's records - his name, contact number, address, car insurance details and so on.
• Obtain a police report of the incident.
• Call the other party's insurance company to start the claims process. Although the erring driver has the responsibility to notify his car insurance company, you can also make the call to speed up things. Mind you, people who are involved in a car accident which is their fault may be loathe to call their insurance company about it.
• The next step would be to call your insurance company as well. This is to notify them about what happened to your car as an act of good faith. This is like hedging your bets in case the erring party's insurance company decides to deny the claim or when there is a dispute with regards to who was at fault. It may also be ruled that the accident is a 50/50 accident, when both parties are deemed at fault. You can also send a copy of the police report to your car insurance company.
• The insurance company will make their own investigation about the accident.
• Get a quote from the car insurance company or from a reputable garage. If you get the quote from a garage, be sure to send this quote to the insurance company of the person at fault.
• Before you go ahead with the repairs, be sure to ask for authorization from the insurance company. But also, don't allow them to make the choice as to which garage will fix your car.

Please remember to work with the insurance company - whether you are claiming from the insurance company of the driver at fault or from your own insurance company.

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