In my last post, How To Settle Your Georgia Property Damage Claim (Car or Truck Damage) WITHOUT An Attorney - Part One, I wrote that if you need to bring a property damage claim you should start the process by making sure you know which set of deep pockets to turn to - by which I meant deciding which of the insurance companies involved is going to give you the best deal on your claim.
Many times you will have a choice - present your damage claim to your own insurance company, under your collision coverage, OR present the claim to the at-fault driver's insurance company (usually referred to as the "Liability Carrier"), under the other driver's liability coverage. Which is going to be best? Well . . . that depends!
I recommend that you start by checking your policy information ("dec page") or calling your agent/insurance company to see if a) you were carrying collision coverage at the time of your wreck, and b) how high of a deductible was in effect. A common deductible is $500.00, but they can be lower or higher. The deductible is the amount of your damage claim for which you are responsible. For example, assume you car is damaged in a wreck and the cost to repair it is going to total $10,000.00 and you have a $500.00 deductible. What this means is that your insurance company is responsible for $9,500.00 of the repairs and you will have to pay the remaining $500.00.
Once you have checked on your policy information and know whether you have collision coverage and your deductible, call the at-fault driver's insurance company ("Liability Carrier") and ask them if they have a) accepted responsibility for the collision and b) how soon they can come out to appraise the damage to your car. If the Liability Carrier is responsive and prompt, you will probably be better off letting them handle your property damage claim. The main advantage to presenting the claim to the Liability Carrier is that there will be no deductible.
Sometimes, however, the Liability Carrier will tell you that they have not yet finished their investigation into who was responsible for the wreck or otherwise will not be able to promptly "adjust your loss" (that is insurance speak for handle your claim). If the Liability Carrier is being pokey or unreasonable, you should present your claim to your own insurance company.
Here is an important fact - IF you present your claim to your own insurance company you often will be able to recover your deductible later. The way that happens is through a process known as subrogation. Your insurance company, after it pays to repair your car, will go after the Liability Carrier for reimbursement. If your insurance company is successful in recovering the money it paid to fix your car, it will normally have recovered your deductible as well, and will then repay you your $500.00 (or whatever the amount of your deductible). Pretty neat, huh?
That's all I have time to write today. Next time I'll clarify what I wrote today by talking about what happens if your car is a total loss (rather than being repairable).
