by Joyce D. Sinclair

Created on: January 24, 2011

Besides your home and perhaps paying for college tuition, your automobile is one of the most expensive things that you will buy in your lifetime.  And of course you clean it, and buy all sorts of creams and waxes and scents to keep it looking and smelling like new.  And then, you get the bad news: something’s happened to your car.

But that’s why we have insurance, to cover the things we don’t foresee.  As a claims representative for a major insurance company, I take calls all day from people who are nervous about filing a claim for something that has happened to their vehicle.  But it’s really not that difficult or scary.  The main thing to remember is that if you don’t have all the information, that’s ok.  In my experience, here are a few things that you need to remember when filing an auto claim to make the process go easier:

COVERAGE.  Insurance falls into two major coverages: collision and comprehensive (sometimes called “other than collision”).  Collision coverage is for anything that your vehicle collides with, and that not only includes other vehicles, but also ditches, poles, buildings, fences, trees, potholes, pedestrians and even hit-and-run damage to your vehicle.  This applies whether you do it or someone else does it to your vehicle.  Comprehensive coverage covers things like vandalism, theft, weather-related damage, flying or falling objects (a tree limb falls on your car), fire, damage by an animal, among other situations that may be covered.  Mechanical failures are not generally covered by your insurance, unless you have a specific add-on to your policy. 

DATE AND LOCATION:  The date is important to know so that we could verify if the incident falls within your policy period.  We also need to know where it happened.  We don’t necessarily need an exact address, but an intersection will suffice.  If it took place in a parking lot, please take note of which parking lot and what the road it is off of, if you can.   Make sure you give a brief statement of what happened in the incident. 

VEHICLE INFORMATION:  If other vehicles are involved, make sure you write down the year, make and model of the other vehicle.  Many times, if there is a police report, they only give the year and make of the vehicle.  You might also want to write down the color of the vehicle and the license plate number

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