3 Essential Things You Should Do Before and After a Car Accident
It’s obvious how terrible a car accident is. And even more stressful is the situation after the accident. Your prime concern is to ensure your family is safe. The other concern is what amount of damage your car has met with.
There are options such as sell damaged cars or repair them. But which of these should you choose? Here are tips to make the right decision.
1. Before a Car Accident
Considering the fact that your car can meet with an accident any time, you should take certain precautions. Firstly you should know your auto insurance policy. Although this is obvious, it’s often overlooked. It’s impossible to read the fine print in your policy once you get into an accident. Details in your policy like whether or not you have collision or comprehensive coverage or gap insurance will help you make the right decision after an accident. But the fine print makes the real difference.
Does your policy cover OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) parts or only aftermarket replacements parts while repairing your car? Does it cover you for a rental car when your own car is in the shop? Read these fine details because they can cause dollars to add up.
2. After an Accident
Say, you know every little thing in your car insurance policy and meets with an accident in which no one is injured and there are no medical bills to deal with. But you are left with a damaged car.
The insurer will send an adjuster to observe your car and the shop will do a repair estimate. If your car is not totally destroyed but had a damage of $10,000, if you have only a $1,000 deductible, the insurance company will cover the rest. Now you’ve to make the decision.
3. Should You Fix the Car?
You should decide quickly because body shops may charge up to $100 per day for storage while you make a decision. You should remember a very important fact that a damaged-and-repaired car can reduce in its pre-accident value by up to 30%. Thus, if your car’s worth was $30,000 before the accident, it will become $21,000 or even less after the accident.
If you choose to repair, you don’t have to choose a shop recommended by your insurance company, but can choose your own shop.
Do research and find the most beneficial shop as all repair shops are not created equal.
The other option is to collect the insurance settlement check and still sell your unrepaired car to a buyer of damaged cars.
Make the best decision and don’t let the accident be hard on your life and pocket.
