If your vehicle suffered damage in a car accident, you will likely be concerned about who is responsible for making repairs and the options you have for those repairs.
There are some differing issues depending on if your accident occurred in a negligence state or a no-fault state. But in either scenario, insurance companies only pay for your vehicle damage up to policy limits. Depending on how serious your accident was, that might not be enough to pay for the repairs.
Insurance companies are also only required to provide compensation up to the total value of your car. So, if the cost to repair your vehicle exceeds the value of your vehicle, your car will be considered a “total loss,” and the insurance company will give you the value of the vehicle per Kelley’s Blue Book. The value of your vehicle has nothing to do with how much you paid for it — only with how much it was worth at the time of the accident.
Using your policy’s coverage
You can use your policy’s collision or comprehensive coverage to get repairs done. Collision damage guarantees you will be reimbursed for any damage done to your vehicle if the other driver did not have enough coverage for you or if you caused the accident. You do not need to make a claim against your own coverage if the other driver has enough coverage.
Comprehensive coverage is meant to cover damage that occurs if the car was parked. This means you are protected in the event of other cars hitting your vehicle, tree branches falling on top of your car and any other miscellaneous damage. As with collision damage, you do not make claims against your own comprehensive coverage unless the driver who hit the vehicle did not have enough coverage, or if there was no other driver involved.
For further information on insurance claims and repairs after a car crash, contact the knowledgeable Manatee County auto accident lawyers at Goldman, Babboni, Fernandez, Murphy & Walsh.