The owner of an automobile should purchase a car insurance policy. The policy’s terms should cover the options chosen by the policyholder. Some policyholders pay for coverage of damage that cannot be blamed on another driver, and coverage of damage caused by a driver without an insurance policy. Any policy should promise to cover damages to another driver’s vehicle, at least up to a given limit.

First steps towards submission of a claim

Once 2 cars have collided, each driver should seek certain information from the other motorist. That requested information should include the motorist’s name, phone number and insurance information. In that way, either driver has the ability to get in touch with the other driver’s insurance company.

Policyholders do not decide who should be held responsible for a given collision; their chosen insurance company makes that decision. It sends an adjuster to study the extent and location of the damage. Following the adjuster’s inspection, along with a study of what could be found in the police report, the insurer must determine whether or not the purchased policy would cover the reported collision.

Steps that should not be overlooked

Before a motorist that was involved in a collision has made a call to his own, or to the defendant’s insurance company, some of the same motorist’s time should have been spent in a doctor’s office, a medical clinic or a hospital emergency room. A physician or other trained member of the medical community should exam all those that have felt a given collision’s impact.

In addition, it helps if a policyholder with a potential personal injury claim reaches out to a lawyer. Personal injury lawyers in Schaumburg can assist a client, as that same client tackles the next step.

An essential step for anyone that intends to file a claim

Someone with a damaged vehicle or with a significant injury has reason to file a claim. In order to do so, the same person needs to contact the appropriate insurance company. If a potential claimant believed that the opposing party caused the accident, then he or she should call the defendant’s insurance, and submit a third-party claim.

Someone that needed to go after coverage from his or her own insurer would have to contact the company that had sold him or her an auto insurance policy. Claimants do not need to offer access to their relevant medical information until after their doctor has told them that their progress has allowed them to reach the point of maximum medical improvement.

Claimants with a lawyer should count on that lawyer’s assistance during pre-settlement negotiations, the collection of needed documents, and the preparation of a demand letter.