Car accidents are really common in the United States, and I was one of them last October! But fortunately it was a small car accident and everyone was fine. But there’s a lot of hassle…whether it’s car repairs, accident liability, insurance claims, etc., it’s annoying. Today, I would like to share with you my car accident experience, precautions and how to claim a hidden compensation from the insurance company.
First introduce my car accident experience
The thing is like this, my husband and I just got out of a parking space in McDonald’s, and we hit a foreigner’s car with a “bang” sound before driving for 30 seconds. At this time, the foreigner got out of the car very excitedly and pointed at us and yelled, “why you were driving so fast” Then after the other car next to him drove away, the car he was still chasing yelled and said, blocking the traffic in front of him. I was also petrified at the time, how could I crash into a car without taking two steps back, it was really unlucky. This person also said that my husband was driving too fast…but I called 911 immediately. The police officers first asked if anyone was injured, and after knowing that no one was injured, they asked our exact location, and then the police car arrived in about 30 minutes.
Before the police arrived, my husband and I also got out of the car. My husband’s English is not good, but he saw that the foreigner was being unreasonable, so he had some conflicts with the foreigner. But I told him to come here directly, there is no need to quarrel, the police will come right away. There was a black woman behind me whose car was following me, and then she saw the car accident and parked her car in the parking lot. I greeted her, and she quietly told me that my car was not driving fast and that the foreigner was lying. I politely said to the black woman, can you testify for me? The black man nodded in agreement. Then I asked her for her phone number. This black man seemed to be very experienced in car accidents. He told me that you had to take some pictures right away, so I listened to her and took many pictures at the scene, including the hit car, the other car, and the road conditions.
After 30 minutes, I finally dragged two police cars to the parking lot. After I don’t know what to say, a white male policeman got off. He first went to the white man who hit my car to understand the situation, and said something for about 10 minutes. He ran to my side and asked my husband for insurance, driver’s license and car registration documents. At this time, the person who hit my car also ran over and kept saying that we were driving too fast. But the policeman was quite sensible, he said how could it be possible to drive fast in the parking lot, and told the white man to go away and wait. I told the police about the actual situation and told that there were black people who could prove that my husband was not driving very fast. Then he asked the black man behind him again, learned some things and left. I thought the male policeman had judged that it was the other party’s fault, but who knew that the policeman just drove away. Another policewoman from just now came over. Then the female policeman gave him a piece of paper after questioning the white man who hit my car for a few minutes, and then came to ask about my situation and gave me a piece of paper.
When I looked at the paper, it contained the contact information of both parties, the information of the insurance company, etc., but it did not say who was at fault. I politely asked the police again and said, he rushed over from the side, he should be at fault, why is it not written on the list who is right and who is wrong? The female policeman smiled and said, “He didn’t see what happened. Although you have witnesses, he can’t make a decision now. I have to talk to the insurance company myself, and the insurance company decides.” I was really angry in my heart. I could clearly see who was at fault, but I still made such trouble, and I had to explain the situation to the insurance company myself. I really felt that the police were biased. There is no way but to rely on yourself!
Proactively contact the insurance company
The next morning I went to my own insurance company early and told my insurance agent what happened. Coincidentally, both of us are under the same insurance company. I thought to myself that this is troublesome. The insurance company will not say that both are wrong for self-protection, and I will have to pay the deduction fee at that time. It should not be so unlucky. But I still told my insurance agent in detail. When he talked to the other party’s insurance agent over the phone, the other party insisted on not admitting his mistake. So he really couldn’t tell who was right and who was wrong. He gave me a claim number and suggested that I go get the police report first. I was very anxious and said out of breath that I really only talked about evidence with foreigners. Later, I calmed down and sorted out my so-called evidence.
The next day, I contacted the police station and asked him for a report (as expected no fault was written), then called my insurance head office, told him the actual situation, and told me that there was evidence to prove that it was the fault of the other party. He asked me what evidence I had, and I said I had photos to prove that the road I was driving on was the right one, and the other party came out from behind another car. And the opposite side of the road he was driving was a dead end that was going to turn to me. He should let me go instead of rushing out. The representative asked me to send those photos after hearing it. I asked them for my mailbox and told them I had a black man who could also prove that I wasn’t driving very fast and gave that black man’s phone number. On the second day after I sent the email, someone from the insurance company contacted me and told me that the accident was not my fault, but the other party’s fault, and I was relieved. I quickly asked the insurance company to contact the towing company to tow my car away for repairs.
Okay, the car has been repaired, but the new car I maintained was hit. Distressed, not to mention wasting time and energy, and only lost an original car, not reconciled
Such a new car, got hit, and took so much time and energy, is it just a matter of fixing my car? I was a little unconvinced, so I did an in-depth investigation on the Internet, and finally found an expense that the insurance company would not automatically compensate. It is called Diminished value in English (it is the difference between the market value of the car before and after the car accident), that is, Say, if your car is sold, there will be a difference between the value of the car after the accident and the original value of the car. It is estimated that 90% of people do not know about this compensation, so it is normal for you not to know, but you must learn it. So how do I get this compensation back?
Before pursuing this compensation, I have confirmed this claim with the company, but it must be proved. Therefore, it should be reminded that this kind of price difference compensation is generally only useful for relatively new cars, and it is unnecessary if the car is already very old. And if it’s your own fault, you can’t pay for it. The most important thing is to look at the different regulations of each state. Some states do not have this law, so the insurance company does not need to pay. The amount of compensation can range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars, depending on whether it is an ordinary car or a luxury car or a new car. For luxury cars or new cars, it is recommended to find an appraiser certified by your own insurance company for evaluation. If you spend a little money, the compensation you get may be thousands of dollars. But be sure to ask the insurance company first if this claim is available in your state, or you will be wasting money.
Find the proof of price difference directly
How do I do it? First found a reliable website, . www.kbb.com did a value estimate on my car. Note that the evaluation at this time is the value when there is no car accident. Then just enter the email, information, and the price assessment will be sent to my email. Then I went to the local car company, pretended to sell the car, and asked them to give me a value assessment of the car (sell for cash, not trade in value). At this time, I used the recording function of my mobile phone to start recording.
They checked my car, (in fact, they quickly found the repair record from the computer) and told me that the car was worth 28,000. I took out the evaluation price of the kelly book that had been printed before and asked him why there was 1,000 price difference? The manager just told me that because my car had been in a car accident, the value of my car has shrunk! I asked him to write down the value of my current car so that if I want to sell the car, I can just bring this paper. The manager agreed and gave the price paper and valid price period.
Well, now that the evidence is in hand, I’ll dress up and think about it, and leave first. Some people may want to ask why not go directly to the company to ask for such a certificate. To be honest, there was such a practice in the past, but now they will not help you do this kind of thing, so you have to fight for it yourself. Oh.
Contact the insurance company to make a claim
I directly emailed the two different difference reports and recordings to the insurance company and demanded compensation of 1,000. A week later they called me and said they were willing to compensate me, but only 500. Because car dealers generally raise the price, they can only pay half of it. In fact, I was already very happy to get this compensation, so I gladly accepted it. Because my car has actually been bought for three years, but it is relatively new because it has been well maintained. It is very rare to get this insurance claim. Haha I got my check a week later.
Well, that’s it. I got the extra compensation on my own. I have summed up some experience and hope it will be helpful to everyone.
First, please remember to put your insurance card and car registration form in the car, because the police will definitely read it.
Second, be sure to include the witness’s phone number, if you have one.
Three, be sure to take photos of the scene first, and take a few more to be prepared!
Four, there was a car accident, I don’t think there is any need to quarrel with others, just call the police, because maybe foreigners will rob you, so be careful in everything.
5. Don’t be too scared if a car accident happens, and lose your rational thinking. Anyway, there is an insurance company.
Sixth, if you know that you are not at fault, you must take the initiative to contact the insurance company yourself, so that you can get a claim very quickly. Because if you don’t take the initiative to contact them, they will be super slow.
