The person responsible for a given accident is held liable for repairs to the damaged vehicle, even in a no-fault state.
How the claim process works
The owner of the insured vehicle submits a claim. If that same owner were eager to have the necessary repairs completed, then he or she would use a policy’s collision coverage. The same owner would also need to pay the deductible, as per Personal Injury Lawyer in Kitchener.
How a challenge might arise, as the result of a claim
If the owner were to use the collision coverage, then the other driver’s insurance company would need to reimburse the one that had provided the coverage (the owner’s insurance company). Consequently, the adjuster at the agency that was expected to provide the reimbursement might allege that the repairs had been too expensive.
The same challenge could come from the other driver’s insurer, if the vehicle’s owner had chosen to pay out-of-pocket for the repairs. In either case, the person waiting for delivery of reimbursement for money spent on repairs might need to wait longer than he or she had expected.
Steps that follow submission of a claim for repair of property damage
Inspection of vehicle: An adjuster at the insurance company that has received the claim usually carries out such an inspection.
The adjuster looks at the nature of the damage and the extent to which the various parts of the vehicle were harmed. That process is called an assessment of the damage. The owner of the damaged vehicle does not have to limit the extent of any scheduled repair work to an operation that matches with the adjuster’s figure.
The vehicle’s owner should get one or more estimates from different repair shops. Each shop consulted would quote the amount that it would charge for repairing the damage caused by the accident.
The vehicle’s owner does not have to share all of the estimates with the insurance company of the responsible driver. The owner of the insured vehicle would not be carrying out an illegal act, if the shared estimate were the largest of those received.
The owner would have to wait for the money from the responsible driver’s insurer, unless he or she had chosen to pay out-of-pocket. An owner might make that choice, if he or she had received a much smaller estimate from one of the consulted shops.
Keep in mind the fact that someone who has paid out-of-pocket might have to wait a while for the expected reimbursement. As stated earlier, the adjuster might realize that the provided estimate was higher than necessary. That might cause the same adjuster to challenge the accuracy of the estimated figure. Still, the shop’s written statement should verify the figure’s accuracy.