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Car Accident! What Do I Do? Tom T  |
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Screeeeeeeeech!!!!!!!! CRASH!!!!!!! What an awful sound! It comes out of nowhere; you're a witness and participant in a surrealistic happening and it's all over in a flash. You check yourself and anyone else involved making sure there are no injuries. Then, (providing you can get out of the car) you check out the damage to the car? You feel like you're in a daze ? reality hits ? YOU HAD A CAR ACCIDENT!!!
What do you do? Who do you call? Whose fault was it? Should you talk to anyone at the scene about what happened? Can your car be repaired and will it ever be the same after the repair? These and many other questions race through your mind like a swarm of bees but with greater intensity.
In the event you find yourself in this situation, here are some helpful tips.
- Shut the car off. You could have a fuel leak that could ignite from hot exhaust or an electrical spark.
- Make sure no one is injured. Call an ambulance if necessary.
- Exchange necessary information and do not admit fault to anyone.
- Call the police and file a report.
- Call your insurance company.
Now comes the fun part ? getting your car fixed. You can take your car to the repair shop of your choice. New York State Insurance Regulation 64 states that insurance companies cannot dictate where your car must be repaired. You can take your car to the repair facility of your choice. The insurance company must negotiate "in good faith" to reach an agreed repair figure with the New York State licensed repair facility doing the repair, returning the vehicle to pre-loss condition.
In some cases the insurance company may suggest where to take the car for repairs. This is commonly referred to as a D.R.P. facility (Direct Repair Facility). The insurance companies recommend these facilities because the shop has met the criteria to return the vehicle to pre-loss condition as expeditiously as possible. The philosophy of the D.R.P. program is to speed up the claim and repair process, getting the insured back on the road as quickly and as painlessly as possible.
This is not to say you cannot get the same service at a non- D.R.P. facility. There are plenty of professional collision repair facilities out there that are not D.R.P. facilities, but they can give you the same caliber of service. You just have to find them. However, at the time of an accident is not the best time to be addressing this concern. NOW is the time to shop for a collision repair facility, not when you are under the gun, needing your car back on the road as soon as possible.
You are entitled to having your car returned to pre-loss condition under your insurance policy. The question arises, "Which is better for your car, the use of OEM (Original Equipment) or After-Market (non-Original Equipment) parts?"
The answer: The parts used must be of L.K.Q. (Like Kind and Quality). It is the role of the collision repair facility to act as advocate and advisor, negotiating with the insurance company what is best for you. Remember that they are working for you, not the insurance company. Another thing to remember is that the insurance company is responsible for returning the vehicle to pre-loss condition. This means that if your car is five years old with 90,000 miles on it, the insurance company will do what is best based on the value and condition of the vehicle to return it to that value.
This scenario may dictate the use of a less expensive after-market part of comparable quality. Comparable quality is defined as having a correct fit and OEM crashworthiness. If the part fails to match these qualifications, the insurance company may elect to go with a good used part off the same year, make, and model car, which would return the vehicle to pre-loss condition. Remember, the insurance company is obliged to return the vehicle to its present value, not its value when it was new!
Why do we have fire drills? So we don't have to think in a high stress situation, we just follow procedure. Here's a good suggestion. Prepare an "accident drill", make sure your registration and insurance papers are close at hand, find a quality collision repair facility, find out how to file an insurance claim, and find a good attorney. It's never easy to deal with an accident, but following these guidelines should help you through a difficult situation.
'Til next time ?keep rollin'
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 With over 27 years in the automotive industry and nearly a decade in automotive talk radio, Tom Torbjornsen makes learning about cars easy with his personal manner, his expert advice, and his high energy and entertaining style. Tom has the unique gift of simplifying the complex and tearing down the technical, meeting you at your level of understanding. You will be encouraged as you gain the confidence to deal with problems related to the second most expensive purchase you will make in a lifetime your automobile.
Email Tom
Click here to visit the America's Car Show website
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