Property Damage – Who is Going to Pay for my Car? – Part II
In the previous entry we discussed the different options that personal injury victims in Kentucky have when dealing with the property damage that was caused by an auto accident. The previous entry also discussed the advantages and disadvantages of using your own insurance company to get your car fixed. This entry will focus on the plusses and minuses of going through the other driver’s insurance company.
First, it is important to understand that all drivers who have insurance in Kentucky will have coverage available to cover property damage that they have caused in an accident. As long as the other driver had insurance and as long as they were at fault in the accident, their insurance policy should cover your property damage. This is important to remember because it may be your only option for getting your car fixed. This may be the case if your own auto insurance policy does not have coverage for property damage to your car. Despite thinking that they have “full coverage,” many clients are surprised to learn that they do not have coverage for property damage to their own car on their policy, even when another driver was at fault in the accident.
The benefit of going to the other driver’s insurance company is that, as long as they had insurance and were at fault, at some point, your property damage will be taken care of. Another advantage is that you do not have to pay a deductible, as you would if going through your own insurance company. A final advantage may be that, if your car is un-drivable because of accident, the other driver’s insurance company may pay for a rental car for some of the time that you are without the use of your car.
Unfortunately, this is where the advantages of using the other driver’s insurance to get your car fixed stop. The main disadvantage to using the other company is that they will not pay a dime for your property damage unless they have first determined that their driver was at fault. This process can take weeks or even more than a month. The other driver’s insurance company will insist on speaking with any witnesses, their own driver, and anyone else who might know anything about the accident. They may even send a field investigator out to the scene of the accident to get a better picture of the layout.
Once they have determined that their driver was at fault, they will have to send out a field investigator to look at the damage to your vehicle. This may mean that you see someone walking around your car with a clip-board outside of your house one day. Only after all of this is completed will the other company pay for your damage. Typically, unless the damage is a total loss, they will not pay you directly and will send a check only to the repair or body shop.
You can make the process quicker by staying in contact with the other driver’s insurance company and by taking your car to a repair or body shop and getting an estimate on your own to give to the insurance company. Nothing will make this process quick, however.
For more information on your options regarding property damage, please contact the experienced attorneys at Bahe Cook Cantley & Jones PLC. While we do not typically handle these types of claims, we realize that this is part of the accident process and are happy to try and answer your questions.
