auto insurance claims

Consumers are given many reasons as to why they have been denied an insurance claim by Insurance companies. There are many situations that are either unknown to the consumer or that they had overlooked when filling out an insurance claim.

When an insurance claim is made and the Insurance Agent notifies the customer that they have been denied, the customer should immediately examine his policy looking for any possibility that the agent has misinterpreted the denial. Misinformation or incomplete information could be a possibility.

Some of the most common reasons for insurance claim denials are as follows.

1) Making a claim when the appropriate coverage does not exist. This may arise due to the fact that you opted to buy a cheaper policy with only liability coverage and no collision. Many people will do this after purchasing an older vehicle in which they decide not to have the full coverage.

2) Lapsing insurance coverage in which premium is not caught up at the time of the accident.

3) The policy cap is exceeded with your vehicles damage, and the vehicle has not been written off and is fixable. This sometimes happens when people get fooled into lowering the policy cap to benefit from a cheaper premium.

4) You made a claim error such as making an under insured motorist claim and then it turns out the other driver was adequately insured.

5) New vehicle purchase was not added to present policy, failure to notify agent to add new vehicle.

6) The person driving at the time of the accident is not insured under you policy as a second driver such an excluded teenager under their parents insurance policy.

These are just some of the common reasons an insurance claim can be denied.

If you review the reason behind the denial and you see that the denial was wrong there are some steps that you may take to further appeal the decision. Since the Insurance company is obligated to fully settle your accident claim as soon as possible under good faith, you still have certain rights indicated in your policy and within the law for them to do so.

A few things you should do if you feel you claim was improperly denied.

1) Write a letter to notify the Insurance Company of any mistake that you have found in the decision with properly organized documentation as to your findings.

2) Go to the Sate Insurance Commissioner with your appeal.

3) Go to an insurance bad faith attorney with your case.

4) Your next option would be a law suit for bad faith, breach of contract, and anything that is in violation of your State Insurance Code.

Before preceding with your steps for a law suit, make sure you fully understand the Insurance Companies reason for the denial. If you still feel they are in the wrong, speak to an attorney and make sure that the Insurance company has denied your claim wrongly.

If the insurance company realizes that they are in the wrong , they will re-open the claim and follow through with the procedure to fulfill their obligation.

When people are involved in auto accidents, the first reaction is to panic. This does not help you at all especially if you have auto insurance and would have to file claims. I would share a few tips with you in this article. This would guide you on what to do and what not to do.

• The first step you should always take is to call 911 and the police. If the police cannot come to the scene of the accident, you will have to go to the nearest police station and file an accident report. This is assuming that the accident was not fatal and no one sustained severe injuries.
• Document the details of the accident. If you have your portable camera, it would be wise for you to take snapshots of the scene of the accident. If you do not have a camera, write a detailed report of everything as it happened.
• Be careful of what you say because your words may be used against you. Never ever tell anyone that you think the accident was your fault. Whatever you have to say should be said only to the police and your insurance agent.
• Do not make the mistake of accepting monetary compensation from the second party. Your insurance company would bear the liability.
• Report the accident to your agent and insurance company. To make things easier for you and agent, tell them the following;

• You may have to get a car from a rental agency. This might not be covered by your auto insurance policy and you will have to bear the cost of the rental. This is one of the reasons why it is very vital for you to know the extent of your coverage.
• To help you get the best bargain and a policy that would come through for you when you really need them, visit several insurance sites and make comparisons. Do not be in too much of a hurry to get an auto insurance. Compare and contrast until you get what is best suitable for you.

Car Insurance No Claims Discount and Bonus Explained

If you are a young driver or an older new driver who has never purchased a car insurance policy before, you may well have heard of but not be aware of the meaning of the terms 'No Claims Discount' or 'No Claims Bonus'. Most certainly when you first take out car insurance it is highly unlikely that the concept of these discounts was not explained to you, as they are not applicable in the first year of a car insurance policy. Essentially the two terms are the same and mean that for every year of claims free driving you will receive a discount on the following year's car insurance premium. The discount is the amount as a percentage that will be allowed against the car insurance premium you pay, the Bonus concept of the number of years without claims expressed as an amount. The two terms are interchangeable as you may often see the expression NCD or NCB used throughout a car insurance policy key facts document.

Rewarding Good Driving with Cheap Car Insurance

The amount of the discount will vary from company to company and is usually larger in the first few years, possibly even thirty percent in year two, and decreases over each subsequent year up to a fixed number of years, usually five or six. When you have achieved five or six years of driving without having made a claim you are said to have accrued 'Maximum No claims Bonus'. Each and every Car Insurance Company will have a limit on the number of years it will allow you to build towards your maximum no claim period. The amount it will discount against the premium for someone who has maximum no claims is usually around sixty percent but with some specialised car insurers this can be higher, sometimes seventy percent or higher as these companies have a better 'risk pool' of similar drivers or vehicles covered, and though better knowledge of the market can adjust their rates accordingly.

Protect Your Good Driving Record

If you have managed to get through five or six years without having to make a claim against your car insurance policy you will be offered the chance to protect your car insurance No Claims Bonus that you have built up with something called Maximum NCD protection. For a small additional premium you will be offered protection for your Bonus years which means that in the event of an accident where you are forced to claim, your subsequent year's premiums will not be increased. When considering whether to purchase this additional cover it is well worth remembering that even if you have a no fault accident in year six of your driving, that forces you to make a claim due to the high cost of repairs to your car, your car insurance premiums the following year will rise by at least thirty percent and with some Car Insurance companies this can be much more. Maximum No Claims Bonus protection is a relatively new cover introduced within the last twenty years, no so much as a feature of choice from the Car Insurers, but moreover a necessity to tie existing customers into another year of policy contract, when the policy is due for renewal. This device worked well in early years however with the advent of claims databases and Car Insurance Companies exchanging data between themselves, it has become increasingly easier to transfer earned 'No Claims' years to another Car Insurer, who will in turn honor offer protection for this discount. You will usually be asked to provide 'proof of no claims bonus' in the form of a renewal offer letter if you renew your car insurance policy with a different insurer, or if you decide to cancel your current policy and change cover 'mid-term', you can ask the old company to provide a 'standard letter' of proof.

As with every insurance decision you need to weigh up the cost of purchasing this additional cover against the likelihood of a claim and the personal cost to yourself if you are forced to make a car insurance claim.