How To Put In A Car Insurance Claim With Positive Results

Hey guys, Jason here with 303 Insurance Brokers, and we’ve got another fantastic insurance tip of the week. It is another insurance tip that comes out of a client’s story. I had a client that accidentally did some minor damage to their vehicle. They had damaged their side-view mirror as well as their front bumper.

1. Do Some Research Before Putting In An Car Insurance Claim

And they said, Jason, how do I put in a claim? And I said, Oh, let’s pump the brakes. You know what? Yes, whenever you think you have a claim or before we file a car insurance claim, we want to do a little bit of research, a little bit of homework to set ourselves up for success. So the process I walked this client through, I said, Hey, you know what, if you hit something with your car and drive into something, you hit a post or something like that caused damage to your vehicle.

2. Filling a Claim May Not Always Be The Right Choice

Insurance is going to consider that an at-fault accident, you hit something, it’s your fault. It’s an at-fault accident. So I said, not only are we going to pay your deductible, but we’re going to see an insurance rate increase for the next three to five years to your auto insurance. So I said before we do that, why don’t you take it to a repair shop. I got a great repair shop for you (message me for the best repair shop in Colorado). 

Please take it to a repair shop, let’s get an estimate, and then let’s regroup. After that estimate, he came back to me and said, Hey, Jason, it’s about $3,000 to fix, and I said, Hey, just doing a little bit of math, working through the numbers.

If you can, it may be a wiser decision for you to self-pay for that repair. We don’t want to file a car insurance claim (here’s a blog post I posted previously about preparing for a sudden and accidental insurance claim). It will have zero impact on your insurance. Your car will be fixed, and you’re just going to pay for it out of pocket. So it was an excellent decision for both the client. He was pleased with the process and the conclusion that we went through.

3. Reach Out To Your Insurance Agent

So, if you think you have an insurance claim before you file it, be sure to reach out to your agent or reach out to me, Jason, with 303 Insurance Brokers.