Repairs and Write-Offs After a Car Accident: Important Things You Should Know

So, your car has been damaged. What’s next? Depending on the extent of the damage, your car could be written off, or repaired by insurance.

Here are a few things you should know about each of those scenarios!

Repairs: Maybe your car just requires some repairs to be back up and running and returned to its pre-accident condition. If you were at fault for the accident and you have collision coverage, the cost of repairs will likely be covered by your policy. If it was damaged from something other than a collision (i.e., vandalism, theft, storms) your best bet for having repairs covered is if you have comprehensive insurance in place.

Replacements and Write-Offs: If the insurance company determines that the cost of repairing your vehicle would exceed its value, this is known as being written off. If your car has been written off, you’ll receive a check for the pre-collision value of your vehicle. However, this also depends on the type of insurance you have in place.

Collision Insurance: As we mentioned, you won’t receive insurance compensation for repairing or replacing your vehicle after an accident for which you’re at fault if you don’t have collision insurance! Yes – that means you’d be stuck covering the cost of repairing or replacing your vehicle on your own.

If another driver was responsible for the accident and they’re insured, their insurance will be used to cover the cost of repairing or replacing your vehicle.

Comprehensive Insurance: Let’s say your car was damaged from something other than a collision. Perhaps a massive icicle landed on the hood of your car and caused major damaged. Will insurance cover the cost of replacing or repairing your car? Only if you have comprehensive insurance! This useful protection was built to protect drivers from just about anything other than a collision!

If you have more questions about car insurance, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us today!