In my personal injury law practice, I have seen many clients who did not have collision coverage for their car accident. As can be seen below, purchasing collision damage coverage will eliminate many headaches in the event of a car accident.

Collision damage coverage for your car will reimburse you when your insured car is in a collision, which you did not intentionally cause, with another vehicle or object. Collision damage coverage will reimburse you without regard to fault for the amount of damage less your deductible, usually up to the actual cash value (not the new replacement cost) of your vehicle at the time of the accident.

Some insurance companies offer a stated value insurance policy which will reimburse you for the agreed value at the time you purchased the insurance even if your car is worth substantially less at the time of the accident. Stated value insurance also known as agreed value insurance is more expensive than actual cash value insurance and is most often purchased for antique cars, collectible cars or more expensive cars. Some actual cash value insurance policies offer replacement value insurance for a short period such as for one year after purchasing a new car.

One major advantage of purchasing collision damage coverage for your car is that you can be reimbursed even if a car accident was your fault. Often, you may think your car accident was caused by someone else, but their insurance company may not agree. In that event, you will either not be reimbursed for the full amount of your damage or may not be reimbursed at all.

If the other auto insurance company believes that you are at fault for causing the accident, your only recourse may be to file a lawsuit in small claims court if the damage to your car is not more than the amount allowed in small claims court. If the damage to your car is more than the amount allowed in small claims court, you will have to file a lawsuit in a court of higher jurisdiction which can be very difficult for someone who is not a lawyer.

If you were injured, filing a lawsuit either in small claims court or any other court for damage to your car could result in your losing your personal injury claim if you lose the small claims court trial. This is because the judgment in one court may be used in another court. If a court finds that you caused the accident, not only will you fail to obtain a judgment entitling you to reimbursement for the damage to your car, but the judgment could be used against you in your personal injury action.

A significant number of cars are uninsured. If the other car was uninsured, you will probably not be able to obtain reimbursement unless you had collision damage coverage. Even if you win a lawsuit in small claims court, you still have to collect on the judgment and that will prove fruitless when the defendant refuses to pay.

Yet another important advantage of purchasing collision damage coverage is that you will be reimbursed promptly so you can be driving again soon. If you are arguing with someone else’s insurance company over who caused the accident, you may never get paid or wait a long time before getting your car repaired and you will have to find another means of transportation.

When you have collision damage coverage, your car insurance company will fight with the other insurance company so you don’t have to. If the accident was really not your fault, your insurance company will fight with the other insurance company for reimbursement of your deductible. You should ask your auto insurance company to obtain reimbursement of your deductible and not assume that they will do it.

Even if you and the other insurance company agree on the percentage of liability, the other insurance company may not move as quickly as you would like. Since you are not the insured paying the premium when someone else’s insurance is involved, don’t expect to be treated as if you were.

Author Bio: Philip L. Franckel, Esq., is a car accident lawyer and the founder of www.HURT911.org, an accident and injury research web site for people hurt in an accident and for personal injury lawyers. Philip Franckel also has information at Bronx car accident lawyer www.caraccidentlawyerbronx.com

Category: Automotive
Keywords: collision insurance, collision damage insurance, car insurance, auto insurance