Certain unfortunate circumstances may lead to situations where you’ll want to file a car insurance claim. Getting into vehicular collisions are often incredibly expensive, making car insurance a must to keep payments down to a minimum. In fact, they’re a requirement in Canada to drive a vehicle on public roads, adding much-needed protection to drivers all over the country.
However, some insurance companies have the right to deny your claim in specific scenarios, and if you don’t do your due diligence, you may end up paying for the accident out of pocket. The costs of even small scrapes can add up, and you could end up with a big bill on your hands! Fortunately, this is avoidable if you take a few very important steps to ensure that your insurance claim gets paid.
– Pay Your Premiums on Time
Paying your car insurance premiums on time is crucial, as failing to do so will bring you even more expensive premiums. It can also affect your credit history and give you poor insurance, removing the security that insurance is meant to provide. Not paying your premium can even result in a cancellation of your contract, which is one of the worse scenarios that can happen.
If you’ve gotten into an accident, but you haven’t paid your insurance premium, then an insurance provider has the full right to deny your car insurance claim. You’ll be able to keep the chances of your claim being paid high by paying your premiums on time, especially if they’re due every month.
– Get Independent Witnesses to Verify the Events
Given the information and evidence they receive, if insurance companies believe that you could have avoided the accident or you played a part in causing it, they can deny your claim. Examples of causing an accident are reckless driving or speeding, driving while under the influence, or allowing unauthorized drivers to maneuver your vehicle.
Making sure your claim gets paid starts by verifying the events at the scene. Even if you’re shaken up, try to see if you can find independent witnesses to verify the events and indicate that you were following all the laws and driving safely when the accident occurred.
– Provide Complete and Accurate Information
Your insurance provider must have your updated personal information, as they are entitled to deny your claim if they have reason to believe that you failed to disclose important information or you misinformed them. The lack of correct information must have affected your premium price or coverage eligibility. A typical example of failing to disclose the right information is giving them the wrong address, as many people provide an alternate address to get a discount on premiums.
You might be able to correct the information in time, but failing to do so could have some very pricey consequences. Avoid this from happening in the first place by keeping all of your information updated and double checking the details every time.
– Only Drive With an Active License
Getting into an accident with a suspended driver’s licence is an exceptionally sticky situation to encounter. Since you weren’t supposed to be behind the wheel in the first place, it can be hard to justify your car insurance claim to insurance providers. Make sure that you only get behind the wheel with an active license.
– Disclose the Names of Drivers Using the Vehicle
Just like if you were driving with a suspended license, an insurance provider will likely deny your car insurance claim if an unauthorized driver used your vehicle. That’s why it’s important to disclose the names of members in your household that might be driving your car.
If these individuals do not have extensive driving experience or less-than-ideal driving history, you may have to sign a waiver stating that they cannot drive your car. Doing so will prevent your premiums from shooting up to an amount you may not be able to afford. If you fail to disclose these names, though, you’ll be held liable if they get into an accident.
Conclusion
Although your car insurance is there to protect you in case of any accident or mishaps, there are some scenarios in which providers can justifiably deny your claim. That will leave you with a hefty bill, which you might not be able to pay. However, insurance is there to provide you with a cushion to fall back on. By paying premiums on time, having independent witnesses, providing complete and accurate information, and ensuring only qualified individuals are driving your car, you can maximize your chances of a quick and painless insurance claim.
Direct Line Insurance is a thriving brokerage taking care of customers’ homes, autos, farms, and businesses. Through our Direct-Line Insurance Auto Services products, we help Albertans take care of their financial needs. Get in touch with us today to see how we can help you!