Reader question:

How do I know if I should file a car insurance claim or not?

Montgomery

Good question.

There are plenty of different situations in which the answer to that question would be different, but I will offer a couple. None of them are absolute, as every incident has its own variations so you should largely go with your gut feeling on the situation and just use these as guidelines.

• You did it.

Anytime that a car accident was your fault, it is time to file a car accident insurance claim. It doesn’t matter if there was hardly any damage done to the other person’s car, because you never know what will happen later. They might end up calling up the car insurance company and saying that their entire front end was smashed and they got whiplash, and how can you hide it when you never said anything? Letting your car insurance company know first is the best way both to avoid fraudulent claims as well as to be in the honest group in case a small accident produces medical problems a few days after the fact.

• They did it.

Sometimes when you get into a car insurance accident that isn’t huge, and it was somebody else’s fault, they might beg you to let them pay you the money to fix your car instead of you reporting them and filing a claim. You might want to indulge in this out of the goodness of your heart, but it isn’t wise. They might not do as they say, and if so it’s best to let your car insurance company know.

• You did it to yourself.

Sometimes you get into one of those stupid car accidents that you have to bang yourself in the head for, like when you are backing out of your driveway a little too fast and you ream your mailbox. In most cases, this would only causes some superficial damage and you would be able to pay out of pocket, but you know those people with the brick mailboxes… Anyway, when you are in a collision that involves only you, yourself, and your own property then there is no reason to report it unless the amount you would need to pay for repairs is more than your deductible.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.