Unfortunately, only a small percentage of motorists in their entire driver’s “career” have never become participants in an accident. Even if you never break the rules and carefully monitor the technical condition of your car, you can still become a participant in the accident. Indeed, there are many drivers on the road, and not all of them are distinguished by the conscientious implementation of traffic rules.
In an accident on the road, the car can be badly damaged, and the fact that you have an insurance policy in your hands is not a guarantee that the amount paid will fully cover all repair costs. Indeed, in order to reliably calculate what the real damage was, it is necessary that the assessment of the car after an accident be made objectively and impartially.
Therefore, it is extremely undesirable to agree that the examination after the accident took place in a center that is recommended by a representative of the insurance company. Of course, they will assure you that such an examination is no different from a similar procedure carried out in any other service. But even a child understands that experts working with an insurance company cannot be completely independent of their employer, so you should not wait for an objective assessment of damage when contacting such a center.
Indeed, for an insurance company, as well as for any organization engaged in commerce, rather than charity, profit is always a priority. And you can get more income if expenses are reduced, that is, insurance payments. So, when conducting an examination, a specialist working for the insurer will in all possible ways underestimate the amount of damage. Therefore, if you want the damage assessment of a car after an accident to be made as objectively as possible, contact experts who have nothing to do with the insurance company. Moreover, the law in this situation is on the side of the car enthusiast, since he has the right to order an examination in any company of his choice. The only condition: the one selected for the examination must have an appropriate license issued by state authorities.
So, an independent assessment of the car after an accident is required in order to be able to determine the real value of the car at the moment, that is, to assess the damage that the motorist suffered as a result of the accident. In addition, experts will determine what work needs to be done to restore the machine, what spare parts and materials will be needed, as well as how much the car masters will have to pay.
By the way, applying for an independent assessment of damage can be beneficial not only to the victim of an accident, but also to the one who became responsible for the accident. After all, the case is not excluded that the amount of damage can be overestimated in favor of the victim. To make sure that you are not deceived, you should order an independent assessment of the car that has crashed.
Assessment of a car after an accident, as a rule, takes place in stages. Initially, you will have to collect all the documents necessary for submission to the insurance company. The acceptance of this package of documents by the insurer confirms the occurrence of the insured event.
Next, it is necessary to inform the representative of the insurer and the person who became the culprit of the accident (or the victim, if the examination is carried out on the initiative of the culprit) about where and when the examination will be carried out with the assessment of damage. The law requires that you notify interested parties no later than three days before the date of the examination. At the appointed time, experts from an expert company will inspect the car. Assessment of the car after an accident can be done in the workshops of an expert company or at the place of storage of the car, if it is not on the go.
During the examination, the experts will not only carefully examine the damaged car, but will record all the damage in a special act, in confirmation of which photographs will be taken.
After some time, the expert firm will submit an official assessment report, which must be submitted to the insurer. After these documents are received, the insurance company is obliged to pay the real damage, as well as additional costs, including the examination itself.