I’ve made my car insurance claim. Now how do I get my money?

Estella

Great question.

This is the thing that hangs over all the thoughts of the person who has recently filed a car accident insurance claim. You are worried about your car, your injuries, your wages, and that check always seems to take too long. If you keep your head screwed on tight and maintain your patience, you only need to follow a few guidelines to expedite the arrival of that precious claims check.

• Remember your claim number. You don’t have to memorize it, but at least keep it written down on a piece of paper that you won’t lose. This will make it to where you can easily get into contact with whoever knows what the status of your car insurance claim is.
• If there’s only a difference of a few dollars between the amount that the adjuster wants to give and the amount you think you deserve, let it go! You should fight over the bigger things, but a hundred bucks isn’t worth it and it’s much better to just be able to get your car back.
• Don’t threaten to hire an attorney like that works. They get that a lot and won’t actually take you seriously until you really do hire an attorney, so save it.
• Always be polite and respectful to your claims adjuster. They’re just doing their job, and treating them like human beings can help speed up the whole process and get you the amount you want more easily.
• At the same time, don’t try to play buddy with the adjuster, because they won’t stand for that. Act professional and take the process smoothly instead of trying to get your adjuster to like you so that she will give you what you want.
• Be prepared. So long as you know the regulations your state that require a certain type of claims process, you have an idea of where things are going. Document everything from the accident itself to the actual claims process.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.