Going through a transition from one car insurance to another is never an easy task. But it’s exceptionally hard right after a wreck. When you have a crash, your insurance company makes it seem like you owe them something. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
Car crash attorneys in Buffalo can help you pursue compensation even when dealing with a shady insurance company. You can work with your insurance company and ensure that you won’t run into the same problems with any crash in the future.
Step One: Be in Contact with Your Insurance Company
No matter how small, you must tell your insurance company. If you’re dealing with injuries from your crash, it might seem like they are difficult to get in contact with or that they’re outright avoiding you. This is a red flag for many insurance companies. Don’t fret because you’ll only have to deal with them for a short while.
Even if you weren’t at-fault even in the slightest, lesser insurance companies would do everything possible to avoid getting your call. All the same, notify them of the accident and prepare to move on.
It’s a common myth that you’re locked into a contract that’s unbreakable. Most contracts allow termination at any point in time, and in some cases, you can even fight the fees that come with “early termination.” You can work with an attorney on those matters or argue them yourself.
Finally, when you’re ready, alert them that you will be canceling your policy. Give them a date or tell them that you’ll call back when you have a new policy in place.
Step Two: Careful to Not Accidentally Commit Fraud
If you were at-fault or partially at fault for the collision, you have a small window of fraud possibility, switching to new car insurance, before the wreck appears on your record, and not reporting it is a fraud. The thought is that you’re intentionally avoiding informing your new insurance policy of the wreck in an effort to keep a lower rate.
Always tell your new insurance company about any recent wreck, even if it wasn’t your fault.
Step Three: Search for Good Insurance
Many people get stuck with less than great insurance because it’s cheap. That cheap insurance, however, is a pain to deal with in an accident. Avoid those companies and look for good insurance.
Now, good insurance can mean different things, but ideally, you want someone easy to work with and easy to contact. A major red flag of bad insurance is that they avoid you. When testing out insurance policies, call their customer service lines, and their accident reporting lines. Make sure that your calls go through and that the insurance reps can answer a few common questions.
Step Four: Review Your Terms Carefully
The biggest thing that you want to see in your new policy terms is an accident forgiveness policy. If you were just in an accident, you’d know that you didn’t expect this one is coming, so it’s likely you won’t expect the next one either. The accident forgiveness may only be available after you’ve been “accident-free” for a few months, so ask about when that term would become available.
Another thing to carefully review in your terms is the cancellation policy. When you’re ready to move on, you don’t want to have to fight about fees or fines for ending the policy early. Instead, it’s best to have a policy that allows you to leave at any time.
Get Legal Help from A Car Accident Attorney
It’s important to note that while better policies are in very general terms, more expensive, they’re not without their major benefits. It’s even likely that by combining benefits, you can get a less expensive policy than what you had with your first insurance carrier.
The major thing when switching policies after a crash are to ensure that you keep in contact with the policy you had during the wreck.
Car wreck lawyers can guide you through the process of handling a difficult insurance carrier. However, when it comes to choosing which policy and which company is best, you’ll need to start interviewing and understanding policies a little more.
To resolve the issue with your most recent accident and any injuries that may have come from it, contact the law offices of Buffalo Car Accident Lawyers now. Our lawyers can help you go through your policy and identify the best way to fight for the compensation that you’re owed.
