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Who Pays for Car DamageWho pays for car damage depends on who caused the accident.
Another Driver Caused the AccidentIf another driver caused your accident, that driver pays to repair your damaged car. In most cases, of course, the other driver has insurance that will pay you, instead of the driver herself. If she doesn’t have insurance, you can have your insurance company pay for the repairs. . . if you have collision insurance on your damaged car . . . or, if you don’t, you can go after the other driver to try to make her pay. Here are the details. Liability insurance covers damages that a driver is legally liable for. In car accident insurance lingo, property damage means damage to your car. Therefore, the type of insurance that the other driver has to have is “property damage liability insurance.” Every state has a law requiring drivers to have liability insurance, including property damage liability insurance. Ten thousand dollars is a popular minimum coverage requirement for property damage liability insurance, but your state may be different. Check here to learn what car insurance is required in your state, including property damage liability coverage .
Therefore, because it is required, the odds are that the driver who caused your accident has property damage liability insurance of at least $10,000. If the other driver’s insurance company agrees that its driver caused the accident . . . and is therefore liable for paying damages . . . they will make the required payments. Go here to learn
what payments they are required to make.
But, what if the driver who caused your accident doesn’t have liability insurance? You’d be amazed how many uninsured motorists are on the road. Or, what if the other driver doesn’t have enough insurance to pay for repairing your car . . . or if the other driver’s insurance company disputes liability? Than what? You can look for payment in two places. One is to the other driver herself. She is responsible for the harm she caused and, if she doesn’t have insurance, she must pay to repair your car damage. But, as a practical matter, drivers who don’t have car insurance usually don’t have piles of cash laying around that can be used to pay to repair your car. Therefore, as a practical matter, the better alternative is your own insurance policy . . . if you have collision coverage. If you have collision coverage, your insurance company will pay to repair your car, regardless of who caused the accident. However, there is a certain portion of the cost . . . called the deductible . . . that your company won’t pay. You have to pay that. Let’s say that you have collision coverage up to $50,000 with a $500 deductible. (The higher the deductible, the lower the cost of the insurance.) If it will cost $12,000 to repair your car, your insurance company will pay $11,500 and you will pay the deductible amount of $500. Can you get your deductible back? If the driver who caused your accident has no insurance and is financially unable to pay, it may be difficult. You can try to recover by suing that person in small claims court. However, remember that getting a judgment against someone in small claims court is not the same as collecting the judgment. To collect, the other driver must have something . . . a bank account . . . a car or some other property with equity in it . . . a job . . . that you can “execute on” to collect your judgment. If the driver who caused your accident has insurance, you should be able to get your deductible back from that driver’s insurance company. Usually, your insurance company will get it for you. They will follow insurance company procedures to get your deductible . . . and the amount that they paid to repair your car . . . from the company that insures the driver who caused the accident. This usually takes 1 - 2 months. Finally, in case you are wondering, making a collision coverage under your policy should not increase your premiums if the accident was not your fault.
Another Driver Caused the Accident AND
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