After an accident, whether of not anyone is injured, everyone knows to call their insurance company to begin the claims process if they were at fault. But even if you were not at fault for the accident, you should still call your insurance company to report the claim. The reason is two-fold. First, insurance companies typically impose various conditions on coverage including that the insured give timely notice, give a statement under oath and provide proof of loss. If there is any delay in giving notice, insurance companies can attempt to deny coverage under the insurance policy arguing that it has been substantially prejudiced by the delay. Why is this important if you were not the responsible party? Because you may need to look to your insurance for coverage of the accident. This brings us to the second reason why providing notice to your insurance company is important. After an accident, people generally exchange insurance and other relevant information at the scene. However, simply because someone gives you insurance information does not necessarily mean that they are covered. Coverage could be denied because the driver was an excluded driver on the policy, the policy could have lapsed for lack of payment, the policy could have simply expired and never been renewed. If that is the case, you will need to look to your own policy for uninsured motorist coverage and payment for property and personal injury damages. Moreover, even if the other party has coverage, you may need to look to your underinsured policy if the responsible parties coverage are to low to pay for all of your property and personal injury damages. After an accident, call the team of Cohn & Swartzon, P.C. and we will make sure that your receive the compensation you are entitled to.
