Everyone knows what insurance is, and how to get it. But what do you do with when you’ve got it? If you had to make a claim, would you know what to do? This 3 part guide covers what to do in the event of a claim, starting with car insurance. Car InsuranceIf an accident occurs, even if it’s your fault, never accept liability or blame. Don’t offer anything other than your insurance details, and don’t offer money for damages. It’s easy to panic and do what you can to diffuse a situation but claiming fault at this stage could cost you dear. If the other driver accepts blame, inform your insurer of this as it will make claiming much simpler. Get names and addresses of witnesses and anyone else involved in the incident such as passengers. You also need to get the contact details and insurance details of the other driver; they have to give this to you by law. If the police arrive at the scene, get their badge numbers. Your insurer will need this information when processing a claim. Remember to take photographs of your car, and any damage caused. If the other driver permits, get pictures of their car too. Photographic evidence is often more reliable than witness testimony in the event of a dispute, so make sure you have enough. You should also get photographs of the scene if possible. A camera phone is useful for this. You may find it useful to make a sketch of the layout of the scene and the positions of cars, witnesses and any objects which may have caused an obstruction. Also record any speed limits in the area – if the other driver was speeding this will greatly help your claim – and what the weather was like; e. g. rain can make roads less safe, bright sunlight could have caused temporary blindness. Any information about the area of the accident that you think may possibly help should be noted. Finally, inform your insurance company as soon as possible. A car insurance claim can be a lengthy process so don’t delay. Claiming on someone else’s motor insurance shouldn’t affect your premiums too much.
Monthly Archives: March 2010
Claiming on Your Insurance Part 1: Car Insurance
Car Insurance ? Sound Advice
For many motorists, having a car stereo cranked up loud is the only way to make traffic jams or long journeys bearable. But research carried out by car insurance companies has revealed that listening to loud music whilst driving can have serious affects on reaction times.
For today’s drivers, it is becoming increasingly easy to become distracted from the road ahead. Onboard gadgets, such as SATNAV, mobile phones or iPod’s all increase the potential of your attention being drawn away from what’s happening outside your vehicle. The effects of this can be disastrous.
According to the UK’s Department for Transport, 12% of all accidents and 19% of fatal accidents are caused by driver unawareness.
Results from experiments carried out at the Memorial University of Newfoundland, showed that reaction times for people carrying out mental and physical tasks decreased significantly when subjected to high levels of noise.
So, it has been determined that loud volumes can lower reaction times, but it’s not only the volume of the music that can affect your driving. Previous research has shown that it’s the number of beats per minute in a piece of music that affects driver behaviour the most.
An increased tempo increases the likely-hood of an accident, with results showing that drivers listening to up-tempo music cause double the amount of accidents than those listening to slower music.
So, to remain in your car insurance companies good books and to increase the chances of being offered cheap car insurance, it could pay to follow the advice of the RAC Foundation. They recommend you listen to the following tracks to stay safe:
Gary Jules – “Mad World”
Lemar – “Another Day”
Sugababes – “Too lost in you”
Blue – “Breathe Easy”
Norah Jones – “Come away with me”
