Most insurance policies actually list your duties in the event of an accident, but have you read that portion of your policy? If you are like me, you don't carry your insurance policy around in your pocket, or in your vehicle, and unless someone told you to, you probably have not committed your duties in the event of an accident to memory.
So right now, while it is fresh on your mind, lets do something (no, not later, lets do it now). Lets go to our vehicle and get our proof of insurance card out of the glove compartment. Was it there? If not, it would be advisable to find it and make sure it gets into your glove compartment tomorrow morning. If it was there, take a look at the expiration date, is it current? If not, then you need to take care of that first thing tomorrow morning.
Now, flip your proof of insurance card over, and on the back you should find an 'In case of accident or theft' section. These are your duties, and they are all good things to know, right? You should see something similar to the following:
- Notify the police, sheriff, or local authorities
- Get the names and contact information of ALL persons involved as well as any witnesses
- Immediately report every accident, theft, or loss to your Insurance Company or its duly authorized agent (do not delay in reporting an accident even if you do not have all the information needed to file a claim, complete information can be obtained as a later time)
Along with this information, there are a few methods of contacting your Insurance Company (i.e., phone number, website, app). Typically, your policy might have a more comprehensive duties section like this:
- Prompt Notification
- Cooperate with insurer
- Immediately record claim specifics
- Send insurer copies of any/all legal papers
- DO NOT make payments, assume any obligations, or incur any expenses (except for first aid)
I wanted to make sure you saw that last one since it is not typically on proof of insurance cards, and if that is your duty, you need to be aware of it.
SO DO YOU SEE IT? Do you see a little wrinkle in this information so far? Most of us have been told to keep our proof of insurance card in our glove compartment, so we do, and for good reason. Car insurance follows the car, not the driver, so if you lend your car to someone, they need to have access to the registration, and proof of insurance, so the glove compartment needs to have a current proof of insurance card in it.
BUT, what if your car is stolen? Your proof of insurance card is in the car that just disappeared. Now what? My recommendation would be to keep a second proof of insurance card in your purse or wallet in case of theft. For this reason, I will be providing all my clients two proof of insurance cards for each vehicle, one for each vehicles glove box, and one for my clients purse or wallet.
So this is my third blog, and I hope that they are helpful. If you had not noticed, all three have dealt with auto insurance, so I just wanted to let you know that I do a lot more than just auto insurance, but these were some subjects that I felt compelled to share with you. In the future, I will be dealing with Homeowners Insurance and all types of Commercial Insurance,
If you find this information useful, feel free to comment, or ask questions. If your interested in trading in your insurance agent for one that will diligently listen with the intent to hear what you are saying rather than with the intent to respond, than please visit my agent page on the Reynolds Insurance Agency website (link below) and either use the form to tell me when your insurance renews, or just give me a call, I would love to discuss your insurance needs with you.
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