How to Get Your Vehicle to a Pre-Collision State in 5 Simple Steps

Let’s say you’re driving along one day, and someone hits you. Their car comes out of nowhere.

There is a crunch, and the next thing you know, you’re faced with vehicle damage and having to tell the police what happened. It’s not a pleasant notion, but this sort of thing happens every day, sometimes even to careful drivers.

In these situations, you’re going to want to get your car back to the condition it was in before the accident. Let’s discuss the steps you need to take to achieve that goal.

Reach Out to an Auto Body Shop

Contacting a Waxahachie body shop should be your first step, or you can contact any other well-regarded body shop that’s close to where you live. If you’re not sure about a body shop’s reputation, look at some online reviews before reaching out. You want one with professional employees and a reputation for treating its customers fairly.

Submit Your Claim to the At-Fault Driver’s Insurance Company

At the same time, you’ll want to submit an insurance claim. This is how you’ll pay for the damages. Which insurance company pays for the damage after an accident will depend on whether you or the other driver was at fault.

Let’s assume the other driver caused the accident. You will get their insurance information at the crash scene so you’ll know what company to call.

Hopefully, the insurance company’s assessment of the accident based on the information you provide will lead them to conclude the other driver was at fault as well. That will make getting them to pay for damages much easier.

Provide Documentation of the Damage

Providing as much documentation as possible of the damage will be in order as well. If you have the police report, eyewitness accounts, pictures or video you took with a smartphone, etc., all of that will come in handy.

Insurance companies love to contest a driver’s account of what happened if they feel that will let them get away with paying less to repair your car. If you have abundant documentation, though, there’s a much better chance you can get the at-fault driver’s insurance company to pay the entire repair bill with no issues.

Get an Estimate

Next, you’ll get the auto body shop to give you an estimate of how much it will cost to repair the damage. You can then give that number to the insurance company.

Insurance companies also have individuals on their payroll who assess vehicle damage. If the number this person comes up with matches what the auto body shop says it will cost to repair the vehicle, then you can move forward with the repairs without any further delay.

Wait for the Repairs to Conclude

Now, all you have to do is wait for the repair work to be finished. You may need to get a rental vehicle while you wait, or you can rely on public transportation to get around in the interim instead. Hopefully, the repairs won’t take too long.