How do I get my car repaired after an accident?

How and where you get your car repaired may be dictated by your insurance company.

Among the first steps to take after a car accident is contacting your insurer. The company may have specific requirements for filing a claim, including getting vehicle damage estimates. You will need to follow those steps.

For instance, the insurer may have certain Chicago garages it wants you to use for estimates or the actual repair work on your car. If you have a shop you prefer, you may be able to get them to agree to your using it, or the insurer may refuse to go over the amount estimated by the repair shop it chose.

Please note: Before your car is towed or taken by you to a garage for repairs, it needs to be examined for important evidence about your car crash. This is why contacting a car accident lawyer is also among the first steps to take after a car accident.

If Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C., is working on your case soon enough, we can examine your car before evidence it contains is disturbed or destroyed. We can also examine the other driver’s car for potentially important evidence before it is lost – even if we need to get a court order to do so.

Another important consideration regarding repairs is what the insurance adjuster decides about your car. You may be told that it is “totaled.” This means the adjuster thinks the cost to repair your car is more than it is worth – or more than the company is willing to pay. The insurance company will provide an actual cash value (ACV) for your car, which is what it wants to pay you.

The ACV may well be less than what your car is worth, or your vehicle may actually be repairable.

You can challenge an adjuster’s decision that your car is totaled, and you can challenge the ACV put on a totaled car. You can also accept the ACV for your “totaled” car and have it repaired with that money plus your own. You will need to weigh the pros and cons of accepting or rejecting the insurer’s offer.

A car accident attorney from Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C., can start to help you immediately after you contact us about your crash. We can help establish an ACV for your car and protect your rights to proper compensation for your damaged vehicle or help you to have it repaired.

We can also help you take steps to protect a potential injury claim and avoid mistakes that will hurt your claim.