For everyday drivers like you and me, a car accident can be a traumatic experience. Even a little fender bender can make us feel like our entire world gets thrown up in the air. From the moment that small bump happens, we know that we’ll need to deal with the police, insurance companies, workshops, and so much more.
So who do we call? The pros, of course! For insurance companies and accident repair management companies, car accidents are a dime a dozen. They’re in the business of dealing with car accidents, so it would make sense that they’ve perfected the entire process of accident repair management.
Sometimes, you might see people referring to it as ‘Accident Management’ or by some other names. Still, they all refer to the same thing: the protocols and standard processes these companies go through to help you sort everything out right after a car accident.
In this article, we’re going to explore the basics of Accident Repair Management. Here, you’ll learn what it is, why it matters to you, and how it usually works.
What Is Accident Repair Management And Its Importance?
Think of accident repair management as the art of handling a person’s car accident from start to finish. You and I might only get involved with a car accident every once in a while, thank God! That explains why we’re clueless and incompetent when we figure in smashups. Fortunately, there are car insurance companies and their repairers, who deal with these issues every single day.
Because they deal with accidents so often, they’ll have an Accident Repair Management system in place with the best practices to make the entire process more efficient.
Accident repair management is so essential because it coordinates the entire process from start to finish, and it doesn't just concern itself with getting your car fixed. It helps you with filing your insurance claims as well.
Think about it. When you get into a car accident, you’ll need to get your car to an approved workshop so they can provide a quotation for the repair costs. Then, you’ll need to worry about filing a claim with your insurance company to pay for it all. There’s loads of paperwork and probably lots of phone calls involved in the entire process.
Worse, if the accident results in any injuries to you or your passengers, you'll need to deal with that side of the problem as well. All in all, even a minor car accident can lead to a big headache.
There’s the beauty of working with an insurance company with a proven Accident Repair Management process in place—you wouldn't have to worry about any of those.
Instead, all you’d have to do is call their hotline, and they’ll take care of the rest.
How Accident Repair Management Works
Drivers like you and I will never know that we're being put through an Accident Repair Management program. That's the whole point.
You see, accident repair management is all about managing the situation after a car accident has occurred so that you don't have to do it yourself. Sometimes, it's the insurance companies' concern and the people who will end up fixing your car. However, there are also third-party Accident Repair Management companies, who can help you through the entire process.
All you have to do is start with a phone call to your auto insurer or accident repair management company. Typically, they’ll have an accident hotline number that you can call to notify them that you’ve been in an accident.
If your accident is bad enough that you’ll need a tow truck, the insurance company will usually dispatch one to your location immediately. You can then choose to tow your car to your preferred workshop or one of the insurance company’s approved repairers.
Depending on the situation, you may need to file a police report yourself. But other than that, the accident repair management company should take over the entire process.
For example, the repairer will probably come up with a quotation for how much it’ll cost to get your car mobile again. They’ll communicate directly with your insurance company, which will then approve or reject that quotation based on the car insurance policy that you’ve purchased.
Throughout this entire process, you’ll usually communicate with someone from your car insurance company, though there might be situations where you’d talk to the repairer directly.
It’s important to remember that the process you go through after an accident may differ slightly based on your auto insurer. Each company has its recommended approach, with which you should familiarise yourself. That’s because their accident repair management process may differ from others.
One thing that tends to remain the same across the board is that most if not all car insurance companies will have a hotline that you can call when you get into a car accident. That call will be the first step in the entire accident repair management flow.
Best Practices in Accident Repair Management
Companies that have been in the business long enough have identified some best practices in accident repair managing, offering great value and relief to customers.
One of the most common ones, and the most thoughtful, is making sure that the customer has a car to use while the workshop fixes their vehicle. That can happen in one of two ways: the company might pay so the customer can rent a car or provide a courtesy vehicle of their own.
By giving a customer a vehicle to use in the meantime, they’ll minimise the disruption to the customer’s daily life. That includes things like driving to work, sending the kids to school, and so on.
Become a More Informed Car Owner and Driver
To find out more about taking care of your car or responding to a car accident, be sure to check out the Blog at Carpart.com.au. There, you’ll be able to learn from the many new articles about how to become a more knowledgeable car owner and driver.
By Ray Hasbollah