First-Party and Third-Party Insurance Claims
A first-party insurance claim is a claim you document with your own insurance company. A third-party car insurance claim is a claim you document with another driver’s insurance company (or the other way around). A normal first-party claim is a claim you record under the details of your very own injury (PIP) inclusion. An illustration of a third-party claim is a claim you record with the other driver’s insurance company when the other driver was to blame for the accident you were involved in.
You don’t need to figure out who was to blame for an accident before you make a first-party claim. For instance, suppose you reported an accident to your insurance company. The insurance company is researching the accident; however, there are cases where the police report does not clearly state who was to blame. You do not have to determine who was at fault but you can record a first-party claim. If the other driver ends up being to blame, your insurance company will most likely get back what it paid out to you from the at-fault driver’s policy and you may even get your deductible back.
What Happens If You Don’t Report an Accident to Your Insurance Company
A lawyer, like a car accident lawyer in Atlanta, GA from a law firm like The Lynch Law Group, understands that making a claim is difficult. After a minor car collision, you may be reluctant to make a claim by any means, thinking your car insurance rates will go up. Be that as it may, if you don’t document a claim —or possibly report the accident—you may have to deal with the consequences of that decision.
An insurance strategy is an agreement and assuming you don’t do what the agreement expects you to do, you’ve abused or “breached” the agreement and the insurance company will hold you accountable to possibly get out of paying out a claim.
For instance, suppose you were in an accident. The two cars seem to have almost no harm and you and the other driver have no aggravation or distress that, to your knowledge, warrants opening a claim. So you both make a deal to avoid bringing your insurance companies into the matter. Sometime after the incident, you get a call from the other driver who says he has genuine neck discomfort and had to pay out of pocket for damage to his car from the accident, so he decides to open a claim. Or, on the other hand, imagine a scenario where you begin feeling pain soon after the accident. Since you did not advise the insurance company of the accident, any claim identified with the accident (first-party or third-party) may be denied, leaving you responsible for all damages. Don’t let this happen to you. Speak with a local lawyer to see how they can help you with your claim.