Q: I was involved in an accident 2 days ago. The other person ran the light & hit my tire on the drivers side.
How long am I suppose to wait for their insurance to provide a rental since my car just got picked up for inspection today?
A: Unfortunately, many if not most insurance carriers have a policy of having you rent the vehicle and then submit the bill to them for reimbursement. Some carriers still have direct relationships with certain rental agencies (like Enterprise). It usually takes a week or two at a minimum for them to set up a claim, accept liability and agree to pay for the rental car. If you have rental car coverage on your own policy, it would be much quicker to have your insurance pay for the rental. This should not affect your rates if you were not at fault in the accident because they would ask the other party's insurance to reimbursement under what's called a "subrogation claim."
A: The other insurance isn't going to provide a rental car. You have to go and rent a car and the insurer will reimburse you when the claim is closed, if it accepts fault. In the meantime, you need to get estimates for repair of your vehicle and submit them to the insurer. If it doesn't accept fault, you can sue the other driver in Small Claims court and recover up to $10k. If you are injured, call a PI attorney.
A: You can also make a claim with your collision insurer, if you carry that coverage.
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