Connecticut Rental Car Property Damage Attorney

In many cases the Kocian Law Group helps clients process their claims for automobile damage after an accident.

When you are involved in a motor vehicle accident, you have a multitude of issues to resolve, including your personal injuries, wage loss, and the property damage and loss of use of your motor vehicle while your car is either repaired or deemed a total loss. Kocian Law Group can help you with this aspect of the case easily and without any significant effort on your part, relying on our experience in handling thousands of similar motor vehicle cases.

Our firm assists in establishing liability so that your property damage can be addressed in a timely fashion. When another party is at fault for your car accident, you can recover for the property damage to your vehicle. Additionally, while your vehicle is being repaired or considered for a total loss, you are eligible for a rental car. Typically, most insurance companies provide rental car coverage for a period of up to thirty days or up to the fixed amount of coverage of the policy. Because thirty days goes by quickly, and policies usually have limited defined limits of coverage, the timely processing of your property damage claim is very important.

In cases where another party’s liability is easily established, rental coverage is ordinarily provided without incident as long as the driver meets the rental company’s requirements. Typically, most rental companies require the renter to be at least 21 years of age and to have a major credit card to in order to rent a vehicle. A deposit for the rented vehicle is placed on your credit card and removed if the vehicle is returned damage-free.

In accepted cases, the rental bill is paid by either the negligent driver’s insurance carrier or by your own insurance carrier if you carried collision coverage on your vehicle. Most persons prefer to have their damages paid by negligent driver’s insurance, because this arrangement does not require you to pay anything toward a deductible on your own insurance policy.

Subrogation

If the negligent driver’s insurer refuses to accept that their insured was at fault or if the insurer is taking too long to investigate the loss, using your own collision coverage to obtain a rental vehicle may be a good idea. Using your own collision coverage allows you to receive compensation more quickly, including coverage for a rental vehicle if you’ve paid for such coverage under your policy. Your insurance carrier may then recoup its payments to you from the negligent driver’s insurance company in a process called “subrogation.” The benefit to you is that your damages are addressed promptly even if the negligent driver’s insurance company is taking too long to determine or accept liability.

Storing Your Damaged Vehicle

Finally, the Kocian Law Group recommends that, in all cases where liability may be questioned or challenged, you have your vehicle towed to a location that doesn’t charge you for storage, such as your personal driveway or garage. Typically, this would be to your home or personal garage. A little known fact: garages are allowed by state law to charge for storage of your vehicle. When a negligent driver’s insurer accepts full liability, storage fees are no problem; the insurance carrier will pay them as part of the compensation you receive. However, in cases of denied liability or “mixed” limited liability, you could expose yourself to an unnecessary storage bill if you allow your car to stay with a mechanic instead of bringing it home.

For personalized, skilled representation in all phases and in all aspects of automobile accident claims, contact the Connecticut car injury lawyers of Kocian Law Group.