So, you’ve been in a car accident that has left your vehicle undriveable, and the tow truck comes to take away your vehicle. A couple hours or days later, you learn that your vehicle sustained additional damage from the tow truck. Talk about adding insult to injury! To make matters even worse, you find out that unless you pay a separate deductible, the damage sustained from the tow truck won’t be repaired by your auto insurance. So, what do you do?

Why the Separate Deductible?

If you are at fault for a collision and you file under your auto insurance collision coverage, then it is your insurer’s job to get you back to pre-loss condition. This means that any damage that resulted from that car accident will be covered. However, only damage from that car accident will be covered; if, for example, your bumper had prior damage from another accident in addition to damage from the most recent accident, only the repair for the new damage will be covered under this claim.

This also applies to damage that occurs after the accident. While you may consider the damage from the accident and the damage from the tow truck to be all one incident, your insurer will view it differently. The damage from the accident and the damage from the tow truck are two separate incidents and will therefore require two separate claims.

Filing the Auto Insurance Claim

If the towing company accepts responsibility for their share of the damage, you’d collect the towing company’s information and driver information so you can call the towing company’s insurance to make a claim and avoid a claim on your policy. If this is not the case, perhaps the quickest way to have damage to your vehicle repaired is by filing a claim with your own insurance company. Although the damage may not have occurred as the result of an actual collision, it would still be filed under your collision coverage, as this type of coverage is for damage caused by other vehicles. Once again, this would be a separate collision claim than the one you’ll file from the accident itself, and you will have to pay a separate deductible.

If it can be proven that the tow truck is the at-fault party or if they accept liability for the damages caused to your vehicle, and if a claim has already been called in to your insurance company, then your insurer will likely pursue the towing company for reimbursement for damages. Not only would your insurer work to get the tow truck company’s insurance provider to cover the repair costs, but they would also work on your behalf to get your deductible back.

Get Claims Assistance With Nevada Insurance Enrollment

Navigating the claims process after an accident is difficult, and the added hassle of dealing with damage from a tow truck can make it even more confusing. Fortunately, your auto insurance agent can take the confusion out of the process and help you ensure that everything goes as smoothly as possible. Speak to your agent today to discuss your auto insurance policy and make sure that you have adequate coverage.