One of the last things that anyone wants to experience is being in a car accident. But what can make this bad experience even worse is if this car accident takes place while you’re on vacation and driving a rental car. You might panic that this makes the hiring of a car accident Springfield IL attorney more challenging, or that you will have massive fees to pay.
Luckily, after reading this, you’ll be able to know just what you should do if you ever find yourself in this situation. So to help you prepare for this type of hiccup in your travel plans, here are three tips for dealing with a car accident in a rental car.
Stick To The Basics At First
When you get into a car accident in a rental car, the first few things you’ll want to do will be the same things you’d do if you were to get in an accident in your own car. So in the beginning, just stick to the basics.
According to NerdWallet, some of the basic things that you’ll do after any type of car accident are check to make sure everyone is okay, exchange information with anyone else who was involved in this car accident, and start to document what happened and what type of damage was done.
Once you have these basic things taken care of, that’s when the procedure for being in a car accident while driving a rental car will become a little different than what you’re used to with other car accidents.
Get An Accident Report For The Rental Company
While you should always call the police if you’ve been in a car accident involving another vehicle, the reasoning for doing this might be a little different when you’re driving a rental car.
According to John Scarpinato, a contributor to Travel and Leisure, the rental company that you rented your car from will very likely want to have a copy of the accident report that was created by the police. To ensure that they get this information, make sure you write down the information about the police officers that were there are the scene of your accident. This will include things like the officer’s name and badge number as well as the case number that’s been assigned to your accident.
This is also helpful to have when you need to contact your lawyer as they will need to see a copy of the report. There are many firms that specialise in car accidents such as Thomas J. Henry.
Go Over Your Insurance Coverage
Once everything has been taken care of at the scene of the accident, it’s time to call both the rental company and your own car insurance carrier to assess the situation you now face.
In most situations, Curtis Lee, a contributor to Nolo.com, shares that you’ll likely have insurance from your personal car insurance as well as additional insurance from your credit card company if you paid for your rental car with a major credit card. For some, you might have also purchased insurance through the rental car company.
With all these insurance coverages, it’s important that you spend some time figuring out how your insurance coverage will work for things like damage to the rental car, any injuries that were sustained, and any damage to other property.
In some cases, people may need to get the assistance of a car accident lawyer Aurora, or any other area, to ensure that the person directly affected by the car accident gets the compensation and justice that they deserve from a careless driver or unfortunate situation. If you’re needing to get a lawyer concerning your car accident, then it will always be worthwhile opting for a professional that has had the experience of court cases, so always ensure to read into various Case Reviews of a law firm before you make a choice.
To help you get through this situation quickly and easily, consider following the tips mentioned above if you’re ever in a car accident while driving a rental car on your future vacations.
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