What is Property Damage Insurance?

If you or a loved one has recently been involved in a car accident, then you’re likely dealing with insurance. Many people don’t have to worry about what kind of insurance they have until they get into an accident. This article is written to help you answer some of the questions you may have regarding the kinds of insurance which may be available to help in the aftermath of a car accident.

Property damage insurance is probably the kind of insurance that people are most familiar with. If your property gets damaged in an accident, then property damage insurance will pay to fix or replace it. If you get involved in a car accident and your mechanic charges your $2,000, so long as you have $2,000 or more in property damage insurance, your insurance company will cover the bill.

Property damage insurance can get a bit more complicated when the damage is severe and the vehicle is deemed to be a total loss or “totaled.” At this point, the insurance company’s responsibility is to compensate you for the fair market value of the vehicle. They’ll need to do an assessment, which generally consists of them sending out a person to complete an appraisal on the vehicle and then running the results through a software program which tells the adjuster a monetary amount.

It’s important to note that you can negotiate the value of the vehicle as fair market value is a subjective term.

Getting the right amount of property damage insurance before an accident is important. That amount is completely determinate on the amount your vehicle is worth and the amount the other vehicle involved in the accident is worth. If you have questions about property damage insurance, give us a call.