Car insurance isn’t only mandatory by law in Malaysia but also strongly recommended by experts. It’s a mechanism that protects if an accident occurs on the road, especially if you’re not the one responsible. People often don’t think they could be participants in road incidents, but it can happen to anyone. Once an accident occurs, you’ll probably have many questions. One of them is how long after the incident you have to file an insurance claim. In this article, we’ll discuss all details related to car accident deadlines.
Is There A Deadline By When You Need To File A Claim?
The law doesn’t specify a deadline for filing car insurance claims. That’s why the proper address to turn to is your insurance provider. These companies might set the actual deadline in the policy you signed, or it can be in general terms and conditions of that agency. Depending on the insurance company, the deadline could be from 14 to 60 days or more. Some agencies might even state they expect you to file a claim in a reasonable timeframe. It’s an intelligent move to clarify the agency’s actual terms because you don’t want to miss the deadline for filing a claim.
What Other Deadlines You Should Consider For Car Insurance?
Let’s say that you participated in an accident. For the purpose of this example, the accident wasn’t your fault (the process is similar even when you are to blame). Your initial task is to confirm that everyone at the scene is okay and doesn’t require medical help. Once you establish that, it’s time to move to other steps. You want to start by talking to the other driver and clarifying the accident details. They might be ready to accept the blame, which simplifies the process. It’s much easier than refusing the responsibility or leaving the scene, which forces you to deal with a hit and run. The mandatory thing to do is to file a police report. It’s something that should happen within 24 hours of the accident. You can take photos of your damaged car and the scene. If possible, take contact information from potential witnesses who could support your story. You want to provide as detailed info as possible in the police report.
Contacting Your Insurance Company
Once you file a police report, it’s time to contact the insurance company. We’ll assume that your car suffered damages and you want to repair them quickly. Therefore, it’s in your best interest to contact the agency soon. Additionally, you don’t want to risk anyone asking you why you waited so long or other problems that could arise because you waited. It’s vital to get in touch with the insurance provider as soon as possible. In practice, many people who file insurance claims do that in less than a week. That initiates the process and allows you to get the compensation quickly (if everything is alright with the documentation). The actual time for finalizing the claim can vary, and that also depends on the accident’s specifics. If it’s clear that it’s not your fault, everything should go smoothly, albeit if the other party claims differently, you might encounter issues that could prolong the process.
