Property Damage to Your Car

Property Damage to Your Car

When it comes to driving in the state of Texas, drivers must pay for any accidents that they cause under the Texas Financial Responsibility Law.  What exactly does this mean?  Under this law, you must buy a minimum amount of insurance to cover any damage that is caused to others – including property damage.  If you cause an accident, then your liability insurance will pay for the repair or replacement of the other driver’s car, but it will not cover the cost to repair or replace your car.  To get your car repaired or replaced when you are at fault, you must buy additional property damage insurance coverage such as:

• Collision insurance
• Comprehensive insurance
• Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist insurance

What is Covered?

If you are involved in an accident and your car is damaged, you will be dependent entirely on the liability limits of your optional policies if you were the cause.   If the accident was caused by the other driver, then the other driver’s insurance policy will be liable for the property damage costs, up to the liability limits of that driver’s insurance policy.  This includes repair or replacement of your car, towing and car rental while your car is being repaired.  If the other driver’s insurance doesn’t cover all of your expenses, you can file a claim against your own policy for the balance of your damages up to the limits of your policy.  This type of claim would be covered by an optional collision, comprehensive, or UM/UIM policy.

Filing a Claim

There is a two-year statute of limitations for filing a property damage claim.  What this means is you have two years from the date of the accident to file a claim with the insurance company or to file a lawsuit to recover damages.  If you are filing a claim against an insurance policy, the insurance companies are required by law to:

• Respond within 15 days – they must respond within 15 day – in writing; they can and will ask for proof of loss (receipts for repair, etc.)
• Accept or reject your claim – after receiving your written proof, they have 15 days to either accept or reject your claim
• Pay the claim – they must send payment within 5 business days after they have agreed to pay your claim

If the insurance company cannot meet these statutory deadlines, then they must give you written notice as to the reason within the initial 15 day notice limit.  After this notice has been provided, the insurance company then has an additional 45 days to either approve or reject your claim: the approval or rejection must also be in writing. Has Your Claim Been Delayed or Denied? If you have experienced property damage to your car due to an accident and are getting the runaround from your insurance company, the attorneys at Zinda Law Group can help you get your claim paid.  We have successfully represented many property damages claims and we can help you.  Call us today at (800) 863-5312 for a free, no-fee consultation and let us get you the compensation that you deserve.

Where Zinda Law Group Practices:

Our car accident law firm was founded in Texas and has a team of Austin personal injury lawyers as well as attorneys in Dallas and Fort Worth.

As we’ve grown we expanded out west to El Paso, Texas subsequently into Arizona adding Tucson Personal Injury Lawyers to the firm, as well as adding offices in Colorado including Denver Personal Injury Lawyers and the surrounding cities such as Colorado Springs.

Types of Cases We Handle:

We also have a team of attorneys that have experience serious injury cases such as car accidents, wrongful death and truck accidents.   We also have experience handling more complex cases such as gas explosions and drug injury cases, such as the Taxotere® Lawsuits.