You can decide whether to repair your car with an insurance check..
When you receive a check from your insurance company to repair your car, you have the option of using the money for whatever you want. The insurance company prefers for you to get your vehicle fixed, but the money is yours to use as you see fit. Keep in mind that the car's value will be decreased if you don't get it repaired, and subsequent claims cannot include the same damage again.
Vehicle Inspection
In some states, your car has to pass an inspection before you can renew your registration. If your car cannot pass a vehicle inspection because of the damage it has sustained, failing to get it repaired means that you will not be able to get it registered again when the time comes. In this way, spending the check for other purposes only postpones the needed repairs, and you will have to pay out of pocket to get them done.
Collision Insurance Deductible
Most collision insurance claims will not be settled until you have paid the deductible on the policy. What that means is that until you have spent an amount equal to your insurance deductible, you cannot get a check that could be cashed. This is one way that insurance companies have to make sure the settlement is being used to restore the vehicle to the pre-accident condition. On the other hand, if the claim is filed against someone else's insurance policy, deductibles do not apply, and you may use the check in any way you see fit.
Insurance Damage Settlement
When the other person is at fault, the settlement check is not tracked. This means that once it has been written and mailed to you, the money is yours. Your own insurance company would prefer that you use the settlement to restore your car to a pre-accident condition, but it has no authority to make you do so. Keep in mind that your car is designed for a fully repaired condition, and that failing to make repairs could have financial repercussions somewhere down the road.
Non-Repair Is Not Fraud
Some people worry that cashing an insurance check is fraud, but that is not the case. Insurance fraud occurs when you try to file two claims for the same accident, include existing damage in a new claim, or any circumstance where the facts are intentionally altered. Simply cashing the check instead of making repairs does not constitute a crime, but cashing the check and then trying to claim the damage again in the future is.
Look at the Check
In some cases, the check will be made out to you and the repair center. In this case, you cannot cash the check, because it must also be signed by the place where the repairs were supposed to be made. This is another way that insurance companies are able to make sure the money they pay is used to repair the vehicle. Similarly, if the vehicle is being financed, the check may be made out to you and to the finance company, or only to the finance company.
Tags: insurance company, means that, cashing check, damage again, finance company, insurance check
