Everybody knows that the extent to which you were at fault in an automobile accident will affect how much you receive from your insurance company for repairs. Still, many people usually get puzzled, mixed up or totally confused when it comes to gauging how much their insurance will contribute towards the costs of repair for accidents when they are at fault or partly at fault.
Usually if you are partly to blame, for instance if you are 50 per cent at fault, then chances are high that 50 per cent of the repair costs of your car will be paid by the insurance company. For you to claim the other 50 per cent, you must have collision coverage.
Usually after an accident, the insurance company will determine the degree at fault to assign to each driver. This is very important for various reasons. Firstly it will help determine which particular coverage applies to the accident, Then it is also done so that the person most responsible for the accident will have their car insurance premiums adjusted accordingly.
After you report an accident to your insurance broker or insurance company, they will quickly investigate the circumstances surrounding the accident and make a liability decision based on the "fault determination rules".
Here it is important to note that according to regulations, insurance companies must make their decision by applying the fault determination rules without regard for factors like weather, visibility and the point of contact. Determination must also be made independent of any decisions made by the police to charge any of the drivers involved in the accident.
Thus you will tend to find that the charging of a driver by the police does not mean that the same driver was at fault for insurance purposes. In the same way, the fact that one of the drivers involved in the accident has not been charged does not necessarily mean that the particular driver in question is not guilty for insurance purposes.