Getting your car repair can be extremely stressful, especially if it’s right after an accident. You have unexpected damage to your vehicle, possible injuries, and you also are searching for the best body shop to get your car repaired. After all, you get to choose where your vehicle gets repaired, not your insurance company.
That’s when you begin to wonder, how long after an accident, can I file a claim?
Here in the state of Pennsylvania, you can file a claim following an accident after 2 years. This period for filing a claim is also known as a “statute of limitations” and is set out by each state for how long you can go before you file a claim.
What You Want To Do First
The first thing you want to do is get a police report and document as much as you can about the accident, especially who is at fault. Your insurance policy might state that you need to file a claim within 24 hours of the accident, when in fact, that is not required. However, it is highly recommended to get as much documentation as you possibly can on the accident. The more time that goes by, the risk of the other driver placing the blame on you for the accident increases.
What To Ask Yourself
You may only see a few scratches or a slightly dented bumper, but the repair itself can be much more complicated than you might expect. This is why it’s essential to ask yourself a couple of vital questions before you decide to wait a couple of months or years to file a claim. Here are a few questions to ask yourself:
- Is the car drivable?
- Do the ADAS advanced safety features (blind-spot detection, lane keep assist, forward collision warning) properly function?
- Are there any parts dangling?
- Do the lights work?
What To Do Next
Depending on the drivability of the car, you can wait to get your vehicle repaired within the 2-year statute of limitations set out by Pennsylvania law. That said, the advanced safety features modern cars are built with can be knocked out of alignment on even the smallest of repairs. This would call for a recalibration, which is an extremely complex repair. To put this into perspective, AAA states that “…a sensor on the car that is out of alignment by a fraction of an inch or even one degree will be aimed at an area significantly off-axis 50 or more feet down the road.”
At the same time, if your car is not drivable, you’ll want to get it to a body shop immediately and get a rental car. From there, a highly-trained body shop can perform a thorough estimate and tell you if you can still safely drive the vehicle.
Where In Pennsylvania Can I Get My Car Repaired?
We at Rocco’s Collision Center know how stressful this time is for you, regardless of the size of a car accident you were involved in. Your car is damaged, and you want to know just how bad the damage is.
We’re here to help Pennsylvania drivers with any of their auto repair needs, from estimates to working with insurance companies to the highest quality of repairs. Our team of technicians have received extensive training from I-CAR and are fully aware of the importance of OEM related repairs. Our goal is to provide an exceptional product to every single customer with unparalleled hospitality and knowledge throughout the entire collision repair process.
We have 6 different locations across Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey. We know you have several choices when looking for an auto body shop, but we feel quite confident we will exceed your expectations. For a list of numbers and addresses to each one of our locations, click here. Or, feel free to give us a call at anytime at (888)-9-ROCCOS.
We look forward to hearing from you!
