Property Damage

If you are planning on introducing an estimate or written statement from a car rental agency, it is always best to have the person who prepared the estimate or statement present at Court to testify and to be cross-examined about the estimate and its validity. If the person cannot be in Court, you can prepare an Affidavit for the records custodian (anyone in charge of the records) of the business which prepared the estimate or statement, if the estimate or statement is a business record, in accordance with Ark. Code Ann.

The other insurance company may have the case transferred from the Small Claims Division of the District Court to the Civil Division of the District Court. Whether the case is in the Small Claims Division or Civil Division, you can still represent yourself. There are a few things to know in these circumstances.

You should fill out the Small Claims Court Claim Form accurately. In order to sue the at-fault driver, it is necessary that you show that the driver was negligent. In Arkansas, negligence is the failure to do something which a reasonably careful person would do, or the doing of something which a reasonably careful person would not do, under circumstances similar to those shown by the evidence in the case.

Filing a Lawsuit. If the at-fault driver’s insurance company does not pay for your damages and you desire to pursue a claim, you must file a lawsuit against the other driver. Arkansas law does not permit you to sue the other driver’s insurance company. 

The at-fault driver’s insurance company may provide you with a check for repairs to your vehicle before repairs on the vehicle begin. We frequently see repair estimates that are later determined to be incomplete because not all vehicle damage can be seen until the repairs actually begin.

-If CCC Information Services is used to value your vehicle, you should ask for a copy of the CCC valuation. You should compare the CCC valuation to the NADA valuation, http://www.nada.com. Remember, CCC charges insurance companies. Unless it was saving money over NADA valuations, insurance companies wouldn’t be using CCC.

- CCC will provide a valuation based on, what it claims are, comparable vehicles. These will generally be vehicles of the same type, same year, comparably equipped, in the same geographic area.

If the vehicle is a total loss, and the insurance company uses a service other than NADA or Kelley Blue Book, you should ask how the value of your vehicle was determined. If necessary, be prepared to challenge the value of your vehicle if a method other than NADA or Kelley Blue Book is used. We believe that the best method is to obtain a written statement from an automobile dealer (preferably the dealership that sold you the automobile if it was purchased from a dealer) setting forth the value of your vehicle after the accident and the value if it had not been damaged in the accident.

If the cost of repair of your vehicle exceeds 70% of the value of your vehicle, the vehicle should be declared a total loss. You can determine the value of your vehicle at the NADA’s web site,http://www.nada.com. While Kelley Blue Book,http://www.kbb.com, is accepted by some insurance companies, we have found that insurance companies more readily accept the NADA valuations.

Make a claim with the at-fault driver’s insurance company if a claim has not already been reported. You can generally obtain the name and insurance policy number of the at fault driver on the Accident Report. You can generally find a local agency for the insurance company in the local telephone directory. Call the agency to obtain the telephone number of the at-fault driver’s insurance company. If you cannot find the insurance company in the local telephone directory, perform a search from an internet search engine, such as Google or Yahoo, for the insurance company.

First, if you have collision coverage on your automobile insurance policy, we recommend making a claim with your insurance company. You can help to reduce or mitigate your damages by making a claim with your own insurance company. Your insurance company, which wants to save as much money as possible, may also assist you in making a property damage claim against another insurance company.