The origins of the Joint Report  |   Plan ahead: keep it handy
Collision without injury: take it out of the glove compartment
Direct Compensation Agreement (DCA): an indispensable tool
Compensation per se  |   Clearing up some misconceptions

Compensation per se

• For property damage, your insurance company must assess your degree of fault in order to determine your compensation. Are you 0%, 50% or 100% responsible? To find out, your insurer will use the Direct Compensation Agreement which illustrates just about every possible accident scenario.
• It's always your insurer, based on your policy, that pays for the damages to your vehicle, whether or not you are responsible for the accident.
• If you're not responsible for the accident, your insurer will cover the damages and you will not be required to pay the deductible.
• And if you're responsible for the accident? Your insurer will only compensate you if you purchased collision coverage (Section B of your policy). In this case, you will then have to pay the deductible.
• Before repairs can be done, your insurance company must examine the damage to the vehicle and come to an agreement with you on the amount of compensation.
• Do you want to have your vehicle repaired at a specific location? That's your right. Just make sure your mechanic has the required skills to do the work according to the repair quote and at the cost agreed upon with your insurance company.
• If you purchased replacement cost insurance and the parts for your vehicle cannot be repaired, they will be replaced by new parts.
• What if your vehicle is declared a total loss? Your replacement cost endorsement will give you a new vehicle with the same equipment and accessories.
• Your insurer has 60 days to pay for the damages once it has all the supporting documents in hand, including the Joint Report or police report, damage appraisal, towing fees, car rental fees, etc.