{"id":1211514,"date":"2023-12-13T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-13T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/?p=1211514"},"modified":"2023-12-13T14:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-12-13T19:00:00","slug":"when-you-have-to-use-an-insurance-check-for-repairs-and-when-you-can-keep-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/?p=1211514","title":{"rendered":"When You Have to Use an Insurance Check for Repairs (and When You Can Keep It)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Insurance<\/a> is something you probably don’t think about much until you need to use it. That can make an insurance payout\u2014whether for a car accident or damage to your home\u2014feel like money dropping from the sky. When you need that money to repair your car or your property to make them usable again, it’s a foregone conclusion what you’re going to use that money for. But what if you don’t strictly need to make those repairs, whether you can handle them yourself or the damage is cosmetic and you don\u2019t care about it? Can you just keep that insurance settlement?<\/p>\n

Maybe. If the damage doesn\u2019t make the vehicle unsafe to operate or the house unsafe to occupy, or you\u2019re qualified to fix things yourself, there are a few scenarios where you can just drop that check into your account and use it on whatever you want. But before you start treating that insurance check like a lottery win, make sure you understand the situation.<\/p>\n

When you can keep an insurance check<\/h2>\n

Whether we\u2019re talking about a piece of property or a vehicle, you can usually do repairs yourself<\/a> and keep an insurance check provided:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n

    You own the property outright, without a loan or mortgage<\/a>. If you have a loan associated with it, your lender has a say in what happens, and will probably require you to make the necessary repairs. The check might even need to be endorsed by the lender.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  2. \n

    Your policy doesn\u2019t contain any language requiring repairs be made. Some insurance policies will specify that payments for repairs have to be used for their specified purpose. Before you keep that check for yourself, review your policy.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  3. \n

    Your insurer doesn\u2019t make the check out to a specific repair entity<\/a>. Many car insurance companies have repair shops they work with, and they may require you to use one of them and pay the shop directly.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  4. \n

    Your state doesn\u2019t have regulations requiring that you use insurance money for repairs. Your insurer can advise you on this if you\u2019re not sure, or you can contact the appropriate agency<\/a> in your state to find out.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    If your situation checks those three boxes, you can keep that sweet payout money and handle the damage to your stuff any way you see fit.<\/p>\n

    What can happen if you keep the check and skip the repairs<\/h2>\n

    Just because you can<\/em> keep the insurance money doesn\u2019t mean you should<\/em>. There are a few negative consequences that can result from not using that money to make repairs:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. \n

      Compromising future claims.<\/strong> If you don\u2019t repair the damage and your car or property suffers future damage, you might run into trouble. If your insurer considers the new damage to have been compounded or made worse<\/a> due to the lack of previous repairs, they may deny future claims.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

    2. \n

      Loss of coverage.<\/strong> Your insurer may also drop coverage if you don\u2019t make repairs to your property or vehicle. A damaged vehicle or house is more vulnerable to future damage, which may affect your property\u2019s insurability.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

    3. \n

      Safety.<\/strong> If you\u2019re not qualified to do the repairs, or decide not to do them at all, you might be putting your safety at risk. Cars involved in accidents may have hidden damage or weakened components that may fail, and failure to repair roofs, electrical wiring, or other components of a house properly can lead to more problems. If you\u2019ve already spent the money on something else and then realize you actually do<\/em> need to make those repairs, you\u2019ll have to reach into your own pocket to do so.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      The decision to keep an insurance check depends on several factors: The language of your insurance policy, you local laws, and your own judgment. In many cases, if you need that cash for other things and you own the insured property outright, you can probably keep the money\u2014but whether you can do so safely isn’t so easily determined.<\/p>\n


      \n
      \nSource: LifeHacker –       When You Have to Use an Insurance Check for Repairs (and When You Can Keep It)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Insurance is something you probably don’t think about much until you need to use it. That can make an insurance payout\u2014whether for a car accident or damage to your home\u2014feel like money dropping from the sky. When you need that … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[91,110],"tags":[92],"class_list":["post-1211514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lifehacker","category-unfiltered-rss","tag-lifehacker"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1211514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1211514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1211514\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1211514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1211514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1211514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}