Getting into an accident will only takes seconds but filing a claim will take days or even months if you do not know what to do. Here are some basic guides for you to make sure that you get what you are supposed to:

1. First, you should evaluate first whether you should file a claim or not. Assess the damage of the accident and check if it is wiser to just pay out-of=pocket rather than calling your insurance company to file a claim. Remember that what you report is often recorded and you would want to have a clean record rather than having an increase in premium. If the damage is not too big for a claim, just pay for it yourself and don’t report the incident.

2. In case the damage is too big, call your auto insurance company at once and give a detailed account of the accident. If possible, get a witness to corroborate your story in case your insurance company needs to investigate.

3. File your claim as soon as possible. Even if the accident is not your fault, you should file your claim as soon as you can. Most auto insurance company mandate only a brief window of time in which you can make your claim. If you failed to make the claim ASAP, you will be left on your own to pay for everything.

4. List down all important details for your insurance company. Information like your license plate and the other cars plate, the place where it happened and the full account of the accident must be listed down. Remember to make a full police report as there are some police departments who will not provide an accident report if it does not result in any injury or death. Make an effort to report the incident and make copies for your auto insurance company and yourself.

If you have other questions, you will be able to get more information from the agent that sold the policy to you. If you have a good broker, chances are he/she will help you through the process. Also remember to jot down all the names of the customer service representative that have talked to when calling your insurance company. This will ensure proper and swift processing of your claims.

The predecessor of the Travelers Insurance was the St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company that started in 1853. It serves local customers who were having difficulty in getting claim payments in time from insurance companies. Eleven years later, The Travelers Insurance Company was formed by another group of people for the purpose of insuring travelers from personal injury and against death while traveling by railway or steamboat.

The company offered its many firsts in the industry. Travelers issued the first automobile insurance policy to an individual. They opened the first school to train insurance agents in 1903. In 1904, they organized the first corps of safety engineers. Other firsts include:

- First to offer combination auto policy
- First to launch a driver’s education program
- Developed the first automobile simulator
- Developed the first interactive company/agency computer system
- Launched the first insurance policy to protect individuals using personal computers for online banking

The year 2004 saw the merging of St. Paul Companies and Travelers. The company was named St. Paul Travelers and 3 years later, the corporate name became The Travelers Companies. Up until today, the Travelers Insurance Company continues to develop and introduce technological advancements to improve their business and customer service. But a search on Travelers Insurance company reviews says otherwise. Their customer service is primarily the number one complaint among policy holders. Another primary complaint is their auto insurance claim service. For an insurance company who started with auto insurance, this is not really good.

The financial rating of a company is one of the most important things that investors and prospective customers look for. For Travelers Insurance, claims paying/financial strength from four rating agencies are the following:
A.M. Best Fitch Moody’s Standard & Poor’s
Travelers Pool A+ AA Aa2 AA-
Travelers Casualty and
Surety Co. of America A+ AA Aa2 AA-

Progressive is the number 1 auto insurance company today in the United States. Its corporate office is headquartered in the Cleveland suburb of Mayfield Village, Ohio. It has now 450 offices with more than 28,000 employees working in a unique work environment. They are known for their slogan – It’s about you. It’s about time.

In 1937, Joseph Lewis and Jack Green started Progressive Mutual Insurance Company to provide vehicle owners with protection and security that they needed. They also saw this as a good investment for two lawyers who were just getting started. The company experienced steady growth and continue to introduce innovative approach to auto insurance. Progressive is the first one to offer drive-in claims service and the first to allow their customers to pay their premiums in installment. This bold move made it easier for car owners to pay for their insurance.

The year 1971 saw the company go public and by the 1990’s, Progressive became the third largest auto insurer through independent agents. They introduced 1-800-AUTO-PRO, a rate comparison service in 1994 and also started their Immediate Response Vehicle (IRV), a specially marked and outfitted vehicle that brought trained claims professionals to wherever customers needed them. A year later, Progressive made history and became the first auto insurer to launch a website. And from then on, customers can buy their auto insurance policies online.

Honors and recognitions are abundant for this company that makes it a policy to be one step ahead of its competitors. A study by The Customer Respect Group put Progressive in the No.1 spot for positive Web-based customer experience. The company was also named as one of the 20 great employers for college students. These are the most recent recognition that Progressive is proud of.
Today, Progressive introduces another first in the industry – MyRate. This program lets drivers get a customized rate base on how they actually drive. It is best for safe drivers who are less likely to get into an accident. This is truly an innovative approach in the auto insurance industry.

A man delivering produce to the United States from Central and South America began what is now known as Pan-American Life Insurance Company. The vision of Crawford H. Ellis to offer the people of Latin America personal and business insurance came true when he met three distinguished gentlemen, Dr. Edward Simmons, a life insurance expert, Dr. Marion Souchon, a renowned surgeon and Eugene McGivney, a corporate lawyer. Together, they were able to raise money and in March 1912, Pan-American Life Insurance Company issued their first policy.

The next years saw Pan-American expanding and writing policies in Central America, South America, Columbia and Ecuador. Then it ventured to the Caribbean operating in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Although Pan-American sells insurance to the United States, for years the center of its business is Latin America. In 1998, the company decided to withdraw altogether from the domestic health insurance sector and focus was on life insurance and retirement planning. However, it would continue to offer health insurance in eight Latin American countries. Today, Pan-American Life Insurance Company operates in 46 states and the District of Columbia. It has earned top ranking for the third consecutive year in Hispanic Business 500 for New Orleans-based insurance company and as No.1 Hispanic Business in Louisiana. For its rating, A.M. Best assigned an A- (Excellent) and Fitch gave an A (stable) rating.

For almost a century now, Pan-American Life Insurance Company has earned a trusted reputation that can understand and cater to the Latino community. As the company says, “At Pan-American Life, we understand where you come from and speak your language, literally!”

Nationwide is on your side. This is the company slogan of Nationwide Insurance Company that claims to be working hard every day to meet the insurance and financial needs of their customer at every stage of their life whatever happens. But a research on nationwide insurance complaints, you will see a substantial amount of complaints about the company regarding their auto insurance. This is for a company who 80 years ago became popular for auto insurance.

1925 is the year that The Ohio Farm Bureau Federation incorporated the Farm Bureau Mutual Automobile Insurance Company with the goal of providing quality, low rate quality insurance for Ohio drivers. A year later, the company sold its first policy and Farm Bureau Mutual opened its business. With a purchase of a fire insurance company in 1934, they began writing property insurance policies. Farm Bureau Mutual continued to expand from then on and in 1955, it changes its name to Nationwide Insurance as it is known today. 1978 is the year when Nationwide completed its 40-storey structure which serves as its international headquarters. And in 1997, Nationwide Financial goes public.

Nationwide Insurance is ranked #108 on the Fortune 500 with more than 16 million policies in force. They now offer several types of insurance including life, auto, property, health and other special types of policy. Nationwide also offers investment and banking to its customers.

With the current financial crisis in the U.S., Nationwide says that they only have less than 0.3% of their general account portfolio in their direct holdings at Lehman Brothers and AIG. Their current rating from different rating agencies shows their financial strength to be strong. Moody’s gives them an Aa3, Standard and Poor’s at AA- and A.M. Best at A+. This declaration will calm the many policy holders of Nationwide Insurance.