When the smoke clears after your car crash, you’re left with lots of questions. Who caused the accident? Should I see a doctor? How much will it cost to fix my car?
These are all valid concerns. Many auto accidents have a steep financial, physical, and mental price. However, you can relieve some of the stress if you know who to call after an accident.
If you weren’t seriously injured and don’t need to visit the hospital, you should contact the police, your insurance company, and a car accident lawyer at Get Car Accident Money. You may have a lot to worry about after an accident, but taking these steps will save yourself time and money.
Reporting an Accident to Police
It’s incredibly important that you notify the police after being involved in a collision. Each state has different laws, but you should contact the authorities no matter what, even if the accident caused minimal damage to your vehicle or person. There are several reasons for this, including:
- A police report can help validate your personal injury claim. After a car accident, you may be shaken up or confused and unable to collect the proper information to pursue litigation against the at-fault driver. You may not even know who or what caused the accident. Police reports contain an assessment of property and bodily damage with their professional opinion of who caused the crash. Keep in mind that because this is an opinion, police reports cannot be used in any court higher than the small claims level. However, they are extremely useful in settlement negotiations with insurance.
- People aren’t always honest. It’s unfortunate, but especially true in circumstances where there may be costly damage to your vehicle. Never accept money from the other driver in exchange for not calling the cops. If you take their money and do not call the police, you may realize later that the money came nowhere close to covering the damage, and then you have to pay for everything out of pocket.
- You may make a mistake and regret it later. It’s rare to see people completely unfazed after a car accident. More often, an individual is shaken up, confused, and maybe even delirious if they suffered a head injury. At the scene, you may try to brush off the accident and leave. But shortly after, you may deeply regret not calling the police and obtaining a report that could help you receive compensation for injuries, property damage, and other expenses.
Reporting an Accident to Insurance
You should notify your insurance carrier of your accident regardless of who was at fault. It is a common myth that you don’t need to report an accident to your own insurance if the other driver caused the accident. Even if you weren’t at fault, you may be able to use coverage from your insurance policy to pay for vehicle damage and medical bills.
Filing a Claim with Your Insurance Provider
If you have the following types of coverage, consider filing a claim with your own insurer:
- Collision insurance. This type of optional coverage protects your vehicle from accident damages in the event of a crash, regardless of who was at fault.
- Medical payments. This type of coverage may help pay any medical expenses you or your passenger(s) incur from a car accident, regardless of who was at fault.
Filing a Claim Against the Other Driver’s Insurance
When you file against the at-fault driver’s liability insurance, this is called a third-party claim – you’re the third party to the at-fault driver and their insurance carrier. These types of claims are usually filed in no-fault states, of which there are currently 12 – Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Utah.
Since you didn’t cause the crash, the other driver’s liability insurance coverage will typically pay for any damage to your vehicle and medical bills resulting from injuries you sustained in the accident.
Reporting an Accident to Your Lawyer
If you were injured or your vehicle was damaged in a car accident that wasn’t your fault, you should consider hiring a car accident attorney to help you recover compensation. Get Car Accident Money is experienced in taking action against insurance carriers for denying our client’s claims.
Insurance is a business; these companies try to keep costs down and give minimal payments to victims if an attorney is not involved. Without legal representation, the claims process can drag on and you may decide to forget the whole business or compromise for a much lower payment than you deserve.
Call our auto accident lawyers at Get Car Accident Money today or contact us online for a free case consultation.