If you have been involved in an accident and aren’t badly hurt, there are certain steps you should take following the incident. While the police will write a report, dealing with insurance companies can be brutal—and the more information you have, the better chance you’ll have getting them to pay for medical bills and vehicle repair.
If you are seriously hurt but can move, stay where you are; you could make the injuries worse. Call a friend or relative to help you document the accident and make sure your personal items are removed from the vehicle before it gets towed.
Documentation
Use your smartphone or a camera to document the accident. Be sure to take pictures of the whole scene, plus close-up pictures of the damage to your vehicle and other vehicles involved in the accident.
Witnesses
You may need witnesses, especially if the person who caused the accident doesn’t have insurance. Get the names and phone numbers and/or emails of those who can provide an eyewitness account, should you need it. You can write the information down or you can enter it into a notepad app in your smartphone.
Insurance
Call your insurance company to advise them of the accident. Be sure to get their fax number, so you can fax the police report and other documentation to them. At the same time, get the other person’s insurance company information. You will need to submit the claim (including documentation) to them. Do not rely on the person at fault to submit any documentation on your behalf.
Vehicle Location
Make sure you know where your vehicle will be towed to. The insurance companies will most likely want access to it even if you send pictures; they will need to document the damage in order to pay out the claim.
Repairs
Obtain an estimate from a body shop. Before you drive to a shop, ask what type of work it does—if you need to repair minor dents, the shop should be able to do paintless repair. Chapman in Scottsdale does some body work and paintless dent repair. If you need a new fender, bumper or other body parts, be sure the shop can replace them and has the ability to paint the new body parts.
If you need engine repair, ask the body shop if it can do this. Some body shops have the ability to do minor repairs such as replacing radiators, hoses, belts and some steering and suspension parts.
Medical Care
Make an appointment to see your doctor as soon after the accident as possible. Some injuries may not show up until a day or two after the accident. Tell your doctor you were in a car accident.
If you have injuries that are immediately apparent, go to the emergency room, even if you don’t feel you need to. These injuries could exacerbate over the next hours and days. Furthermore, you will need medical documentation for your claim—the sooner you see the doctor, the less the chance the insurance company will argue that you are filing a false claim.
Author – Gina Hooper Gina works as a financial planner and consultant. When she is not busy crunching numbers, she likes to spend her time blogging about the financial industry.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.