7 Steps to Take After a Car Accident

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If you have been in a car accident, it's important to first make sure everyone involved is safe, then begin the insurance claim process correctly. To protect yourself and your finances, take these seven steps after a car accident.

1. Get to Safety

As noted, the safety of you and your passengers is what's most important. Cars can be replaced. If you're still in the roadway, get yourself and your car (if it's driveable) out of the path of oncoming traffic. You'll also want to check for injuries and call 911 if anyone is hurt. If there is anyone who is seriously injured, it's best to not move them.

Accidents on back roads or in the dark can be especially dangerous. Turn on your hazard lights so you're more visible and so other cars can avoid the accident site. Remain in your car until help arrives.

2. Call the Police

Even after a minor accident, you should call the police. You may be told that they won't come if nobody is injured, and many states don't require you to call the authorities if you're involved in a minor fender bender. But it's still a good idea to call, especially if you believe you weren't at fault. A police report can help bolster the argument that you didn't cause the accident when you file an insurance claim.

Because car accidents can be frustrating events leading to heightened emotions, a police officer on the scene might keep drivers from getting too heated.

3. Take Photos

After it's clear that everybody is out of danger and the police have been called, it's wise to start taking photos of your car's damage and, if feasible, any other vehicles involved. If it's safe to do so, take photos of the area surrounding your accident: street signs, any obstacles that may have caused the accident, road conditions at the time of the accident and the like.

Your auto insurance company will want to see a lot of photos, which they will use in their investigation to help determine what happened so they can decide how much, if anything, to compensate you for the damage.

4. Exchange Information With the Other Driver

You may not need to exchange information if the police are on the scene. They may handle that for you, making sure both parties have the information everyone needs. But if the police aren't involved, you should exchange information. Here's the information you'll want to give each other:

  • Full name of the driver and the person insured (if it's different from the driver) and their contact information
  • Insurance company name and policy number
  • Driver's license number
  • License plate number
  • Make, color and model of the vehicle

When you're giving the other driver your information, be careful to not exchange opinions about who was at fault. That can be difficult to avoid in the heat of the moment. However, while you may want to immediately blame yourself or the other driver, it's really up to the insurers to assign blame, and even a casual "I'm sorry" could be used to assign fault and deny compensation.

5. Call Your Insurance Company

You don't need to call your insurance company from the scene of the accident, but it's advisable to not wait too long. Waiting can cause you to forget important details.

There usually isn't a specific time frame in terms of when you need to file a claim; it depends on the insurance company and state. For instance, New York tends to give you 30 days to file a claim, unless you provide proof in writing showing that you had a good reason to delay it for longer.

Still, there usually isn't a good reason to delay. The longer you wait, the longer it will take to receive compensation for medical bills or any damage done to your car.

6. You May Need to Notify the DMV

Every state is different in how it handles this, and often whether you need to contact your state's department of motor vehicles about a car accident depends on whether somebody was injured or how much damage was done.

For instance, Wisconsin requires you to report the accident to the department of transportation if you've done $1,000 or more damage to anybody's vehicle or property, if somebody was injured or if you've done $200 or more of damage to state- or government-owned property. If you live in Oregon, you need to report the accident (within 72 hours) if there was damage to any vehicle or property over $2,500 or if someone was injured.

7. Wait—and Take Guidance From Your Insurer

After filing a claim, you'll need to wait and take guidance from your insurance company. But here's what you may discuss.

  • An inspector assigned by the insurer: Your insurer may want to send somebody out to examine the vehicle, whether it's at a mechanic's or in your driveway, so they can give you a car insurance estimate, also called a repair estimate. This is a document telling you how much it will cost to fix your car and is usually the starting point for any car repairs.
  • Paying a mechanic: If your car is at a mechanic's, you can get an estimate—but do not approve your car being repaired until you have talked to your insurer. You want them, after all, to pay for any covered damages, and they need to weigh in on what the cost will be before you tell a mechanic to start working.
  • Your car can't be repaired: If your car has been totaled (where the repairs are going to cost more than the car's value), and you have a comprehensive or collision coverage policy, your insurer will likely pay for what your car is worth, minus the deductible. If that's the case, you'll simply have to wait to get paid. That could take a few days or months, depending how quickly your insurer determines who was at fault.

Car Insurance Can Make Anyone a Nervous Wreck

Being involved in a car accident is bad enough—the last thing you'll want is to make things more expensive by putting off filing a claim or giving your insurer so little information that they feel they can't fully compensate you. You want to be level-headed in the aftermath of a car accident so you can get the money you deserve, after spending plenty on car insurance premiums.