Nobody likes to think that they will have a car accident. But, the truth of the matter is that most of us will have at least one. So, it is important to know what to do after you have had an accident. This short guide does not cover what to do immediately after the incident. It explains how to handle the claims phase of dealing with a car accident.
Consider contacting a car accident lawyer
In many cases, it makes sense to contact an accident lawyer like the one you can find here. This is especially the case if someone is hurt, there is a lot of damage or the police are involved. The more serious the accident is the more important it is that you at least speak to a lawyer. A lawyer will help you understand your case and educate you about the options you can use to get compensation for all the damage you had to bear.
You can see more here to know how personal injury attorneys fight cases of car accidents.
Once you check out coinjurylaw.com or look at a similar website, it’s important to ask the right questions and understand exactly what position you are in.
When they have a car accident most people assume that their insurance company will cover all of the costs. Including compensating the other party. Unfortunately, that is not always what happens, which is why it’s important to review car accident lawyer pages, or personal injury lawyer pages (like the one available on this website), to know what compensation you will get. There are limits to how much insurance companies will payout.
As you can see here, this leaves you open to being sued by the other party.
Quickly report the accident to your insurance company
It is also very important that you report the accident to your car insurance company promptly. Failure to do so can potentially result in your claim being denied.
There are several reasons an insurance company may not pay out after an accident. One of them is not following the claims process correctly. So, it is important to be mindful of this danger and understand what that process is.
Do not accept the blame
Most people know that they should not accept blame at the scene of an accident. But, you also need to be careful about what you say in the following days.
Pause and write down what you remember
During an accident, everything is a bit of a blur, so it is hard to work out what happened. You may think that you caused or contributed to the accident. But, later, when you sit down and calmly think about things there is a good chance that you will see things differently. So, take the time to do this, including making an accident scene drawing. This will help you to remember things that could be important to your case.
Consider gathering more evidence
We are all aware that we should take photos as evidence at the time of an accident. But despite this, it is all too easy to miss something important. So, take a look at the photos you already have.
It is a good idea to revisit the scene of the accident. Often, doing so will jog your memory or help you to realise that you need more photos. For example, you may not have taken any distance shots of the scene.
In some cases, you may want to take measurements too. Perhaps of how far your skid marks are from where the collision happened. If you do decide to do this, put your safety and that of other users first.
Only take photos and measurements if it is safe to do so. Don’t forget you can sometimes use Google Street View or an app like GPS Fields Area Measure to glean the information you need. So, there is no reason to take unnecessary risks to gather evidence.
Featured Image | Erik Mclean on Unsplash
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