5 Things to Do If Have a Car Accident

5 Things to Do If Have a Car Accident

For some people, car accident will eventually happen and for car owners, it is important to make sure that our claim will be paid. It means that we will get anything that we are entitled to. Here are things we should do when we have just a car accident:

  1. Stay calm and gather evidence: We will get good results if we stay calm. Gathering evidence should be easy and we could simply take picture of everything. Smartphone camera should be enough, as long as the picture is clear and understandable. We should do this whether the accident is our fault or others’. By having enough evidence, we should be able to prevent fraud. Even if we are at fault, by gathering enough evidences, we won’t be blamed for more than what we did.
  2. Call the police: The other driver could be incredibly nice, but he may change later. It is better to have a police officer in the scene. In this situation, the policeman will write a report and it is an important document when we are dealing with the insurer. We should describe how the accidents happen and it is better that important details are recorded in police reports. Although the damage seems minor, it is better to get a police report, because we don’t know what kind of damage that our car has underneath.
  3. Notify the insurance company: After gathering evidence and getting the police report, we could call the insurance company, no matter who are at fault. We have paid our insurance premium and we need to make sure that the insurer works for us. Even if we are at fault, the insurance company should still work for us, so everything won’t get out of control. The insurance company should cooperate in the investigation process and this can be achieved when we report the accident in a timely manner.
  4. Don’t settle personal injury claim too soon: By delaying this claim, we could eventually obtain more. Car salesmen have specific monthly quotas and insurance adjusted also have settlement goals. We should settle it only if we are sure that we could get the maximum amount. The longer the personal injury stays open, the bigger the overall costs for the insurers, because car insurance will need to pay salary for the adjusters and other employees related to our claims. In this case, we could negotiate with the insurer to get a bigger deal.
  5. Read everything before we sign it: This could sound like a tedious thing to do, but it is important to read everything carefully. Insurers may want us to sign documents immediately. We have the right to cross out troublesome clauses from the document. As an example, personal injury claim doesn’t really need our prior medical reports, especially if we need to get treatment for the injury. It also doesn’t need to mention any kind of property damage. We should know our rights and limitations if we want achieve better things.