If you have been in an accident, the last thing that you want to do is try to figure out what steps need to be taken.
You are likely stressed and anxious, not sure about the best course of action. Fortunately, there are a few things that you can do after an accident that will help build your case for when it comes time to file with insurance companies or take legal action against someone else who caused the collision.
Find a personal injury attorney
If you have suffered injuries, an attorney can help ensure that the costs are documented in a way that is helpful to your case.
Hiring legal representation also sends a message that this was more than just a fender bender and could affect how much compensation you are entitled to receive. If the accident occurred near Orange County, make sure to seek personal injury lawyers in Orange County to cut your expenses as much as possible. An accident where there has been injury will likely be higher up on the priority list for insurance companies when it comes time for them to look at claims. Attorneys can also take some of the stress off of your shoulders so that you do not have to deal with all of these different things by yourself.
Write down everything that happened right after the incident
The more information that you can provide to your attorney and insurance company, the better this will work out for you. Write down all of the immediate details about what happened right after it occurred so that you do not forget anything in a few days or weeks when things might be even more stressful than they are now. If there were witnesses at the scene who saw what happened, make sure to get their names and contact information as well.
Make sure to stay calm and assess the situation
How you conduct yourself following an accident can be just as important as what steps to take. Remain calm and assess the situation, including your own health condition, before doing anything else. If there are witnesses nearby, ask them for their contact information so that you have someone on hand who saw how things happened in case it comes down to arguing different points about the accident later on.
Once everyone is safe and sound, get all of the necessary information from anyone involved in the collision, namely insurance details if they are available or names/addresses/phone numbers of any passengers or drivers who may not be present at the time of the incident but also need to provide personal info for when claims come through with insurers. Take photographs of everything possible related to this accident, including damage to vehicles and any injuries that you or others might have.
Get a copy of the police report as soon as possible
The police report is an invaluable way to get the information that you need about what happened in your accident. While they can be intimidating, ask at the scene if there are any officers who might be willing to help you obtain a copy of this document so that it is on hand when insurance companies begin asking questions.
Document all expenses you incurred from the accident, including medical bills, lost wages, and repair costs
Make sure to get receipts for all of the expenses that you incurred following your accident. If applicable, ask your employer if it is possible to provide documentation showing how many days off work were taken in order to recover from injuries or visit doctors. This can be presented as evidence when filing claims with insurance companies, so they know just how much money needs to be reimbursed on each count.
All expenses are important, even if they seem small. Any medical bills that are submitted to insurance companies will be taken into account when determining the overall amount of compensation you receive for damages suffered in this collision.
Get contact information from the other driver if possible
If you are able to get contact information from the other driver involved in this collision, do so. Sometimes they will provide it willingly but if not, ask around at work or with family members for their name and phone number so that your attorney can have someone on hand who knows what happened during the accident itself.
This is especially important when dealing with insurance companies because being unable to reach anyone might lead them to believe that there were no witnesses present while also making it impossible for damages/injuries sustained by both parties during a car crash to be accurately documented.
Follow these tips after an accident occurs and ensure that everything possible is done in order to strengthen your case against any potential insurer disputes down the line. We hope you find the information in this blog post useful. We encourage readers to follow these tips so that they have every available piece of evidence needed when filing their own claims after getting into an accident. Thank you for reading our article!
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