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Car accidents can be some of the biggest inconveniences that can be experienced. No matter whether an accident was a small hit on the bumper, or as big as getting your car totaled, you need to make sure that you are legally and financially protected. Accidents can result in hefty healthcare costs, lawsuits, and possibly even trouble with the law. Here are five steps for how you should handle yourself in a car accident, making sure that you and your family get the protection that you need and deserve.
Call the Police
The first thing you should do when you get into a car accident, even if it’s not that serious, is call the Police. This will ensure that you get a police report documenting the car accident, individuals involved, and ultimately who was at fault. Too often you hear of stories of individuals getting into car accidents that they thought were minor, only to discover days or weeks later that the damage was much more serious than they had originally presumed. However, the party responsible can’t be reached for some odd reason or is now claiming they weren’t at fault. Situations like this always end up in court and can take months to resolve. Always, no matter how small the car accident is, call the police!
Call Your Insurance Company
The second action that you should take is to call your insurance company to tell them you were involved in an accident. Regardless of guilt, letting your insurance company know up front that you were involved in an accident will speed up the processing of your claim and will make it easier for you to go ahead and get a rental car. It will also help to speed up the repair process for your automobile. Your insurance company will also be able to instruct you about everything that you should do in order to protect yourself and the company. This usually includes not admitting guilt, or saying anything that might even cause a presumption of guilt, such as by saying “sorry.”
Take Pictures
Always take pictures of all automobiles involved in the accident. You want to have visual proof of damage done to your vehicle, as well as to other vehicles involved. Sometimes, unfortunately, people will try to take advantage of car accidents to get pre-existing damage on their vehicles fixed. Pictures are also good if your insurance company wants to give you a difficult time and not pay for certain damages. You should also make sure that you take pictures of the surrounding area, including street signs, stoplights, and any landmarks in immediate area. In the end, you will not be hurt by having too many pictures.
Call a Lawyer
In the event that your accident is really serious and there are medical injuries involved, be prepared for the possibility of going to court. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people battle it out in court rooms to get healthcare and other accident related compensation that should be provided by insurance companies. Insurance companies will often only offer a fraction of the compensation that you actually deserve, which can create a great deal of financial distress if your care ends up costing more than the compensation that was provided. It is a general rule that you should hire a lawyer if your healthcare costs seem like that will be more than $10,000.
Collect as Much Information as Possible
Make sure you collect everyone’s contact and insurance information from the scene of the accident. Get both a home phone number, cell phone number and e-mail address. Write down the responsible party’s insurance information, vehicle identification number of the car, license tag and other relevant information. Also, be sure to get the contact information of any witnesses that remained in the area after the accident. It can also help to get information on the police officers that responded to the accident. The more information that you can get, the better off you will be in the end.
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