You must know that you cannot decide who the perpetrator and the victim are, right after an accident. An investigation is needed, whether the accident is minor or major.
And in most cases, we already buy auto insurance for our vehicles and health insurance for our well-being. It will be a reckless action if we get too emotional in an accident and take matters into our hands. There are people in charge of that kind of business, police officers, lawyers, and insurance adjusters.
Contacting 911
Never immediately resolve an accident without any supervisions of the third party. Except for helping a person from the accident site, do not try to change the scene. You should also do your best to prevent others from doing so.
Contacting the authority will also help you in claiming insurance premium. When you call 911, the operator will provide you with assistance. And once the officers arrive at the scene, they are the ones who gather the evidence of the traffic site and later provide the official police report.
Your insurance adjuster will later collect the report and decide your qualification for the premium. But you need to know that the official police report is only vital for an insurance claim if there is an injured party.
Writing your own report
In noninjury causing accidents, the official police report might not be required for the insurance. And the adjuster will ask you to write your own report and match it with the evidence from the vehicle’s condition and the eyewitness’s recount.
What you need to write on the report is the identity of the second party (if you hit another vehicle), and a detailed narration on the accident. Your car speed, the condition of the road, and the maneuvers which are probably related to the accident must be included.
Estimating compensation
If you hit a pedestrian, for example, and he/she needs to be hospitalized, you must not lose your calm and focus. The first thing you can do is to estimate how much financial help you can get to cover the injured’s health cost.
You can consult your insurance company immediately, and ask if your case can get insurance coverage. Or, after you know what injuries the injured has, you can estimate the compensation cost by using Claims Calculator online. Always prefer to resolve the matter with the insurance company than personally with the injured’s family. Because, things might get too emotional, and you can get in much severe legal trouble.
If you are the relative or companion to the injured, you must also act the same. Contact the injured’s insurance to deal with the matter, and help to collect the necessary documents to get the personal injury compensation.
Consulting with a law firm
When the insurance company role is out of the equation, or the accident has led to a death, you will be most likely to deal with the court system. And as the one who survives, you must not drown yourself with guilts.
In fact, it is vital for you not to admit being guilty and to give too much information immediately after the accident. They all will affect the outcome of the case.
The best thing you can do is to consult your case with a specialized lawyer. Lawyers who are expert in handling traffic accident case know their drills and give you the highest chance to get out of trouble fast.…