Being involved in a car accident is often a scary and traumatic time – depending on the severity of the accident, of course. The most important thing to do as soon as you can after being involved in a car accident is to check that everyone is okay and call for help if anyone needs it.
Once you have been assessed by medical personnel and given your statement to the police you can then make your way home, either by driving yourself if the accident was more of a fender-bender or arranging a friend or family member to fetch you.
Once you have arrived home safely you can take a moment to process what has just happened to you and then, once you have calmed down and collected yourself, you should contact your insurance provider to report the accident to them.
Here are 5 tips for doing simply and quickly:
1. Be Honest
It is always best to compile your claim on the day of an accident because the details will still be fresh in your mind. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you struggle to remember everything, write down what you do remember to the best of your ability. This is an important step but it is particularly important if you are the victim.
2. Be Thorough
Make sure that your claim makes sense, it is often hard to recollect the entire thing because bad things happen in the blink of an eye, but you need to provide your insurance company with all the necessary facts so that they can process your claim. This information is also useful for you to have if the accident wasn’t your fault and you need to claim from the guilty party with the help of a Chaffin Luhana attorney.
3. Don’t Give Too Many Details
Whilst you do need to give an honest and accurate statement of events in as much useful detail as you can, you need to leave out any unnecessary details like what song was playing on the stereo or what you had planned to do that day. Make sure that you also leave out your feelings and emotions, and stick to the facts and only the facts. After you’ve been in a car accident you need to try and remain calm and level-headed.
4. Double Check Claim Before Submission
Once you have finished writing out your submission, make sure to include all the pertinent details such as location, date, and time of the accident, you need to double-check it before submitting it. Check to make sure that you have included everything that you think your insurance company could need to process your claim, if you are unsure at any point then contact your insurance company and they will have someone guide you through the submission process.
5. Keep A Record of Your Submission
Once you have crossed your i’s and dotted your t’s and you are happy with your report then you can submit it to your insurance company. It is recommended that you keep a record of when you submitted your claim as well as any correspondence that you subsequently receive from your insurance company.