Perhaps the biggest concern for people who have been in an accident is, “Am I going to get sued?” The good news here is that very, very few car accidents end up in an actual lawsuit. Far more likely, there will be a claim against you through your liability insurance. (For a more detailed discussion of liability, see “Whose Fault Is It?”).
No matter how clear liability may seem right after the accident, what you do and say at this crucial time can effect the ultimate outcome of your claim. Here are some things you can do right at the scene to make sure your interests are protected:
- Call the police. Insist that the other person stay until they arrive. If they won’t, write down the license plate number and description of the car. The police will find them.
- Find a witness who was not in either vehicle. Police and insurance investigators take independent witnesses seriously. Be sure to get a name and contact information.
- Don’t say anything that might suggest you were in the wrong. Don’t apologize. Don’t say it was your fault. Don’t try to excuse anything you were doing (like reaching into the glove box with your door open). Just call the police and exchange information.
- Get a full police report. Ask the officer at the scene to fill out a full report. In many cases, if no one was hurt, the police will simply help the drivers exchange information and not actually write up a narrative of what happened. This saves time, but is of limited value. Find out what kind of report will be filed and how you and the insurance company can get it.
- Get the officer’s name and find out which station/barracks he/she works out of. Sometimes the officer will speak to the insurance representative even if no report was filed.
Later on, if you feel liability has been unfairly assessed against you, there are still options:
- Talk to your insurance agent. If you really are getting a bad deal, he or she may be able to get the insurer to see things differently.
- Appeal it. Some states have a formal appeal process that you can use. This may only affect decisions made by your own company (like whether to surcharge you), but a little improvement is better than nothing, right?
- Talk to your adjuster. Make it clear that you are trying to understand and not challenge or accuse him or her. Sometimes there is information they weren’t aware of or you can use your “powers of persuasion” to influence them (tactfully). They are people just like the rest of us and want to do the right thing.
- Contact the state Department of Insurance (DOI). One of their primary responsibilities is making sure that insurance companies handle claims appropriately.
These options vary according to whether you are claiming with your own company or against the other driver’s insurer, but they can serve as starting points to help work through your claim experience as painlessly as possible.
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