Claims and accidents
The nine steps that protect your safety, your legal position, and your claim
The minutes after a crash are the ones that decide how the following months go. The sequence below is the same one American insurers and state safety agencies recommend, condensed into something you can follow while shaken.
Stop, switch on hazard lights, and move the vehicle out of live traffic only if it is drivable and safe. Check everyone in your car, then the other vehicle. Call 911 for any injury, for a blocked roadway, or if you suspect the other driver is impaired.
Photograph both vehicles wide and close, the plates, the road layout, signals, skid marks, and the surrounding area. Collect the other driver's name, phone number, insurer, policy number, and plate. Photograph their insurance card and licence rather than writing details down.
Say as little as possible about the crash itself. Apologising, estimating speeds, or agreeing to settle privately can all be used later.
Get checked by a clinician and say the injury is crash-related so it is recorded. Report the claim to your own insurer promptly, even if you were not at fault and may not claim — most policies require prompt notice.
Many states also require a written report to the DMV or state police above a damage threshold or where anyone was injured.
Keep one folder for everything: report number, photographs, estimates, bills, rental receipts, and a call log. Track the repair, question the parts specification if it matters to you, and do not accept an injury settlement while treatment is ongoing.
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