- What should I do after being involved in an auto accident?
- What information should I obtain after an auto accident?
- Who do I contact after an auto accident?
- Should I get medical treatment immediately after a car accident?
- How do I make a claim against an insurance company?
- What sources of compensation can be pursued after an auto accident?
- How long do I have to file a claim for my injuries in an auto accident?
- What happens if I am involved in an auto accident with an unlicensed driver?
1. What should I do after being involved in an auto accident?
First -- after everyone is out of danger and any medical and police help needed has been summoned -- get the information you may need and put it down in writing. At least the following information is suggested:
(1) Who were the drivers of the vehicles involved?
(2) Did all drivers have driver's licenses? Be sure to get the driver's license numbers and addresses of the drivers!
(3) Did any of the driver's appear to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs? (Write down who and why you think they were and who else observed that same thing. After the effects wear off it would be your word against theirs.)
(4) Were any passengers in the vehicles? Get their names and addresses!
(5) Were any pedestrians involved in the accident? Get their names and addresses!
(6) Did any person involved in the accident report any personal injury shortly after the accident? Who are they, and where do they live?
(7) Was medical assistance rendered at the scene of the accident?
(8) What personal injury did the injured person report? Did anyone say "I'm not hurt"?
(9) What was the actual location of the accident?
(10) Were there any witnesses to the accident (other than those directly involved in the accident)? Get the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all witnesses!
(11) In what direction were the vehicles traveling just prior to the accident?
(12) At what time of day did the accident occur?
(13) What were the weather conditions at the time of the accident?
(14) Was there anything "wrong" with the vehicles before the accident, such as driving with a broken headlight at night, or with bald tires?
(15) Was there any damage to the vehicles as a result of the accident? (Even if there wasn't, that does not mean that someone may not have been injured, even with a "soft tissues injury".) What parts of the vehicle were damaged?
(16) Who were the registered owners of the vehicles (names and addresses)?
(17) Were all vehicles involved in the accident insured? What are the names of the insurance companies and the policy numbers? (If they said how much insurance they had, record that too.)
(18) Did any of the vehicles need to be towed from the scene of the accident?
(19) How did the accident occur?
(20) Did anyone accept responsibility for the accident, such as by saying "It was my fault, I am sorry. I was speeding / not paying attention / not wearing my glasses / distracted / tired / late for work / in a hurry / my coffee had just spilled ... etc."? If so, write it down.
(21) Did anyone else say something to indicate that s/he too was at least partially at fault -- such as "I should have seen you but I was on my cell phone / I've been taking these pills / my eyesight isn't what it used to be after dark, etc"?
(22) Did the police come? If so, did they issue anyone a ticket? Which officers were present?
As much basic information as possible should be gathered immediately after the accident occurred. As time passes, memories tend to fade and new versions of the chain of events are created. Putting the basic information down on paper helps later when liability for the accident begins to be examined.
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2. What information should I obtain after an auto accident?
It is important that you seek immediate medical attention if you are seriously injured in an automobile accident. After everyone is out of danger and any medical police help has been summoned, obtain the following:
•The full names of the drivers of the vehicles involved
•The driver’s license numbers and addresses of all of the drivers
•If any of the driver’s appear to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs, notify police or other emergency personnel immediately
•The full names and addresses of any passengers in any of the vehicles
•The full names and addresses of any pedestrian’s or other parties involved
•The full name, address and phone number of any witnesses to the accident.
•Did any person involved in the accident report any personal injury shortly after the accident?
•Was medical assistance rendered at the scene of the accident?
•What personal injury did the injured person report? Did anyone say “I’m not hurt?”
•In what direction were the vehicles traveling just prior to the accident?
•At what time of day did the accident occur?
•What were the weather conditions at the time of the accident?
•Was there anything wrong with the vehicles before the accident such as a broken headlight or brake light?
•Was there any damage to the vehicles as a result of the accident? What parts of the vehicle were damaged?
•Who are the registered owner of the vehicles (names and addresses)?
•Were all vehicles involved in the accident insured? What are the names of the insurance companies and the policy numbers?
•Did any of the vehicles need to be towed from the scene of the accident?
•How did the accident occur?
•Did anyone accept responsibility for the accident, or make a comment such as “It was my fault, I am sorry. I was speeding/ not paying attention/ not wearing my glasses/ distracted/ tired/ late for work/ n a hurry/ my coffee had just spilled/ I should have seen you but I was on my cell phone/ I’ve been taking these pills/ my eyesight isn’t what it used to be after dark, etc.”?
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3. Who do I contact after an auto accident?
Depending upon the nature of the accident and the extent of the damages and injuries involved, a series of auto accident reports must be filed. Sometimes the reporting of an auto accident is mandatory, sometimes it is voluntary. Reports typically must be filed with three sets of organizations:
(1) Police (law enforcement agencies) - The law of the state where the accident occurs may require a police report to be filed. However, as there are many variations in state and local laws -- and even local practices -- we can not address them all. Generally if any personal injury occurs in an auto accident, a police report must be filed. A police report generally also is required when property damage exceeds a certain dollar amount (often $200 to $500). The manner of making the report also varies. Some local police only take certain auto accident reports over the telephone, some require a trip to the station house. To be safe, at least a telephone call to local police should be made shortly after an auto accident to determine local practice and the information you are required to provide.
(2) Insurance company - Most auto insurance companies require their policyholders to promptly report every auto accident. The insurance company will want to gather all of the basic information concerning the accident for its records. Sometimes the insurance company will want your authorization to make a recorded statement concerning the accident. We suggest that if you or your passengers were injured in the accident, or believe the insurance company will try to claim "you're not covered" or you have any concerns about the adequacy of your coverage, you should contact an attorney before you go much further, and certainly before you give the insurance company permission to record your conversation. However, bear in mind that failure to provide information to your insurance company on a timely basis -- your policy will set out how quickly you must notify the company (and it can be a VERY short time frame). Failure to comply could result in loss of coverage for the accident, without it constituting bad faith by the insurer.
(3) Department of Motor Vehicles ("DMV") - Some state DMVs maintain auto accident reports. Typically this report must be filed within 5 or 10 days of the accident. Failure to file such a required report could lead to suspension of your driving privilege. In other words, your driver's license could be taken away from you, regardless of fault, if you do not promptly file a report with your state's DMV. If you or someone was injured, it may make sense to speak to a lawyer BEFORE filing that report!
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4. Should I get medical treatment immediately after a car accident?
Yes. Many people who are involved in an automobile accident are too embarrassed to seek medical treatment. The initial bumps and bruises do not seem serious or the onset of the symptoms does not immediately occur.
After an accident, an initial evaluation at a local emergency room is recommended. X-rays can be performed which will generally rule out broken bones or fractures. Muscle relaxers and anti- inflammatory medications can be prescribed to address muscle strains or pulls.
Of course, not every accident produces injury. However, if the onset of a serious injury is delayed, the failure to have a medical complaint recorded can affect your chances of recovery. Back and neck injuries like herniated disks are not always immediately determinable. They are often initially diagnosed as "soft tissue" injuries before an MRI or CT scan reveals a disc injury. Normal x-ray film is generally not diagnostic of disc injuries.
The mechanism of injury may not always be obvious to a person injured in an automobile accident. For instance, there are many documented cases of carpel tunnel syndrome caused by a person tightly clenching the steering wheel during an accident. Since the wrists may not have slammed into a part of the car, the person involved in the injury may not associate this problem with the car accident until it is too late to make a claim.
Moreover, many insurance adjusters will refuse to pay claims when there has been a delay in receiving treatment or when large gaps in the treatment have occurred. Even though there are explainable and legitimate reasons for the delay or gap in treatment, victims may end up either uncompensated or under-compensated.
It is not uncommon for accident victims to leave the scene of the accident feeling that they were uninjured and wake up the next day or two later with extreme soreness, tightness or muscle spasm. In these instances, immediate medical attention should be sought from your doctor.
Again, documentation of the onset of injury is important in establishing a causal link between an accident and an injury.
If an injury has been diagnosed by your physician, make sure you keep your appointments and scheduled treatments. Insurance adjusters will argue that you must be well or feeling fine if you do not go to the doctor. This is true even if all the physician is doing is examining you and prescribing new medications which do not seem to be working. Documentation of your pain and suffering is essential to successfully pursuing a claim.
Moreover, unsuccessful conservative treatment will eventually lead to your doctor becoming more aggressive to seek a treatment or diagnosis which will help your recovery.
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5. How do I make a claim against an insurance company?
The decision to make a claim against an insurance company generally should be based upon the fault of the other driver and the extent of injuries and damages you suffered as a result.
Of course, not every auto accident will or should result in a claim. This is especially true in the situation where the thought process is to collect a few thousand dollars as part of some nuisance-type settlement.
When claims are made, they can be discovered in any subsequent litigation and could potentially hurt an otherwise legitimate case. Thus, the decision to pursue the claim should be made only when an injury and medical expenses have been sustained.
Once the decision to pursue the claim has been made, the next determination is how to go about making the claim. The answer to this question may depend on which insurance company you are attempting to make a claim against, yours or the other driver's.
When an accident occurs, the police are called to the scene and the investigating officer will fill out an accident report. He will then give to both drivers a copy of the item number or accident report number so that the accident report can be obtained when he is finished completing it.
The report will contain the names of the other driver and insurance company. It also usually contains the policy number under which the other driver is insured. Virtually all insurance companies have toll free numbers for reporting claims which can be used to report the accident. Of course, you will need the name of their insured, policy number, date of accident and item or accident report number. They may also seek information about your insurance. Then a claim number will be assigned to your claim which you can use for future communications or for reference when checking on the status of the claim.
Most of the time the other driver's insurance company will contact you before you can contact them. This assumes that the other driver has reported the incident to his insurance company, which is not always the case. If they contact you, make sure you tell them that you want to know the claim number they have set up to process your claim against their driver.
It is also important to report the accident to your own insurance company even if you are not at fault in the accident. You may have certain coverages that will immediately pay for your property damage and medical expenses without having to wait and see if the other insurance company will accept or deny your claim. If your own insurance company pays you, they will then seek to recover their money from the other insurance company. This is called subrogation.
Be careful when discussing the accident with an adjuster for the other driver's insurance company. Avoid giving statements or recorded testimony about how the accident occurred. Those details are usually contained on the accident report which can easily be obtained by the adjuster. If the accident report is accurate, simply refer the adjuster to it.
Adjusters frequently try to elicit a statement from the opposing party in an attempt to minimize your damages or deny your claim. Give only the information that is absolutely necessary and contact an attorney if you have
any doubts or questions about what information to provide.
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6. What sources of compensation can be pursued after an auto accident?
The answer to this question depends on your own financial resources and the circumstances surrounding the accident. Typical sources of compensation for damages sustained in an auto accident include:
(1) "Out-of Pocket" - When the damages sustained are minor and cause no real financial setback, paying for the loss "out-of-pocket" should be considered. There is no third party getting involved when you pay for your loss yourself, no continuing investigation, no actual change in your insurance, and generally less "hassle" overall. When your losses exceed what you can comfortably handle from your current resources, other sources of compensation must be explored.
(2) Your Auto Insurance Company - Whether your insurance will compensate you for your loss depends on your contract with your insurance company. In many insurance contracts, there is both first party (you and your auto) and third party (passengers, other motorists and their property) considerations. Some contracts have medical coverage for personal injury of the insured (you) and your passengers in the vehicle. Your insurance contract may provide for collision damage repair and possibly for a car rental while yours is being fixed. Before making a claim (which is different than providing a report) with an insurance company, many people consider whether it will be less expensive for them to pay for the loss "out-of-pocket" before relying on the insurance since the actual loss under the insurance contract could result in an increase in your insurance premium in the future. The potential of an increase in your insurance premium must be balanced against your ability to pay "out-of-pocket", (including any deductible under the insurance contract). The smaller the damages, the more likely you will pay out-of -pocket; the larger the loss, the more likely you are to seek recovery from your insurance company.
(3) Your Health Insurance Provider or HMO - You may have private health insurance or belong to a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO). In the event of a personal injury sustained in an auto accident, you could ask your own health insurer to pay for medical treatment. Sometimes, private health insurance plans or HMOs require you to seek recovery from your auto insurance company (as a primary carrier of the risk) before it will pay/provide for your medical treatment.
(4) Other People Involved In the Accident - In addition the three sources above, you may be able to seek recovery from the other people who were involved in the accident. Your ability to recover from a third party, such as another driver, may be limited by the laws of the state in which the accident occurred. States can either have a "no-fault" law, which leaves those involved in an accident to provide for their own compensation, or a "fault" law, where the law generally makes the party who is "at fault" or "caused" the accident to occur to pay for all the damages incurred. If you are "at-fault" for an accident that occurred in a "fault" state, contact your insurance company (if you are sued, you will tender the defense and possible settlement of the lawsuit to your insurance company).
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7. How long do I have to file a claim for my injuries in an auto accident?
One of the first questions that must be answered before filing an automobile accident claim is the question of whether the claim is beyond the statute of limitations.
The statute of limitations is the time period that the law allows for asserting a claim. If a claim is not brought within the time period allowed by the statute of limitations, it will be barred. This means that even if you have a clear cut case against someone arising out of an automobile accident, the court will dismiss your claim if you do not file it within the time period allowed by the statute of limitations. Once a claim is barred by the statute of limitations, there is no chance of resurrecting it.
The idea behind imposing a statute of limitations for bringing claims is to prevent stale or old claims from hanging over the head of a business or person indefinitely. Also, as time passes, evidence is harder to gather, witnesses disappear or die and documents get destroyed. Thus, it would make the defense of claims difficult if not impossible if a claim could be brought for an automobile accident which occurred 10 years ago.
Different states may refer to the statute of limitations periods using different words. For instance, in Louisiana, the statute of limitations is call the prescriptive period. If a case is prescribed, it is beyond the statute of limitations.
The statute of limitations differs from state to state and from claim to claim. A claim for breach of contract is usually afforded a longer statute of limitations than a claim for personal injuries. Some states like Louisiana have very short statute of limitations periods. In Louisiana, a person suffering personal injury will have one year from the date of injury to pursue a personal injury or wrongful death claim. If a claim is not instituted within this time period, it is barred by prescription.
The law also recognizes that there are instances where a person could not have brought a claim within the statute of limitations because they were not aware that a claim existed or some other legally recognized circumstance occurred An example of this might be where a sponge was left inside someone by a physician during surgery and the patient does not discover this fact until more than a two years later.
Accordingly, the law has created certain legal doctrines that may be used to suspend or interrupt the running of the applicable time limitations. These doctrines vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. There are some exceptions to this general rule and an attorney should be consulted to advise you on the facts and circumstances of your particular situation.
Not knowing the specific time period in which to bring a claim is not an excuse.
For these reasons, it is important to determine at the beginning of the review whether there is a potential problem with prescription.
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8. What happens if I am involved in an auto accident with an unlicensed driver?
Generally, the owner of a vehicle is not liable for damages which occur when another person is operating the vehicle. However, numerous exceptions to this rule exist where (i) the driver is on a mission for the owner of the vehicle; (ii) when the driver is an agent or employee of the owner; and (iii) when the owner himself is negligent in entrusting the vehicle to an incompetent driver.
Under the negligent entrustment theory, the lender of a vehicle is not responsible for the negligence of the borrower unless he knew or should have known that the borrower was physically or mentally incompetent to drive. For instance, when an owner of an automobile knowingly entrusts the vehicle to an intoxicated, otherwise incompetent driver, the owner is responsible for the harm resulting from the incompetent operation of the vehicle.
Some courts have determined that a reasonably prudent person has the clear duty to recognize the manifest danger of making a long-term, open-ended loan of a vehicle to someone they know or should know is an habitual abuser of alcohol and is prone to drive the vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. A prudent person should recognize that under these circumstances it is highly likely that serious injuries or death will reasonably result.
Statutory law provides that unlicensed drivers are prohibited from driving and that drivers are prohibited from allowing unlicensed drivers to drive. The intent of this type of statute is to protect the public and the unlicensed driver by preventing inexperienced drivers from operating vehicles on public roads.
However, in most states, the violation of a criminal safety statute does not usually, in and of itself, create civil liability. Most states require that to constitute actionable negligence, the violation must be encompassed within the scope of the risks that the statute was designed to protect against. The violation must also be a cause of the accident. Thus, if a driver is competent and experienced, although unlicensed, then the risk of allowing him to drive may be outside the scope of the risks contemplated by the criminal safety statute which requires a driver’s license.
Violation of a criminal safety statute may provide a presumption of negligence in some cases which will require the offending driver to prove that the violation was not the cause of the accident.
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