Life is never fair. You can be driving along safely one minute. The next you are in a world of hurt. If you are lucky, only your car is injured. But all too often, there are physical injuries as well.
Sometimes, you wondered about all the other people in the cars around you. Now you have the chance to meet them up close and personal.
Let’s hope you planned for this moment. When you got all those comparative online quotes and the rates for each insurance policy, you checked through all the offers to see exactly what was on offer.
No blind buying. Just a careful calculation to find out what the best terms were and whether you could afford them. Now you will find out exactly what is covered. |
|
First, make sure everyone else is alright. Getting everyone even slightly injured down to the local hospital is a good strategy. Some people involved in accidents later discover all kinds of terrible injuries.
Having evidence that they are not seriously injured at the time of the accident can help to keep the long term bill down. Put another way, sometimes people do not realize they are injured and, because they do not get treatment, minor injuries become major. So use that mobile phone of yours to call for an ambulance and make a police report.
Now you have made like a human being who cares, get down to business. You always carry a pen and paper in the car. Collect the name, p and contact details of everyone else involved in the accident and of any independent witnesses who saw what happened.
Many witnesses do not like the idea of being involved, so a little sweet talking may be required. You also want details of the other driver’s insurance company. Everyone should have proof of current insurance with them. Obviously, this is a give-and-take situation, so exchange information. Do not make any admissions of fault to the other driver(s).
As time passes, it is easy to forget exactly what happened, so write down all the main details while it is all fresh in your mind. If your mobile phone has a camera, take pictures. As and when police and ambulance personnel arrive, take their details as well. If this situation does become a legal fight, you need to know who everyone was so that they can all give their evidence.
As soon as possible, contact your insurance company. Now you will find out whether the rates you pay deliver a good service. Complete the accident report form (which is often available online) and agree the practical details of getting your car repaired.
Follow their instructions, e.g. do not authorize repairs until the agents of the other insurers involved have had a chance to inspect the damage. From now on, it is just a case of making sure you make a full physical recovery from any physical injuries and that you do not get any new legal injuries arising from the accident.
Information from InsureMe.com
| 
