 |
|
It is essential that you contact the police (YOU CALL THE POLICE). I know this sounds strange, but adjuster will be looking to see if you want the police involved or not. If you do not want the policy involved, then maybe you have something to hide.
Some people will tell you that they called the police when they did not, or when they contacted the police it will be something like “this car just came and hit me”. These statements could become evidence against you.
I know many people not want to call the police because they believe damages to be low and that they can talk to the other party without having to have tickets issued. If you leave the scene and then the police is called by the other party, then you can be cited for leaving the scene of the accident.
In addition, if you are at the scene the accident and you try to negotiate repairs without the police, there will be no guarantees of anything. The other party can deny things later, and can just blame you for everything.
I have seen claims where the police was not involved, and the parties will be later in disagreement as of how many people were passengers in each vehicle. You might think you hit one person, but suddenly you have five people claiming injuries against you!
Note that the police will not come to the scene if they believe there are no bodily injuries. More and more cities and counties are doing this. They are having budget cuts, and it is simply too expensive to have police officers come out to every single car accident.
Other jurisdictions will not come out to parking lot accidents. Most parking lot accidents are private property. Since this is the case, the police will not have jurisdiction over that parking lot (unless there are injuries).
If the accident is in a public road and the dispatcher told you that an officer would be sent to the scene, but they are taking too long. Call every twenty minutes and do not move your vehicle. Having traffic back up will create more phone calls to the police, and therefore it would make them come out.
If you are in one of those accidents where no police officer will come out, then you have to go to the police station as soon as you can (after you visit the emergency room). This is very critical and important.
This is called a Walk-In report. You can just tell the clerk that you have been involved in a vehicle accident earlier in the day, and you want to file a report. They will give you a form to fill out.
Here it is your chance to outline what happened in the accident, how many people were involved, injuries, and explain that you did call the police but they did not come out. If you run out of space, then ask for an addendum or a piece of paper where you can continue writing.
But do not draw a diagram here, you will do this later (when you have more time and can think clearly about everything).This could become your strongest piece of evidence to clear you from any liability.
Certain claims require you to file a police report. Make sure you do this to protect all your rights, and to make sure your insurance can protect your rights.
After you call the police, then what? What to do while waiting for the police. Read more.
If the police shows up and gives you a ticket, then you need to dispute it. Read thespeeding ticket eBook or the traffic ticket eBook to get your citation dismiss.
Blink
Del.icio.us
Digg
Furl
Google
Simpy
Spurl
Technorati
Y! MyWeb| Home Page | Total Loss Ebook |Bodily Injury Ebook |Join Our Free Newsletter | Claim Blog | About the Author | Site Search | Sitemap|
