While on the road, the least of your expectations should be a car accident. Car accidents happen every day, caused by several factors, including bad roads, careless driving from other parties, drunk driving, or other causes.
Any car accident needs to be looked into carefully for compensation. Whether it’s you who caused it or the other party, insurance companies of the person who caused the accident needs to settle the claim. What do you need to file for such claims? Depending on the accident, there are different requirements for a successful claim. Here is the list.
1. Contact the Police
After the accident, you need to contact the police to report the accident and enable the accident scene’s clearing. Most people get shaken after the accident, forgetting this requirement. According to accident injury lawyers from BURCH LAW FIRM, you need a police report to have a successful injury claim. The report contains details of the accident and may decide who or what caused the accident.
Contacting the police ensures you are safe after the accident, especially when the other party becomes rowdy or tampers with the evidence. Police officers also help in evacuation and calling for emergency services in fatal accidents, and help to clear traffic after the accident.
2. Evidence
A case without concrete evidence is as good as dead. You need to support the police report with evidence from the accident scene. What is required as evidence? If the accident isn’t as fatal, you can take pictures of the accident scene, the vehicles involved in the accident, and other details that might be helpful.
You also need to take details of the other vehicle, including its insurance details, license number, vehicle make and model, and any defects appearing on the car. It is also necessary to take the other driver’s details, including the driving license, their state, whether drunk and car occupants during the accident.
3. Witnesses
You will also need witnesses for your injury claim case. Immediately after the accident, you can take the witnesses’ contact details and record their narration of the accident. Who are the witnesses? The witnesses can be other drivers who witnessed the road accident, your passengers, pedestrians, or even road marshals handling the road when the accident happened. These witnesses’ help supports the evidence you present to court together with the police report, which enables you to have a strong case. If you don’t have any witnesses, the next point will help you more.
4. A Lawyer
To ensure your accident injury claim hits a success, you require a competent personal injury lawyer. Whether you were driving or just a pedestrian, a personal injury lawyer will help you sort out the evidence, get you witnesses, and follow the case to the end to ensure you are compensated fully as per the claim. With a competent lawyer, you can be assured of winning the lawsuit since they have the skills, knowledge, and experience with such cases. Fighting the case individually often leads to losing it since the other party might be having a stronger defense.
The above are the main requirements you need for a successful car accident injury claim. Other than these factors, it’s important to call your insurance company and get their advice. With this, you’ll be assured of getting full compensation to help you pay the medical bills, pay for the vehicle repair, and restructure your life after the accident.
