Accidents are catastrophic as these do not only cause injury but also lead to serious property damage. On that note, if you have been in an accident where your car has gotten wrecked but you have sustained minor to no injuries yourself, you should know that dealing with a property damage claim is so much easier than dealing with a personal injury claim.
Here are some tips that can help with settling your claim for property damage after a car accident.
Collect Supporting Evidence
The insurance adjuster, who will be exclusively assigned to your case, is going to make an important decision about who is at fault for the wreck. If you have collided with a truck, then you have a more serious case at hand, which is why we recommend contacting a team of expert trucking accident attorneys who can help you on every step of your case and ensure that you get maximum financial compensation.
Nonetheless, when it comes to collecting supporting evidence, the at-fault driver’s insurance company is actually responsible for paying for your car repair. This aspect perfectly illustrates why you want to ensure that you present the best case possible to the adjuster regarding the fact that you did not have any fault in causing the wreck.
Types of Evidence to Look For
Generally, there are three types of evidence that the insurance company will be looking for to establish liability. Let us have a look at them.
Crash Report
Firstly, the insurance adjuster will be looking at the crash report. If you don’t know what a crash report is, you should know that the crash report is the report prepared by the police officer who shows up at the accident site. The report will include several important things, such as a sketch of how the accident happened. It will also include who hit who and witness statements. Details of the driving conditions are also typically included.
You should get a copy of the police report, too, as your lawyer will need to refer to it; the insurance adjuster will also get a copy of it to establish liability.
Witness Statements
Another type of evidence that the adjuster will look at to decide whether to pay for your car damage or not is the statement of potential witnesses. They will assess whether or not there are witnesses present at the scene of the accident and whether or not they saw who hit who and who caused the wreck.
Ideally, you will want the witnesses to stay at the scene of the accident until the police officers arrive at the accident site. Subsequently, you will want the witnesses to give their respective statements to the police officers.
What this will do for you is that you will have written proof to support your version of the facts. On that note, if there is a disagreement over what happened and how the car wreck unfolded, the police and the insurance adjuster will place a lot of weight on the neutral witnesses and what they say about what happened at the accident site.
Record the Details of Witnesses
There might be witnesses who cannot wait until the police arrive and they are in a hurry to leave; the best you can do is to write down their contact information and write down their names, phone numbers, email, and get their residential addresses. Also, write down their license plate or take a picture of their license plate, as all of this will come in handy later. The police officer and your lawyer will want this information.
Believe us when we tell you that a witness statement is a powerful piece of support for your property damage claim where your car has been wrecked in an accident that another driver caused.
Take Pictures and Videos
The third powerful type of evidence that the insurance adjuster will be looking forward to is pictures and videos of the accident site. Since you are involved in the accident, you are also the first person at the accident site. On that note, if you aren’t injured and you can move around, you are at an advantage of taking pictures and videos of everything at the scene before anyone else does.
So, what you want to do is to take a lot of pictures. The thing about pictures is that these can help with recreating the scene for those who weren’t there, including the insurance adjuster and your lawyer.
How to Take Pictures for Evidence?
When it comes to taking pictures for supporting evidence, you certainly want to take a lot of pictures of the damage to your car and the damage to the other driver’s car. Also, take pictures of the road conditions and tire marks. Take pictures of any skid marks that you can see, as well as the traffic conditions.
Don’t forget to take pictures of the weather conditions and the road conditions. You get the point – basically, you will be taking pictures of anything at the accident scene so that the at-fault driver’s insurance adjuster can see that what you are saying actually happened.
The pictures will prove that your version of events actually matches what the photos depict. You already know that pictures say a thousand words, which is why you must take a lot of pictures and call a lawyer who can also send their team to the accident site to take pictures and gather information for later use at the time of settlement.
Final Thoughts
It is important to mention here that if you are seriously injured, then getting immediate medical treatment should be your top priority. You can ask someone you truly trust, such as family or friends, to take pictures while you seek medical treatment for your injuries. Keep a journal of your injuries as well as the medical bills, as your lawyer will ensure that the at-fault driver’s insurance company pays you for your medical bills, lost wages, and property damage. However, you should never ignore the importance of seeking medical treatment first. Everything else can be done later.
