After you have been in an accident, you may be understandably confused and overwhelmed. But when you calm down and regain your composure, there are some things that you should do to secure your safety and get the funds you need to take care of the damage caused by the accident. One of the things that you need to do is to call your insurance carrier after the accident. You should be sure to do so whether the accident was your fault or not since your insurance policy may require you to do so.
If you were not at fault for the accident, then you should still contact your insurance company, though you should also seek compensation from the insurance company of the party responsible for the accident. If you are going to do so, then legal experts like lawyer Grossman recommend that you get a personal injury attorney to help you.
When to Notify Your Insurance Carrier
It is generally recommended that you report an accident to your insurance carrier within 72 hours. You should do so if you were involved in an incident that may prompt you to file a claim, or that may cause a claim to be filed against you. However, your policy may have a set time in which you should alert your insurance carrier about an accident, so you should check your policy to find out your insurance details.
The kinds of incidents that should be reported to your carrier depend on the nature of the incident and whether or not your policy mandates that you contact your insurer after certain incidents. However, you should contact your insurance provider in the following scenarios:
● You were in a car accident where there were significant injuries; the injuries could be to you, your passengers, or the people in the other vehicle. You should also contact your insurance carrier if there was significant property damage in the accident. This is a scenario where you should report the incident to your carrier whether or not you were injured and whether or not the accident was your fault.
● You are involved in a premises liability case. For example, a house guest suffers an injury on your property because of a condition on your property. That injury could be a slip and fall, a dog bite, a pool accident, or any other injury. You should notify your homeowner’s insurance policy as soon as possible whether or not the injured guest decides to file a claim against you.
Those are two of the most common scenarios where you should notify your insurance carrier, but if you are unsure of whether you should contact your carrier after an accident, then you should ask yourself the following questions: Is there a possibility that I might file a claim because of this incident?; Is there a possibility that someone will file a claim against me because of this incident? If the answer to either of these questions is yes, then you should call your insurance carrier.
What To Tell Your Insurance Carrier
When you make the call to your carrier, they will ask you some questions about the incident and you should make sure that your answers are as detailed as possible. Your carrier will ask you questions like the following.
● How did the accident happen?
● Who was involved in the accident?
● Who witnessed the accident?
● Who was injured in the accident and what were their injuries?
● What property was damaged in the accident?
As stated earlier, you should be completely honest and as thorough and detailed as you can be when answering those questions. However, if you receive a call from the insurance carrier of the other party involved in the accident, then you should not give them too much information. In fact, it may be a good idea if you do not speak to them at all, instead you should refer them to your personal injury attorney if they have any questions to ask you.
The next steps will depend on whether you were the one who filed a claim because you need coverage after the accident, or whether the claim was filed against you by a party seeking compensation. No matter what the next steps are, you should cooperate with both your insurance carrier and your personal injury attorney for the rest of the process.
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