You’ve been hurt in a car accident. You likely came away with injuries, a wrecked car, and medical bills, and you’re looking to file an insurance claim to recoup all of those losses. Whether or not your claim will be honored depends on the strength of the evidence you provide.
Bottom line is, you must be able to prove that the injuries and financial losses resulted from that accident. And here’s what to present to the insurance company as evidence:
Photos and videos of the scene
Images and videos of the accident scene are the first pieces of evidence you should collect if you’re looking to file a personal injury claim. And you need to get them right after the crash, not weeks later.
The images should show the position of each vehicle relative to each other on the road. Apart from serving as pictorial evidence that the crash happened, the pictures may, in certain cases, help establish who was in the right and who was in the wrong, depending on the cars’ relative positions.
If there are skid marks, capture them. Video the road conditions, get close-up shots of damage points like broken glass, indentations, and deployed airbags.
Also capture any available landmarks in the area.
Visual record of your injuries
The next piece of evidence you need when filing a car accident claim is pictorial evidence of your injuries.
This is not a one-time task. Injuries go through phases. A wound may look worse on day 3 than day 1 and much better on day 7. Which is why you should document the entire progress, right from the accident scene. The timeline of the healing progress is concrete evidence that can help establish how the accident impacted your life.
Even when no physical injuries are observed, don’t hesitate to visit the doctor for a scan, as imaging can pick up internal bleeding and traumatic brain injuries that your phone can’t capture.
Witness reports
To avoid having a situation where it’s your word against the other driver’s, write down the names and contact information of witnesses on the scene. If they’re willing, have them explain what they saw and record a video of their account on your phone.
Do not pressure anyone, but at least try to get the contact information of a few witnesses. Their testimony can prove favorable if you experience pushback from the defendant.
The police report
The police report can serve as an unbiased piece of evidence that can help establish fault in a car accident. So right after a car accident, never forget to call the local law enforcement. They get to the scene, document the date, time, location, parties involved, and are in the best position to question witnesses right there on the spot.
Note that police reports are not definitive proof of liability in accident cases. However, they can provide important information that your attorney will use when constructing your case.
Ensure you get the officer’s badge number and ask how you can get in touch later to obtain a copy of the report once it is filed.
Your written account
Right there on the accident scene while everything remains fresh in your memory, rush to your phone’s notebook app and write down every key detail leading up to the collision. What you were doing, what you observed the other driver do, everything you noticed. Memories are fickle; in two weeks, you might have trouble remembering minute details.
Which is why you have to give ink to your memories as soon as you can. Your written account can also help experts during accident reconstruction.
All that we have discussed until now are the key pieces of evidence you can collect on the accident scene. If your injuries incapacitate you such that you’re unable to document anything before you’re rushed to the hospital, get in touch with a car accident lawyer as soon as you can while on the sickbed. They can, on your behalf, begin the process of acquiring surveillance footage, retrieving a copy of the police report, tracking down witnesses, and documenting vital pieces of information while they’re still fresh.
Medical records
Whether you’re seriously injured or not, it’s in your best interest to visit the doctor within 24 hours of an auto crash. That’s because medical records are the most important piece of evidence in car accident claims.
Every doctor visit leaves a paper trail connecting your injuries to the accident. The longer you wait, the easier it is for the defendant to say your injuries probably occurred much later while you were climbing the stairs in your home, and you’re conveniently trying to pin it on someone else.
Even though you feel fine, visit the doctor for medical evaluation within 24 hours. A scan can reveal a TBI. If nothing is detected, your doctor can recommend a follow-up schedule. Make sure you return as instructed. Accident-related injuries such as TBI and whiplash do not always manifest immediately but can show up days later. If records show you first visited the hospital a week after the accident when the symptom showed up, the insurance company could easily argue that the accident wasn’t serious enough to have caused it. If it were, you’d have seen the doctor at once right after the crash.
Financial losses, bills and receipts
Document every penny spent on your treatment. Keep every receipt safely. Track all transportation costs to medical appointments, the cost of hiring help due to your incapacitation, and how much income you’ve lost throughout recovery. The total is the amount you’d be reimbursed as economic damages.
Next steps
If there’s much money on the line, expect the insurance company to fight back. While they may sound nice, no insurer enjoys paying out money to victims. So they look for whatever reason they can find to minimize your claim.
It’s wise to get the support of a car accident lawyer in Columbus when going up against insurance companies. They have the experience required to counter the tactics of insurers and their defense attorneys, so you don’t put yourself at a disadvantage. And they can help you piece together all the evidence you’ve collected to build a watertight case.
This content is provided for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. AFP editorial staff were not involved in the creation of this content.
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