How to Proceed After a Car Accident

Having a car wreck can be a real pain in the neck-literally and figuratively. Unfortunately, life deals us some heavy blows from time to time, and how we handle these blows tells us a lot about ourselves. If you've been in an accident, hopefully everyone is ok and there's only been minor damage to the cars. Staying calm and following a few easy steps can make handling with the accident and the subsequent insurance dealings, as easy and painless as possible.

Make sure you get and give accurate information.

When speaking with the police, tell them exactly what happened, and stay at the scene of the wreck until the last policeman has left. Speaking with witnesses to make sure their version of the story confirms yours is also recommended. Make sure you have all the information about the other party involved in the crash, such as name, address, driver's license number, license plate, and insurance information. Write down the names of the policemen, and witnesses as well, also noting contact information for the witnesses. All too often, police reports for accidents don't get printed up, so it's up to you to get the necessary information.

Another way to make sure your story is corroborated is to keep a disposable camera in the car. In the event of an accident, you should take some photos of the cars, people involved, and surrounding environment.

Always keep your insurance information on hand in the glove compartment. You can also keep a form there to mark down any notes about the accident.

Contact your insurance company quickly.

Normally, drivers are protected against rising rates if the accident wasn't their fault. Even if the accident is a minor one, your company should be contacted. It's much better for them to hear it from you, than to have another insurance company contacting them, believing you to be at fault.

If you haven't read your insurance policy, you should do so. Familiarizing yourself with all the details of your policy can help you claim all the entitlements which are due. By being unaware of certain policy aspects, you may inadvertently forfeit some rights.

Fix your car.

It sounds easy enough, but getting a quality repair job done on your car, especially when it's on the insurance company's dime, may be harder than you think. Many times, policies are written so that the company has the right to only pay for generic auto parts. Once again, by familiarizing yourself with the fine print of your policy, you can know this in advance. Also, even if the damage doesn't appear to be all that severe, sometimes it's cheaper for insurance companies to declare the car a total loss. In this instance, you'll end up with far less money than the car is worth in the market.

By being prepared, and knowing your policy and your rights as a consumer, you can save yourself lots of headaches, and make what is already a painful situation, at least a little more bearable.