Even a minor fender bender can be a very shocking experience, especially if you’ve never been in a car accident before. But even if you have, it can be difficult to know exactly how to respond. You will have lots of questions running through your head.

Should I call the police?

What about insurance?

Do I need to call a tow truck?

These are just a few of the questions that come up after an accident. We’re here to clear things up and give you an easy-to-follow guide from the moment of the wreck until it’s all in the rearview mirror.

One thing we’d like to get out of the way up front: This guide assumes no major injuries. If there are serious injuries, there are other considerations related to injury compensation that are beyond the scope of this guide.

What To Do Immediately After an Accident:

If you’ve been in an accident, whether you think you’re at fault or not, the first thing to do is assess yourself for injuries. Keep in mind that adrenaline can mask pain, so some injuries may not be apparent right away, but if you can tell that you are injured, you may need an ambulance. If you have any passengers in your car, you need to check on each of them once you’ve assessed yourself. If you’re unsure of anyone’s condition, dial 911.

If you are not hurt and neither are your passengers, then, if it is safe to do so, check if any other vehicles involved in the accident have injured people in them. Again, it is crucial to remember to only do this if it is safe for you to do so. Don’t cross a busy highway or approach a vehicle in flames.

How To Talk to The Other Driver After an Accident:

If there are no injuries, the next step is to make contact with the other driver. A key piece of advice is to avoid admitting any fault at this stage. You may not know all of the facts, making it impossible to determine if you were at fault. Plus, your heartrate will be up and you’ll still be feeling the effects of all the adrenaline from the wreck itself, which can skew your judgement. It’s best to focus on exchanging the necessary information and contacting the authorities. Offer your insurance information and ask politely for theirs. A simple way to retain their information is to take a photo of their insurance card. Make sure it is clear and shows the name of the insurance company and the policy number. You should be able to find a phone number or website that you can use to report a claim as well. This is important information.

Another thing to keep in mind is that after a wreck, tempers can flare. Make sure to keep your own emotions in check, even if you are certain the other driver is at fault. Losing your cool after a car accident can make a bad situation much worse very quickly. Conversely though, you don’t know how the other driver might react either, so be very cautious when first approaching the other driver. If they already seem angry or hostile before you even talk to them, call the police and let them mediate the dispute.

Should I Call the Police After a Car Accident?

If there is any damage at all, you need to get the police involved. It may seem like an inconvenience and it might even annoy the other driver, but it is important if for no other reason than to get an official report from law enforcement that you can submit to the insurance company. The officer that arrives will want to see your driver’s license, registration, and proof of insurance. Go ahead and get these things out if possible. The police may also want to take a statement from you. This is another time that it is important to avoid admitting fault. Be factual, but don’t say things like “I should have seen him coming” or “I guess I was too close behind him”. If you are genuinely at fault, that will probably be obvious from the circumstances. Otherwise, that can all get sorted out later.

Once you’ve given your statement and exchanged information with the other driver, you’ll probably be free to go. If you haven’t done so already, now is a good time to take photos of the damage to your vehicle and the other vehicle. The more you take, the better, but be sure to focus on any damage you notice, as well as a couple of shots that include the full vehicle.

After photos have been taken, if your car is drivable, then you can drive away. If it is not, then it will need to be towed. If you’re in doubt about if the car is drivable or not, then it’s best to call a tow truck.

Where Do I Have My Car Towed After a Wreck?

You could make your insurance agent proud and keep a piece of paper in your glove box with the name and address of a bodyshop that is part of your insurance company’s preferred network. Then, all you’d have to do is tell the tow truck driver to take it there. Or, you can do a quick search from your phone while you wait on the truck to arrive and tell the driver where to take it.

It is important to remember that you aren’t obligated to have your vehicle repaired at a certain shop. You can use any shop of your choice, however, there are benefits to using the insurance company’s preferred network. One of these is that they will already have negotiated rates for work. Insurance will not pay exorbitant rates for work done on your car. If the shop you send it to charges more than what are considered “prevailing rates” then the insurance company may dispute this cost. The bodyshop and insurance company may negotiate and meet somewhere in the middle, or if they can’t, then the insurance company will tell you that you need to take the car to a different shop that will do the work for less, or you will have to pay the difference between what they will pay and what the shop is charging. This is why if possible, its usually a good idea to have the car taken to a bodyshop in the company’s network. They can also usually do all the estimating necessary so the company doesn’t have to send out someone to inspect the vehicle to determine the damage. This will speed up the process.

Whose Insurance Should I FIle a Claim With After an Accident?

There is another big decision that you need to make. Should you file a claim with your insurance, or with the other driver’s insurance? If you believe the other driver is at fault, it is best to file the claim with their insurance company. This means that their liability coverage will handle the payments for your claim. You won’t have a claim on your insurance record and you won’t have a deductible to pay.

If you believe that the accident was in fact your fault, then go ahead and open a claim with your policy. If you rear-end someone sitting at a stop light, its a pretty safe bet that you’re at fault. In this case, you will owe your deductible, and its possible that your rates may go up at your policy’s renewal if you do, but the other party’s insurance will not cover the damage if you were at fault.

This example also illustrates an important distinction between the different coverages that make up an auto insurance policy. In this case, the car you rear-end will file a claim against the liability coverage on your policy, since you are liable for their damages. You would file a claim under your policy’s collision coverage, since that coverage only applies to your vehicle or vehicles.

If you’re not sure, but you think the other party was to blame, you can always file a claim with the other driver’s insurance first and see if they choose to cover it, but if they don’t you’ll still have to file with your company anyway to get your damage repaired. It’s truly up to you, but just remember there are pros and cons to both options.

Once the claim has been opened with either your company or the other driver’s, you’ll need to give a statement to the claims adjuster. Just like when you spoke to the police, remember to be honest, but factual. Don’t overshare or include your opinions or judgements of the situation. Just the facts. Let the adjuster come to their own conclusion.

If you filed with the other driver’s insurance and they do accept fault, from this point, the process should be fairly straightforward. Their policy should pay for a rental car for you while you wait on your car to be fixed or replaced, and the insurance company will communicate with the bodyshop about damages and estimates. Depending on how expensive your car is and the amount of damage to it, you could run into one more issue. The other party’s limits of liability.

In South Carolina, the minimum amount of liability insurance required for property damage is $25,000. If the other driver only had the minimum amount of insurance required by law, the maximum their policy will pay for all property damage is $25,000, even if your brand new BMW that cost $70,000 is totaled. In this case you have a few options. You could sue the other driver for the difference and hope to win in court. This is slow and expensive but if you think the other person has the assets to pay you for the difference, something you might consider.

If you had underinsured motorist coverage on your policy, you can file a claim with that portion of your policy to make up the difference, if you bought enough coverage. Underinsured Motorist is an optional coverage that many people leave off their policy, so if you aren’t sure if you have it, or how much you have, this is a great question for your agent.

Finally, you could just file a claim under the collision coverage of your policy, pay your deductible, and move on. Your insurance company will then probably try to pursue a process called subrogation, where they go to the other company and try to get some of their losses back. If they are successful, they will give you your deductible back.

If you filed with your own insurance company, the process will be similar, with a few differences. The first major difference is your rental car. If you have rental car coverage, your policy will pay up to a certain amount for a car, per day, for thirty days. Generally speaking after this point, you’ll be on your own to pay for a rental if you still need it after this point. Also, you won’t have to worry about the other driver’s limits of liability, as your collision coverage will pay what it costs to repair the vehicle, or its actual cash value if it’s totaled. You will owe your deductible however.

Once the work has been completed, you can pick up your car and move on, and the claim will be closed.

You’re probably not reading this from the side of the road after a collision, but if you’ve been in an accident and you haven’t filed a claim yet, be sure to file a claim with the appropriate insurance company. We have seen clients in the past file a claim with their own company for accidents they were not to blame for when they could have filed with the other party’s insurance simpley because they just didn’t know how the process works.

Even situations that seem simple can get complicated quickly, and insurance is an area most people don’t deal with every day. That’s why having a local agent is so helpful. Having a knowlegeble, friendly agent to help you through the claims process will make it much smoother for you and relieve a lot of the worry that things aren’t being handled the right way.