What is Next Step?


An accident happened and you cannot reverse it. What is the your NEXT STEP?


A minor car accident happened: your car was damaged, another person's car was damaged. It was not your fault, and it was probably not 'that other person's' fault. But another person's car hit your car. It was due to some technical problem in that other person's car. Should you call the police or not? Especially if the other person tells you not to call the police. What would you do?


The answer is here: call police as soon as possible. Also, give medical assistance if someone needs it, and call an ambulance.


Step-By-Step Procedure

When a minor car accident happens, many people get lost. They do not know what to do, how to behave, whom to contact.


There are at least ten steps (can be more):


1. Car Accident.

It happened, and you cannot make it unhappen. You need to face the reality no matter how much you hate it. Stay calm. Think positive. You are alive, you will live, you are so lucky in comparison to thousans of those other people who died.

2. Get a Witness

Get a witness and/or call your closest friend who could come to the accident place as soon as possible. If you have a camera with you, take a few pictures. You may need them very much sometime later...

3. Call Police

You (or your friend whom you called; or the other person with whom you had the accident) must call police to register the fact of the accident and for insurance purposes. This will protect you from unnecessary suspicions in case someone else has an accident at approximately the same time in a different location and escapes, and later you could be suspected. Also, this will protect you in case the other person changes his mind and either escapes or starts attacking you, etc.

4. Contact  your insurance company

Go there either alone or with another person. The next day or as soon as possible, you go to the insurance company (either your insurance or the other person's insurance company). You provide the insurance company the document that was issued by police. On the basis of the police document, the insurance company issues another document. This document is for the car repair.

5. Before You Go to the Insurance Company

Go home. Relax. Take a shower. Sit down at your desk. Write a detailed account of your accident. Do not procrastinate. Just do it. Write whatever you remember: the place of the accident; the date; the time of the day; the weather; the road conditions. The more you procrastinate, the more details you will forget.

6. Garage 

You submit the insurance company document to the garage. You pay a certain amount of money (as agreed in your contract) in order to open the case. The garage staff member issues a document for you which states that your car is in the garage and is being inspected and the damage is being estimated. In other words, quotation is issued.

7. Garage Again

You go to the garage a day or two later to get the quotation. 

8. Insurance Company Again

You take the quotation that was issued in the garage to the insurance company the same day or as soon as possible. The insurance company people peruse it and issue (sometimes not; sometimes thay argue; sometimes they try to bargain) a document that needs to be submitted to the car repair garage.

9. Garage Again

You submit the document to the garage (or the insurance company people fax or email it to them). The garage people start fixing your car. It can take two weeks, four weeks or longer to finish it - it depends on the degree of the damage that was made to your car.

10. Garage Again

You go to the garage to find out why your car is being repaired so slowly. You also give them a call (or a few calls).

11. Garage Once More...

You come to the garage to pick up your car but you find out that there are a few defects. You explain these defects to the workers, they agree with you, and the car is still in the garage...

12. Garage

You go to the garage to pick up your car. You really need it. And you pick it up. You get into your car and feel happy. Your life goes on. Do you still remember that you had a car accident?


The above are the basic steps of a minor car accident. There can be, of course, more steps that you might need to take. It depends on the country in which you had the accident and on a specific situation. It is always good to have your driving license, insurance documents, mobile phone, and a camera with you. Also, a few phone numbers such as police, ambulance and your close friends. 


If there is a question of whose fault it was, then you will need to find an attorney and discuss with him your rights and get advice about what you should do next. 


Car accidents affect people both financially and emotionally. You are lucky. You avoided a serious accident. However, the chances are high that at some point, in the future, you will be involved in a minor accident again. Prepare for this. Get ready. 


Is there anything worse than a car accident? The answer is yes: a new car accident. Prevent it!


References

Dos and Donts Following an Auto Accident
http://www.lynchlawyers.com/PDF/AutoAccident.pdf


After an Auto Accident: Understanding the Claims Process
http://www.lawyertoronto.com/after_auto_accident_ENG.pdf


What should I do after a car accident?
http://www.windsorinjurylawyers.com/Areas/Custom/ContentFiles/whattodoafteraccident.pdf