After a car accident, you have to make a lot of phone calls and explain a lot of details. Naturally, you will want to talk to your insurance company and explain what happened. You will also need to contact the other insurance company that is associated with the other driver involved in your accident. If you were part of a multi-car pile-up, you may even be dealing with multiple car insurance companies. At the scene of an accident, it is essential that you get the entire driver’s pertinent information and you give him all of yours. You will want to trade names, addresses, telephone numbers, and vehicle details so that your reports will be backed with valuable facts.

You will want to call the other driver’s insurance agent as soon as possible and explain your injuries and damages. If you were taken to the hospital, add the expenses of any medical treatment onto your claim. Any diagnosis should be reported, and you should describe the damage on your vehicle along with the estimate damage price that was given by a mechanic or car repairman. A claims representative may want to inspect your vehicle, especially if you are claiming that it was totaled. The nicer your vehicle was, the more serious your claim is. Therefore, you will want to comply with all requests from the other insurance company. Give detailed estimates and back your process up with doctors records and repairman’s documents.

Also, list any property that was damaged in the accident. For example, let’s say you were driving home from the lighting store and had a brand new, $700 chandelier in the back of your car. The fragile crystal shattered during the car accident. This would be property damage, and you could seek reimbursement for the chandelier. You can also seek reimbursement if you had hundreds of dollars’ worth of groceries in your car at the time, which were spilled and strewn all over the road. People often forget that these items are worth litigating over until it is too late. Remember that a damaged cell phone, a broken stereo, or a purse that catches fire can all be items listed in your damages. Also, don’t forget the costs of towing and storage at the time of the accident. These can be factored into your settlement as well.

You will also want to remember to add pain and suffering damages and lost work time into the equation when seeking a settlement. You should be compensated for the emotional trauma of the accident. Maybe your car had sentimental value, and was inherited from a deceased family member. Maybe your child was severely injured in the accident, causing you anxiety. Maybe without your car you fell into depression, and are now trying to fight this mental disorder. If you are suffering from stress, or have started to see a psychiatrist because of a disorder associated with the accident, add this into the claim.

If you had to take time off of work after your injury, chances are that you were not paid for that sick time. Unpaid leave means that you lost money, and you will want to seek this in your claim as well. Oftentimes lost wages can bring up the largest portion of a settlement. Once you have compiled a claim with the help of a car accident attorney, it’s time to get a copy of the police report and study your insurance policy to see what protections they offer. You will also want to sign a medical release so that your injury records will be available for the insurance company to study. You will want to make a claim for any injuries that are under your medical pay coverage, even if the other person is responsible.

You will then want your attorney to help you to compile all of your claims for injury and lost wages and may need to file it under uninsured motorist coverage if the other driver did not have insurance. You will want to secure at least two car repair estimates or three repair value appraisals in order to prove that you are setting the damages at the right amount. You may have to present your car for photographs and inspections in order to further prove that the estimates are not inflated. You may need a temporary substitute vehicle following the accident, so ask your insurance agent what options are available. In some cases, the person at fault for the accident may need to cover this expense as well. Remember that the other insurance company may be a bit adversarial. Try to be friendly, and utilize your car accident attorney if things begin to get difficult. Talk to a car accident attorney today to get started on this process and seek the damages you deserve after your car accident!