Nobody thinks clearly right after a crash. Your hands are shaking, the other driver is talking at you, and traffic is inching past. That's exactly why it helps to learn the sequence now, while you're calm: what you do in the first ten minutes shapes everything the insurance companies decide later.

At the scene

  1. 1Check for injuries and get out of traffic. If anyone might be hurt, or the cars are blocking the road, call 911. A police report also becomes powerful evidence later.
  2. 2Photograph everything before the cars move, if it's safe: both vehicles from multiple angles, license plates, the whole scene, skid marks, traffic signs, and any visible injuries.
  3. 3Exchange information: names, phone numbers, insurance company and policy number, plate number, and the car's make and model. Photograph their insurance card and license instead of copying by hand.
  4. 4If anyone saw it happen, ask for their name and number. A neutral witness can settle a he-said-she-said.
  5. 5Say nothing about fault. Skip 'I'm sorry' and 'I didn't see you.' Stick to facts and checking that everyone's okay.

Fault is decided later, by insurers and sometimes police, from the evidence. It is not decided by what you blurt out while shaking on the shoulder. Politeness is fine; apologies get quoted back to you.

Filing the claim

Tell your own insurer about the accident promptly, even if the other driver was clearly ; the other driver may tell their company a different story, and yours can't defend you if it doesn't know. From there, an reviews the evidence, fault gets assigned (sometimes split between drivers), and the damage gets estimated at a shop. If the other driver caused the crash, their should pay for your car and your medical bills. If their insurer drags its feet, you can often use your own to get repaired now and let your insurer chase theirs for reimbursement, which typically gets your refunded if they collect.

The deductible and the rental car

Two realities surprise people mid-claim. First, whenever your own collision coverage pays for your repair, your deductible comes out of your pocket before the insurer pays anything (Auto Insurance Basics covers the coverage types and how deductibles work). Second, your policy only pays for a rental while your car is in the shop if you bought beforehand; it's a cheap add-on that a lot of people discover they don't have at the worst moment. When the other driver is at fault, their insurer generally owes for a reasonable rental instead.

Will your rates go up?

An at-fault accident usually raises your at renewal, and the surcharge can follow you for a few years. A claim where you weren't at fault, or a comprehensive claim like hail damage, tends to matter less, though rules vary by company and state. This is why claim size matters: if the damage is $700 and your deductible is $500, you'd collect $200 now and possibly pay far more than that in higher premiums later. For small, single-car dings, get a repair quote first and consider paying cash. For anything involving injuries or another driver, report it; those situations can grow, and you want your insurer on the record from day one.

The small-claims option

Sometimes the at-fault driver has no insurance, or you decide to skip the claims process for a modest amount. exists for exactly this: filing costs little, you don't need a lawyer, and dollar limits (which vary by state, commonly several thousand dollars) cover most fender-benders. Your scene photos, the police report, repair estimates, and witness contacts are your whole case, which is one more reason the ten minutes of documentation matter. Send the other driver a written demand with your repair estimate first; plenty of these resolve without anyone seeing a courtroom.