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Submitting a car insurance claim can be a very stressful experience. You’ve probably just been in an accident, which is stressful enough, and now you are worrying about getting everything right so that your claim is approved and you can get back to your normal life. While nothing can make the stress of a claim disappear entirely, insurance companies, especially those offering cheap auto insurance, have made this a much smoother and easier process than it used to be.

Now, the very first thing you need to do after an accident is to make sure that you and anyone else involved receives medical attention, if necessary. The adrenaline is flowing, but you need to take stock of your body, take some deep breaths, and make sure the car is the only thing damaged. If that’s the case, then take another moment to be thankful for everyone’s good health. If there is a medical need, get that taken care of immediately, and then turn to the next step.

* Get information about every car that stops at the scene of the incident. That includes make, model and license plate. Even if they weren’t involved in the accident, get this information; they could be valuable witnesses.

* Write down the insurance, contact and license information for each driver involved in the incident. Make sure you have their name, address, phone number, and all of the information listed on their insurance card. Especially important is the company name, policy number, and company phone number.

* From the witnesses, get names, addresses, and phone numbers, and find out what it is that they saw. Not every witness will have a full view of the incident, so knowing who saw what is very helpful. Jotting a few notes about each witness will come in handy later.

* Write down your own account of the accident, in as much detail as possible. Start with the date, time and location. State which lane you were in, whether the traffic was light or heavy, whether there was any construction, blinding sunlight, and so on. Then list exactly what you were doing right before, during, and after the accident. Put down any details of the appearance and actions of the cars around you.

*If possible, take photographs of your car, other vehicles involved in the accident, and the scene. If something might be relevant to the incident, go ahead and get a picture of it. You can use a cell phone camera for this, or keep a disposable camera in your car for just such an occasion.

* You should talk to your insurance company as soon as possible after the accident. They will ask you a lot of questions, but their process is very efficient and based on thousands of accident reports, so all you have to do is answer carefully and completely.

* If the police are called to the scene, they, too, will have a set procedure for getting information about the incident. Be patient and polite, and answer their questions as completely and accurately as possible, too. Make sure you receive a copy of the accident report, as this will be important as part of submitting a car insurance claim.

Once the actual incident is over, make sure you follow up on everything your insurance company is doing. The whole claim filing is now often taken care of by phone on by mobile insurance vans. Still, you need to follow up. Calling the insurance company once a week to check wouldn’t be a bad idea and, obviously, return any call from them as soon as possible. Finally, check to see whether your cheap auto insurance quote will change because of the claim.

An accident can be a terrible event, but you can make the aftermath easier to handle if you just remember to stay calm, be thorough, and follow up. Do these things and soon you’ll be back on the road and the claim will be just a memory.

Last 5 posts by Susan Tanner

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Tags: Auto Insurance