How to File a Car Accident Insurance Claim, Step by Step

A first-party claim is a claim on your own policy. Collision coverage pays to fix your car whoever was at fault, subject to your deductible. Medical payments coverage, or personal injury protection in no-fault states, pays your early medical bills. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage stands in for an at-fault driver who has no insurance or too little. These are contract claims. The insurer owes you what the policy says, and fault is mostly irrelevant.

A third-party claim is a claim against someone else's liability insurance. You are not that insurer's customer. It owes you nothing under a contract; it owes you only what its policyholder would owe you in court, which means it pays if, and to the extent that, its driver was at fault. That is why the third-party adjuster investigates fault so carefully and why what you say to them has consequences.

Many people run both at once. You claim collision on your own policy so the car gets fixed this week, your insurer pays and then recovers the money from the at-fault insurer through a process called subrogation, and you pursue the injury claim and any loss the policy did not cover directly against the other driver's insurer.

Call your own insurer first. Almost every policy has a cooperation clause requiring you to report an accident promptly, and failing to report can give the insurer grounds to deny coverage later. Give the basic facts: when, where, who was involved, the other driver's details, and whether anyone was hurt. You do not need to assign blame, and you should not guess at anything you are not sure of.

The other driver's insurer will usually contact you within a day or two if their driver reported it. You may also open the claim yourself by calling the number on the other driver's insurance card. Confirm the claim number, the adjuster's name, and whether they have accepted that their driver was at fault. They often will not say yet.

You are not obliged to give the third-party insurer a recorded statement, and most attorneys advise against it early on. A recorded statement given while you are shaken, before you know the extent of your injuries, can be quoted back months later. A short written account of the facts, or a polite statement that you will provide details in writing, is enough to keep the claim moving.

On the property side, the adjuster decides whether the car is repairable or a total loss, what the repairs should cost, and what the car was worth. On the injury side, the adjuster decides liability first, then damages. Liability means who was at fault and by how much. Damages means what the injury has cost you and is likely to cost you.

The adjuster will ask for the police report, photos, the repair estimate, medical records and bills, proof of lost wages, and a signed authorization to obtain records. Provide what is relevant. A blanket medical authorization that lets the insurer pull your entire history, including conditions from years ago, is broader than they need and is commonly used to argue that an injury was pre-existing. Limit authorizations to the period and providers connected to the crash.

Insurers work from claim-evaluation software that assigns value based on diagnosis codes, treatment type and duration. Gaps in treatment, missed appointments, and injuries that do not appear in the first medical record all lower the figure. The practical lesson is to get examined promptly and follow the treatment plan, because the file is being scored whether or not you are thinking about it.

Suppose another driver rear-ends you at a stop light. Your car needs $6,000 in repairs and you have a $500 deductible. You see a doctor the next day for neck pain, are referred to physical therapy, and miss a week of work. Treatment ends after two months with bills of $4,000 and lost wages of $1,200.

Day one, you report to your own insurer and claim collision. Your car goes into the shop within a few days and your insurer pays $5,500. Your insurer then pursues the at-fault insurer for the $5,500 plus your $500 deductible, and when it recovers, your deductible is refunded. Meanwhile you open the injury claim with the at-fault insurer and tell them you are still treating.

Two months later, when treatment is finished and the bills are final, you send a demand to the at-fault insurer: $4,000 in medical bills, $1,200 in lost wages, and an amount for pain and suffering. They respond with an offer, and the negotiation runs from there. The property claim was closed in week two; the injury claim closes when the demand is resolved. All of these numbers are hypothetical, and the real figures depend on the injury and the state.

The claim is decided on the file. Build the file from day one and keep it in one place, because the pieces you cannot reconstruct later are the ones that cost the most.

• Photos of both vehicles, the scene, skid marks, traffic signals, and your visible injuries, taken the same day.
• The police report number and the report itself once it is available, usually within a week.
• Names and contact details of witnesses, and the other driver's license, registration and insurance card.
• Every medical record and bill, including pharmacy receipts and mileage to appointments.
• A letter from your employer confirming time missed and your rate of pay.
• A short daily note on symptoms and limitations while you are treating; it becomes evidence of pain and suffering later.
• Copies of every letter and email from each insurer, and notes of every phone call with date, name and what was said.

In no-fault states, including Florida, Michigan, New York and New Jersey, your own personal injury protection coverage pays your medical bills and part of your lost wages first, regardless of who caused the crash, and you can sue the at-fault driver for pain and suffering only if the injury passes a threshold set by state law. Filing the PIP claim with your own insurer promptly is essential in these states, and some impose short deadlines for seeking treatment, such as Florida's 14-day rule.

In the other states, called fault or tort states, the at-fault driver's liability insurer is the primary source of recovery for both the car and the injury, and your own coverage is a backstop. Comparative negligence then applies: most states reduce your recovery by your share of fault, and Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia can bar recovery entirely if you were partly to blame.

Deadlines differ too. The statute of limitations for suing the at-fault driver is one year in Tennessee and Kentucky, two years in Texas, California and Florida, and three years in New York and North Carolina. Policy deadlines for first-party claims, such as time limits on reporting a crash or filing a PIP application, are separate and often shorter.

Signing a general release to get the car paid for. The release should say property damage only. If it releases all claims arising from the accident, it ends the injury claim, and courts generally enforce what was signed.

Accepting the first injury offer before treatment is finished. Once settled, the claim cannot be reopened even if the injury turns out to be worse. Insurers make early offers for this reason. Waiting until a doctor can say what the long-term picture is costs nothing except patience.

Posting about the crash or your recovery on social media. Adjusters look. A photo of you at a wedding is used to argue you were not in pain, whatever the truth was. Likewise, telling the adjuster you are fine when they call to check in becomes part of the record.

Straightforward property claims with no injury are something most people can handle themselves with the steps above. Injury claims are different, because the insurer is valuing a file against software and experience you do not have, and the first offer reflects that gap. Most personal injury attorneys work on contingency, which means the consultation costs nothing and the fee is a share of what is recovered.

Ask Legal Matters is a free claim-review request service, not a law firm. Requests may be shared with independent attorneys and legal services partners who handle inquiries in your state, and an attorney must evaluate the facts before anyone can tell you what the claim is worth or whether you have one. If you want a second opinion on the claim before you respond to the insurer, you can request a free claim review.

• Car Accident Claims in the United States: The Complete Guide
• Truck Accident Claims: Liability, Federal Rules and Compensation
• Motorcycle Accident Claims: Overcoming Rider Bias and Recovering Fully
• At Fault in a Car Accident? Comparative Negligence Explained
• What Is the Average Car Accident Settlement? What Sets the Value
• Back and Neck Injury Settlement After a Car Accident: Factors
• Bicycle Accident Claim: Hit by a Car While Riding
• Can I Sue for a Slip and Fall? Premises Liability Explained
• Can I Sue My Employer for a Work Injury? Workers' Comp vs Lawsuit

Need local rules? Choose your state from the injury law guides hub or read the statute of limitations by state.