What to Do After an Accident

The decisions you make in the first few days after an accident can affect your case for years. Most people get this wrong, not because they are careless, but because the people who contact them first are not on their side.

At the scene

Get medical attention, even if you think you are not badly hurt. Adrenaline hides injuries, and a gap between the accident and your first treatment is the first thing an insurance company will point to.

Call the police and make sure a report is made. If the police do not come, go to the precinct and file one.

Photograph everything while it is still there — the vehicles, the roadway, the defect you tripped on, the ice, the missing handrail, your injuries. Conditions get repaired and cleaned up within days, and photographs taken at the scene are often the only proof that the condition existed.

Get names and phone numbers for any witnesses. Not just a name. A witness you cannot reach is not a witness.

Do not say you are fine, and do not guess about what happened. Report what you know.

In the first few days

Go back and photograph the scene again in daylight if you did not get good pictures.

Write down what happened while it is fresh, including the time, the weather, what you were doing, and what you remember seeing and hearing.

Do not post anything on social media about the accident, your injuries, or your activities. Even if you think it is a private post — it is not. Social media posts, texts and emails are discoverable and can and will be used against you in a Court of law.

When the insurance company calls

They will call, usually within a day or two, and they will be friendly.

Do not give a recorded statement before you have spoken with a lawyer. Do not sign anything — not a release, not a medical authorization, not a check endorsement. Do not allow an investigator or insurance company representative into your home, not even from your own insurance company. Refer anyone who contacts you about the case, including a representative from your own insurance company or the police, to your lawyer.

Call us before you talk to them. The call is free and it costs you nothing to find out what you are dealing with.

Once you have a lawyer

Do NOT speak or communicate (phone, text, email, social media, etc.) with anyone other than your attorneys and your doctors about the case. Do NOT sign anything without first speaking with your attorneys.

Immediately forward all mail and emails you receive about the case to your attorneys’ office. Keep the envelopes it came in in case you need to prove when it was mailed to you.

Keep a log of all medical providers and facilities you see — name of provider or facility, specialty, date, location — and time lost from work.

Keep a log of all out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with your accident (prescriptions, medical supplies, household help and transportation), and forward all receipts and bills for same to your attorneys’ office. If it is a car accident, all receipts and bills for out-of-pocket expenses must be processed for No-Fault reimbursement within 45 days of being incurred.

Furnish your attorneys with all photographs of anything having to do with the accident, including photos of the scene, damage to the vehicle, people involved, injuries, witnesses, information obtained at the accident scene, and anything else relevant to the case.

If you are making a property damage claim for damage to your car, provide your attorney with an estimate or paid bill from an autobody shop of your choosing of the cost of repairs.

If your accident occurred while you were in the course of your employment, in addition to your personal injury claim, you must also make a Workers’ Compensation claim to have your medical bills and lost wages paid.

Do not wait

Evidence disappears. Video gets overwritten — a month is typical and it can be much shorter. Defects get repaired. Witnesses move. And if your claim is against the City or another public authority, the deadline to file a notice of claim is measured in weeks, not years.

The Law Offices of Kaplan & Kaplan is a Brooklyn personal injury and civil rights law firm representing people injured throughout New York City, Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester. To speak with a lawyer about your accident, call us.