A car accident can be a traumatic experience that includes both physical and emotional pain. It's not something most people think about, but what happens next?

From the physical safety of those involved to the emotional shock of being in an accident, the last thing anyone thinking about is insurance.

However, once the initial shock has settled down, you will need to quickly take a series of steps to make sure your rights are protected.

Being involved in any kind of car accident is stressful and chaotic, and yet it’s something that many of us will experience during our driving life.

To help you navigate this difficult situatio n, this video has put together a comprehensive guide on what to do in the event of an auto accident.

It covers safety tips to navigating insurance claims, allowing you to protect yourself and your vehicle.

So you are involved in a car accident and luckily, you are not injured. You don’t need major medical attention.

Once you’ve gathered your thoughts, what do you do first?

Tip #1 - Have a Dashcam. Take pictures and videos of everything.

As much as you can. You can snap the third party’s license plates, driver's license, and their insurance information like their pink slip.

I’ve had clients who tried to move aside with the third party but they tried to drive off. So best to capture their license plates for your own protection.

Take pictures of the scene to show where your car is at.

If you got video recordings of the accident, that’s even better because you can show the police your side of the story with visuals. It really brings the story forward with evidence to back up your statement.

For example, It is your right of way to turn at the stop sign but the other vehicle decided not to stop at the sign. They drove into you.
At the scene, the other driver could say ‘It was not your turn’. Having a dashcam could help validate your story and your testimony. If the other driver lied, this would help you prove your innocence

I have had a client who had a hit and run situation on a private property like the mall.

There was a security camera that provided our client information of the third party with their license plate number who fled the scene.

The police were able to track down that third party and we were lucky that we can process the at-fault claim on the third party. My client’s car got repaired without a deductible.

Here’s typically what happens with hit & run situations: You would have to use your collision coverage where the deductible would have applied.

It’s not your fault but we can’t find who is responsible for the claim then we have to use your collision coverages.

Insurance companies are using the honor system here by covering your car if there’s a hit and run. However, you could have accidentally driven into something and lied about it.

How can they tell two cases apart?

They can’t. That’s why deductibles will apply if we can’t find the third party who should be held liable.

Since deductibles can cost $500 to $5,000, this may get the client to privately negotiate with the auto shop for repairs especially if it’s a minor fix.

Tip #2 Call the Police

Here are top reasons why you should make a call to the police:

Someone is hurt. They may need medical attention.

You think another driver may be guilty of a criminal code offence like impaired driving

You suspect you’re the victim of a staged collision

There is significant property damage or the the vehicle is un .

and if they are busy, you may need to go to the nearest collision Report center. However, that is dependent on your car’s situation.

Is it drivable?

You’re going to notice a lot of tow trucks are at the scene. They are eager to remove your car and if there’s a police on site, that may make it easier.

Just know that you have the right to direct where you want your car should go.

Please be careful, do not agree to get your car fixed at an unknown auto shop and be stored at an unknown place.

We’ve heard over the years that clients got stuck with using a specific body shop, or towing shop and weren’t able to get their car back because they agreed to go into a contract with the towing company.

Clients get upset because the police directed these third-party towing services to help remove their cars from the scene of the accident.

It can be an overwhelming situation where you weren’t reading the fine print of the contract during the signing.

Please review it and confirm with your claims department before proceeding.

If the police officer can’t get your statement on-site, the towing company should be taking your car to the nearest collision center where you can make a statement of what happened. The collision officer will assess damages to your car and take pictures for documentations.

The towing company may bill you and make sure to keep a copy of that invoice for a chance of reimbursement.

I’m not saying it will be covered by your insurance but it can be included in the total cost of your accident.

In regards, to what is covered, will be determined later by your claims adjuster.

After filing your report you should be getting this information:

Officer’s name
Badge number
Official report number of the incident

I highly recommend that you take pictures of the business card and report number. Send it to your broker or agent via email, therefore there’s a digital copy so you can follow up later.

#3 Call your claims line

You can give them some claims information and will provide them with more details later.

If your car can’t be driven due to the damages, you need to move it to the autoshop and opening the claim would help find the nearest location that works with your insurance provider.

Please note: when you’re opening a claim, you need to provide:

Ideally, Police report number

I understand that if your accident happened after hours, it may be difficult to file a report. My client’s car got stolen around midnight. She had to wait until the next morning around 8am to file her report with a police officer. Just explain that to the insurance carrier or your broker.

You need to provide them a story of what happened but you can help elaborate more later depending your circumstances.

Ask the claims team, which car autoshop should you go to and where you can rent a car if the car is deemed unsafe to drive.

They can provide you their recommendations which they would arrange the payments made out of their account instead of you paying out of pocket.

Please note: If you go straight to car rental before opening a claim, you would be responsible for paying the bill and submit it to insurance company later, hoping that it would be covered.

I recommend go through the claim’s team before choosing a car rental or autoshop.

Just so you can have an informed decision in regards of your coverage, deductible and what’s expected of you.

Another cool tip if you’re getting repairs done, ask your claims adjuster when using their preferred auto shop, do they guarantee the work.

For example, my brother’s trunk was supposedly be fixed after his car accident. He used to push a button for the trunk to open. After getting it fixed for a week, the function stopped working.

The car was approximately 3 years old. Still got a lot of life in it. We were able to ask autoshop to fix it even though the claim closed a week ago.

Having that relationship with the autoshop and the carrier has it’s benefits like this.

It didn’t cost my brother more to fix the button.

If you are choosing the repair shop of your choice, your claims adjuster needs to pre-approve the cost before the repairs start or else you are on the hook for the repairs not the insurance company.

There are steps involved during a claim. Allow them to do those steps or you can jeopardize your reimbursements.

Now that you reported the car accident. Clients look for auto rental.

Usually, I recommend that you call the claims department and confirm where you should go to get a rental .They can arrange it for you and they will confirm if you got coverages in place.

How do you know that you have car rental allowance? You may want to get a copy of your auto policy and look for those coverages like OPCF 20 and 27 under the car that was in the accident.

If you got liability only which is also known as one-way coverages then you wouldn’t have car rental coverages.

#4 Be prepared to repeat your story. Document, document and document.

You’re going to re-tell your story probably at least 3 times.

When, where, what, how, who was involved?

When did it happen? Provide the date and time. Weather conditions and road conditions.

Where it happened? Intersection or approximate address

What happened? Provide a short summary of what took place.

Who was involved? The third party’s information, the passengers in your car and if you had any witnesses.

Which vehicle? Year, make model.

It is very normal to repeat your story.

Police on site or collision report centre, claims department and your broker may not have the same access to your story that is why you will have to retell your story multiple times.

Customers tend to get angry because of this.

My suggestion is sitting down to write down the story and provide as much description as possible that way it sorts through the information of the accident.

You can forward that email to all parties involved like your broker and claims adjuster. Having it in writing helps with describing what happened and easier for you to re-tell it later on.

For example: my client had broken telephone with her husband and daughter during the accident. She’s retelling the accident and misses out the fact, her daughter was the driver. She assumed that her husband was the driver that day. It happens.

Imagine claims adjuster catching two different statements, one written by the police and one given by the client. Your story needs to be the same or else it could raise a red flag.

You could be suspected for auto insurance fraud by re-telling the wrong story. We don’t want that and to protect yourself, please have the story in writing and confirmed all facts before sending it off.

Often enough our conversations are not always recorded or recalled properly. I find that having a trail of emails is safer than conversations between the client and everyone.

In my opinion, after every conversation, write an email to summarize that call.

#5, when in doubt, go to the government website because they have guidelines.

FSRA also known as Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario.

IBC also known as Insurance Bureau of Canada.

Here are some tips they wrote on their site:

Do not authorize any repairs or repair the damage yourself unless the repair will prevent further damage.

Do not admit liability at any time until the claim has been discussed directly with your insurance adjuster.

Make no voluntary payments.

Please be careful when you decide to do private deals with a third party.

This happened to one of my clients where they offered the third party $1,000 cash so that they don’t report this accident. However, the third party decided to file the auto claim days later so they can get Accidental Benefits.

My client was furious because they thought the claim wouldn’t be made. Sadly, people can change their minds and there’s nothing you can do about it. You have to prove that you made the payment.

How can you when it’s cash?

Please notify the claims department as soon as possible.

If a crime has been committed, call the police.

You are supposed to report all accidents that may cost over $2,000 to the police.

Prepare an inventory of damaged or lost property.

Now that you had time to review your coverages and talk to a claims adjuster.

Here are 3 scenarios that I tell my clients to watch out for: These three situations are highly known as you being at fault.

Turning left (You are the one who have to cautious. It doesn't matter if the opposing car is running a red light. You have to be cautious while turning left)

Hitting someone's back bumper. You are 100% at fault because by law, you're supposed to keep a safe distant with the car in front of you. It was part of the driving manual of your G1. You can't blame the car in front of you for braking so fast. It will not work.

Hitting a pedestrian or cyclist - you will always be at fault. It doesn't matter if they ran for the red light or if you couldn't see them in your blind spot.
These people do not have a metal car protecting them. If you hit them, the damages are large and you are considered at fault. There’s no sympathy for you.

Tip#6 - Medical attention

Sometimes it may take hours or days for you to feel something is off, physically. If you have any pain after the accident, please seek medical attention.

Notify your claims adjuster if you require medical attention that may not be covered under OHIP. They would provide you further forms to be filled out by a medical personnels to seek coverages.

If you are injured in an auto accident, you may be entitled to the following accident benefits:

Income Replacement compensates you for lost of income. (Minimum range $400 or 600 per week)

Caregiver covers for expenses when you cannot continue as the main caregiver for a for your family like your children. (Typically $250/per week)

Medical covers medical expenses incurred when you’re injured.

Rehab costs like physiotherapy or chiro.

Attendant care covers the expenses of an aid or a nurse to attend you.

Compensation for other expenses such as the cost of family visiting you during treatment or recovery, housekeeping, home maintenance, report or replacement of items lost or damaged in the accident.

If the client passes away during the accident, the family may receive death and funeral compensation like $8,000 funeral benefits.

If you purchased auto insurance without looking at your limits, typically you signed up for standard coverages to keep your auto insurance low.

You may have the typical $400-600/per week income replacement.

For non-catastrophic injuries coverage of $130,000 combined for Medical, rehab and attendant care.

For Catastrophic losses, you may have up to $1 Million combined for medical, rehab and attendant care.

If you feel these limits are too low for you, have a discussion with your broker to seek special coverages or increase limits.

Tip #7 Reasons why your claim can get denied.

Please do not make these mistakes:

Driving without a valid driver's license. Always make sure your driver license renew on time.

Driving without the car owner’s consent.

Do not drive your parent’s car without their consent while they are on vacation or your friend’s car.

It doesn’t matter how close you are with them. If they confirm that they didn’t consent you driving the car, it means you stole the car. If this was an at fault claim, they can come after you personally legally. The insurance company will pay to the owners of the car but they can legally pursue you. Maybe not right away but later on.

Being a passenger in a vehicle driven by someone without the car owner’s consent. You were going on a joy ride with your friend but they didn’t have their parent’s permission. Yes you may not have coverage even though you’re an innocent party.

Driving without valid insurance. There’s a video that I recently made about how insurance carriers can cancel the auto insurance. You may want to refer to that video for more details. One big example is not paying for your insurance on time.

Driving while impaired or refusing to provide a breath sample.

Using a vehicle in connection with criminal activities for example racing, stunt driving.

Knowingly misrepresenting information at the time you applied for insurance.

You lied about your experience, driving record, and other details before your contract began with the insurance carrier.
You purposely provide false information.

Here are common questions asked at the time of claim

What is at fault? It means you are guilty and has caused the accident.
What is not-at fault? It means the police and claims adjuster has deemed that it wasn’t your fault for causing the accident.
What is a deductible? This is applicable when you are at fault in the accident and now you have to pay your deductible which typically can range from $500 to $5,000. You would have to pay that amount first before the insurance company’s coverage kicks in for the difference.
For Example: you got into an at fault accident. Your car needs $10,000 in repairs and

your deductibleis $1,000. How much do you have to pay?

The answer is $1,000 for you and $9,000 from the car insurance carrier.

What if your car accident is very minor?

I would highly recommend that you have conversation with your broker or agent to discuss about your claims.

I help my clients understand what their options are and provide some guidance like asking the client to get a second autoshop quote to compare the cost of repairs.

Dealership may quote $3,000 for windshield.
Another autoshop that the client goes is quoting $1,000 windshield.

However, there are no simple solution that fits all. It would be best to understand what is expected of you and how to approach it. It’s case by case.

There was a new rule for accidents after June 1, 2016 that accidents not resulting in injuries meaning no medical attention because it’s very minor.
The insurer making payments and damages to each vehicle including damages to property are less than $2,000 and are paid by the at-fault driver, the collision cannot be used to increase your premium.

What does this mean?

At fault accidents can affect your record for the next 6, 10 or even 20 years depending on the carrier you want to move to.

For Example:

Travelers and Definity looks at 6-9 years.

Aviva looks at 10 years.

CAA looks at 20 years.

Every carrier is different.

This provision is limited to one minor collision every three years.

My client usually asks “well how would we know if the third party doesn’t file repairs and accidental benefits? How do we find out if they spent less than $2,000? Should I just pay out of pocket?”

The truth is we wouldn’t know until it’s settled. It may take weeks or months. That’s why you do your best given what you know to evaluate what works for you in your case.

No one can give you the right answer because it infringes privacy rules and you’re supposed to proceed with the claim if you feel it is financial hardship on you.

The goal of insurance is to put you back in the spot before the accident.

You’re not supposed to gain anything especially when you are at fault.

We can’t control the third party’s actions.

I know this is quite a bit to pack in but to summarize, here are the Tips to auto claim

#1 Have a Dashcam. Take pictures and videos of everything.

#2 Call the Police especially when someone is injured.

#3 Call your claims to line whether it’s with your broker or the insurance carrier.

#4 Be prepared to repeat your story. Document, document, and document

#5, when in doubt, go to the government website because they have guidelines.

#6 Get Medical attention if necessary

#7 Be careful of reasons why your claim can be denied. Please pay your insurance on time

So there you have it. Having been in an auto accident can be overwhelming and there are a lot of things that need to happen to ensure your protection.