Tips for Dealing with Your Vehicle After an Accident

Are you wondering what to do with your vehicle after it has been involved in an accident? Depending on the severity of the collision, you may or may not be able to drive the car again. My car was parked in a parking lot when it was hit by another driver who had lost control while driving down the road. If it can be fixed, it will likely cost a lot of money due to the severity of the damages. Here is what I have learned about dealing with my vehicle after an accident.

Keep a safe distance from the scene. If there is any danger, stay back until a police officer tells you it is safe to approach your vehicle. After my car was hit, a light pole had been knocked over and another was in danger of toppling onto it. Because of the potentially dangerous situation, the cars were taped off and no one was allowed to approach them until it was safe to do so.

File an accident report. You will need to report that an accident occurred. Officers may or may not come to the scene, depending on whether any help is necessary. In my case, the police were on the scene in minutes to take care of the situation. Someone took down information of all vehicles and people involved, including insurance information.

Exchange insurance information. You will need to exchange insurance information with everyone involved. If you were not at fault, take extra care to get information from the driver who was at fault so you can file a claim with their agent.

When it is safe, remove your vehicle from the scene. After everything else had been taken care of, I was able to have my car towed to a safe place. Luckily, someone was on the scene who regularly works with the police department, so I had one less thing to worry about. If there are only minor damages to the vehicle, you may be able to drive it home.

Contact the appropriate insurance agency. File an insurance claim with the other person's agency if they were at fault. If you were at fault, and you only have liability coverage, you will not be covered -- but you should be fine if you have full coverage. Either way, you will need to report the incident to your local agent so they are aware of the situation.

Decide whether to keep the vehicle. You may still be able to drive your car if there are only superficial damages, or possibly even fix them. My car likely will not be fixable, so it will probably be totaled by the insurance company. Then I will only need to determine whether the vehicle is worth buying back.