Documenting car accident damage

The photos adjusters ask for

An adjuster who was not there rebuilds the crash from what you hand over. Photos answer three questions: how the cars hit, what was damaged, and what was already damaged before. Take more than you think you need; storage is free and the scene is gone in an hour.

• Positions: wide shots from several directions showing where each car stopped, taken before anyone moves them if that is safe. If the cars must move first, photograph the debris field afterward.
• Damage on every car: each damaged area from about 10 feet away and up close, plus the other car's plate in at least one shot.
• All four corners of your car: these show where there is no damage, which matters if anyone later claims more.
• Inside the car: deployed airbags, warning lights on the dashboard and the odometer reading.
• The road: skid marks, broken glass, lane markings, signs and signals, and anything that blocked the view, such as a parked truck or overgrown hedge.
• Conditions: rain, glare, darkness or road work, ideally in a frame that also shows the cars.

Video, timestamps and data the car keeps

A slow walk-around video of each car, narrated with the time and place, captures angles you miss in stills. Keep the original files, not edited or filtered copies: the date, time and location stored in a photo file help show when it was taken. Back them up to cloud storage or email the same day.

Many dashcams record in a loop and write over old footage, so save the clip right away. If a store, gas station or home camera faces the spot, ask the owner soon, before that footage is recorded over too, and tell the police and your insurer it may exist.

Your car may hold its own record. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) describes an event data recorder as a device that stores vehicle and occupant data for a few seconds, not minutes, around a crash, such as pre-crash vehicle dynamics, driver inputs and seat belt and airbag status. Federal rules in 49 CFR Part 563 apply to the recorders in passenger cars and light trucks built on or after September 1, 2012 that have one. If fault is disputed, tell your insurer about it before the car is repaired or sold for salvage, because the data may not survive either.

Protect the car until it is inspected

The standard personal auto policy written by ISO, which many insurers use as a base, lists duties for anyone claiming for damage to their own car. Two of them shape what you do in the first days:

1. Take reasonable steps to prevent further damage. Cover a broken window, move the car out of the weather if it can be moved, and keep the receipts. The policy pays reasonable expenses for this.
2. Let the insurer inspect and appraise the damage before repair or disposal. Don't authorize repairs or junk the car until the adjuster has seen it or waived an inspection in writing.
3. Find out where the car was towed. Tow yards charge daily storage, so tell your insurer where it is and ask whether it will move the car to a shop.
4. Take your belongings out and photograph the interior while you are there.

A failure to meet these duties can cost you coverage when it harms the insurer's ability to check the claim, which is one reason to report the crash early; see reporting an accident to your insurer.

Records that back up the photos

Photos show damage. Records show cost and value, which is where most disagreements happen. Start a folder, paper or digital, and add to it from day one:

• Estimates: every estimate, including supplements a shop writes after it takes parts off. Under the NAIC model regulation many states follow, if your claim is settled on the insurer's estimate, you get a copy; if your shop's estimate is higher, the insurer pays the difference or names a shop that will do the work for its price.
• Receipts: towing, storage, a rental, rides, a tarp. Write the date and the reason on each.
• Proof of the car's condition: service records, recent tires, brakes or other work, and receipts for added equipment. If the car is totaled, its value is set by comparable cars with similar options and mileage, and the NAIC advises researching the value yourself.
• A claim log: each call with the date, the person's name and what was said, and copies of every email.

If the car turns out to be a total loss, the same folder becomes your evidence when you check the valuation; see total loss claims. If repairs go ahead, choosing a repair shop and parts covers what to ask before you sign the authorization.

Questions people ask