Insurance claims may seem straightforward immediately after an accident. After all, you were the victim, right? The driver of the other vehicle that hit you was to blame so you should be able to claim compensation from their insurance carrier, shouldn’t you?
‘Straightforward’ insurance claims sometimes aren’t as straightforward as they may seem. A driver who you assumed was obviously to blame may allege that you were at fault yourself. Insurance adjusters may then look very carefully at the available evidence before making a decision about an insurance claim.
That’s where you can help yourself by providing useful corroborating evidence. Witness statements are often invaluable, but so are photos taken for insurance purposes at the accident scene.
The Importance of Photos
Good photos are often some of the best sources of evidence that can make or break an insurance claim. Photos show what has happened to your vehicle and any other vehicle in a crash.
While eyewitness statements are also valuable, their value may not be considered as highly as photos. This may be the case if the witnesses were not truthful, embellish their account, seem to contradict themselves or cannot remember key details.
On the other hand, good photos cannot lie. Crashed vehicles are usually removed as soon as possible after an accident as they may be obstructing the traffic flow.
It would be hard to provide the same hard evidence of fault after vehicles have been removed, but this could be done if photos are taken at the scene of the crash before the vehicles are removed. It is important to take as many photos as possible, from different angles, showing the damaged areas of the vehicles and the surrounding area.
It is unlikely that you would have a camera with you at all times but most people have cell phones with them, or other mobile devices like tablets, that are capable of taking photos. Photos taken with these devices can prove very useful when determining liability in an insurance claim.
Photos are Valuable Evidence in a Personal Injury Claim
A personal injury claim may be the only way that you, as an injured party, can recover damages from an at-fault party’s insurance provider. Personal injury claims depend on proving negligence, i.e. that the other party’s actions caused your injury and/or damage to your property and that these actions were negligent.
As with an insurance claim as described above, good photos taken at the time of the crash can prove invaluable as supporting evidence when submitting a personal injury claim together with witness statements, a police report if available, crash investigation report arranged by your attorney and a report from the repair yard that is dealing with your damaged vehicle.
A Personal Injury Lawyer Could be Needed to Secure an Insurance Claim
If you have any problems claiming insurance, or are determined to pursue a personal injury claim against who you regard as the at-fault party, you may need the services and expertise of an experienced personal injury attorney. Attorneys who deal with personal injury claims do so usually on a contingency fee basis. That means that they do not charge up-front fees, but recover their legal fee if and when a claim has been settled in favor of the claimant. Complete the Free Case Evaluation on this page to be put in contact with a lawyer.
