Even if you’re a safe rider on a motorcycle, you can never discount the possibility of getting into an accident. Many drivers don’t take care when on the road and will put you and other drivers in danger.
Motorcycle riders, in particular, make up a larger percentage of accident cases that result in injury. Reports show that over 80,000 motorcycle crashes yearly result in the rider getting injured.
If you’ve suffered from a motorcycle crash, handling the claim process correctly is critical to getting the settlement you deserve. Follow the steps below to maximize your chance of getting a reasonable insurance settlement.
Gather Evidence
The first step to any successful motorcycle claim is to gather evidence at the scene. This means documenting everything that happened and collecting information from everyone involved.
Here are some common items to collect during this process:
- Details about the other driver
- Make and model of other vehicles
- License plates of other vehicles
- Pictures of any damage
- Information from any witnesses
- Exact location information of the accident
- Reports from the police
Remember that the more information you collect, the more data your insurance company has to make a decision. You want everything possible to verify your accident claim and leave no room for insurance providers to ask questions and deny your settlement.
Get a Police Report
In many cases, insurance companies want an official record of your accident. It isn’t enough to claim to be injured and have a damaged vehicle. You need proof from the police that the accident happened.
A police report is what you need for these situations. Make a call to emergency services whenever you’re in a crash. A police car should get dispatched to your area to take note of what happened.
Unfortunately, not every accident will have the police sent to them — especially if the accident isn’t considered severe. In cases like this, you must head to the police station to file a report. Tell them what happened at the station, and you’ll get a police report.
Treat Your Injuries
Treating your injuries isn’t something you should wait to do during the claims process. Yes, it’s true that you need to start the process as soon as possible. But at the same time, you won’t have all the details about your accident if you fail to get treated.
Head to the doctor as soon as possible after the accident. This is especially important if the accident is bad and you don’t feel right.
The information you get from a doctor will be vital for the insurance company when they evaluate your claim. You may end up with medical bills after your crash. The last thing you want is not to include your medical expenses because you failed to report them.
Gather Your Documents
Now that you’ve been through the above steps, you should have a lot of documents in your possession. You have the documentation from the accident, police report, and medical records from your doctor. These are all things your insurance company needs to process your claim.
Try to put everything together in an easy-to-read format. In many cases, you can email all the evidence you have to your insurance company.
Put everything into folders and label every file to indicate what it is. From there, you can send each file individually or compress the information into a compressed .zip file format.
Contact the Insurance Company
Now that you have all the evidence ready for your insurance claim, the next step is to contact the insurance company. Find the phone number of your insurance provider and give them a call.
The person you speak with should be able to walk you through the process. Let them know what happened and the information you have, and the representative will tell you what to do next.
Send everything you have to this person. Once you do, the insurance company will assign a claims adjustor to examine your case.
Remember not to give any information that isn’t necessary when speaking to the insurance company. Everything you say can be used against you, so avoid talking too much about the accident.
Track Ongoing Expenses
It’s essential to track ongoing expenses while you’re waiting on the results of your insurance claim. This is especially important if you have an injury. You can include every medical bill you have in your claim due to the accident.
Ideally, keep sending this information to the insurance company during the process. Doing this will save time after the insurance provider is ready to offer a settlement and help you get the correct settlement.
Contact a Lawyer If Necessary
In many situations, you won’t have a problem after an accident and can get a good settlement. But if the insurance company finds a way to deny your claim, the chances are that it will do so.
This is where hiring a lawyer helps. An experienced accident attorney will examine your case and help you submit a claim with the best chance of success. If you’re denied, your lawyer will work with you to appeal the ruling to help you get the settlement you deserve.
Learn more about motorcycle accident attorneys and how they can help you settle accident claims.
Take a Motorcycle Crash Claim Seriously
You’re dealing with a stressful situation after a motorcycle crash. You don’t only need to worry about how much damage your motorcycle received. If things were bad, you also need to deal with injuries and the treatment that comes with those.
Unfortunately, this can lead to mistakes in the vehicle accident claim process that gives your insurance provider a reason to deny your claim. Make sure you follow the steps above after your motorcycle accident to make sure you file a successful accident claim.
Are you interested in more life advice that will help you take other hectic situations? Head over to the blog to see what our other posts have to say.
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