What to Do After a Car Accident That Was Not Your Fault

Being hit by someone else does not automatically mean their insurer pays what you are owed. What decides that is largely what you do in the first hour, the first week and the first phone call from their adjuster.

The steps below are the ones that protect a claim, in the order they matter. Rules differ between states, particularly on who pays and how long you have, so the state specific points are flagged as they come up.

At the Scene

1. Check for Injuries and Get Safe

People first. Call 911 if anyone is hurt. If the vehicles are drivable and you are in traffic, move them to the shoulder, and if they are not, leave them and get yourself away from the carriageway.

2. Call the Police

Do this even for a minor collision and even if the other driver asks you not to. A police report is independent evidence of what happened, who was there and what was said, and an insurer treats it very differently from two drivers disagreeing afterwards.

If officers will not attend, which happens for minor damage in some areas, file a report yourself at the station or online that day.

3. Photograph Everything, Before Anything Moves

• Both vehicles, wide shots showing their positions relative to each other and the road
• Close ups of every area of damage on both cars
• The other vehicle’s plate, and its make and model
• Skid marks, debris and broken glass, which show the point of impact
• Traffic signals, signs, road markings and any obstruction to visibility
• The weather, the light and the road surface
• Your own visible injuries

More than you think you need. You cannot go back for a photograph of a scene that was cleared an hour later.

4. Collect Details

• The other driver’s name, address, phone number and licence number
• Their insurer and policy number
• The registered owner’s name if it is not them
• The names and numbers of any witnesses, which is the item most often skipped and hardest to recover later
• The attending officer’s name, badge number and the report number

What Not to Say

Three things, and the first is the one that costs most.

1. Do not apologise. “I’m sorry” is reflex politeness and it is recorded as an admission. Say you hope everyone is alright instead.
2. Do not discuss fault at all, with the other driver or with their passengers. You do not have the full picture at the roadside and neither do they.
3. Do not say you are fine. Say you are not sure and will be checked. Adrenaline hides injuries for hours, and “I was fine at the scene” follows a claim around for months.

Get Checked Medically, Even If You Feel Alright

The same day if you can, within 24 to 72 hours at the latest.

Two reasons, and both matter. Medically, whiplash, concussion and some internal injuries do not announce themselves immediately, and adrenaline suppresses pain for the rest of the day. Legally, the medical record created at that visit is what ties your injury to this collision.

A delay of two weeks between the crash and the first appointment is the single most common argument an insurer makes to reduce a payout: if you were hurt, why did you wait? The same applies to gaps afterwards. Attend the follow ups, finish the course of physiotherapy, and do not disappear for a month because you felt better.

Who Actually Pays, and Why It Depends on Your State

This is the part people are most often surprised by.

At Fault States

In most of the US, the at fault driver’s liability insurance pays for the other party’s injuries and damage. You make a third party claim against their insurer, or your own insurer pays and recovers from them afterwards.

No Fault States

About a dozen states run a no fault system. There, your own personal injury protection coverage pays your medical bills first regardless of who caused the crash, up to its limit. You can usually only step outside that and claim against the other driver once the injury passes a threshold set by the state, which may be a dollar amount or a description of seriousness.

So in a no fault state, being blameless does not mean you deal only with their insurer. Check which system your state uses before assuming either.

Shared Fault

Insurers rarely accept that a crash was entirely one sided. Most states reduce what you recover by your share of the blame, and a handful bar recovery entirely if you were even slightly at fault. That is why not discussing fault at the scene matters so much.

When Their Insurer Calls

Usually within a day or two, and they are pleasant, which disarms people. The adjuster works for the company paying the claim, and their job is to settle it for as little as possible.

• A recorded statement. You are not obliged to give one to the other driver’s insurer. You do normally have a duty to cooperate with your own.
• A blanket medical authorisation. This opens your entire medical history, which is then searched for a pre existing condition to blame. Limit any authorisation to records related to this collision.
• An early settlement offer. It arrives before anyone knows how you will heal, and accepting it means signing a release that ends the claim, including for treatment you have not had yet.
• Questions about how you are feeling. Answered casually, “much better thanks” becomes evidence.

What to do instead: confirm the basic facts, give them your insurer’s details, and tell them you will provide documentation once your treatment is further along. The NAIC consumer material on auto insurance is a neutral source on how the process is supposed to work.

Should You Claim on Your Own Policy?

Often yes, and it does not mean you are accepting blame.

• Collision coverage repairs your car now rather than in three months. You pay the deductible, and your insurer pursues the at fault insurer and normally refunds it when they recover.
• Medical payments or PIP covers treatment immediately, which matters because the other insurer will not pay bills as they arrive.
• Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is what you fall back on if they had no insurance or not enough.

A not at fault claim should not raise your premium in most states, though practice varies between insurers.

What a Claim Can Cover

• Medical treatment, past and reasonably expected future
• Lost earnings, and reduced earning capacity if the injury is lasting
• Vehicle repair or its value if written off
• Diminished value, the drop in resale value of a repaired car, recognised in some states
• A rental car while yours is off the road
• Pain and suffering, in at fault states and in no fault states once the threshold is met
• Out of pocket costs, prescriptions, travel to appointments, help at home

Keep every receipt and keep a short diary of pain levels and what you could not do. Both are unglamorous and both carry weight.

The Deadline That Ends Everything

Every state sets a statute of limitations for injury claims, commonly two or three years from the date of the crash, with some shorter and some longer. Miss it and the claim is gone however strong it was.

Two traps. Claims involving a government vehicle or a public body often require formal notice within months rather than years. And property damage and injury can carry different deadlines in the same state.

Mistakes That Reduce What You Recover

1. Posting about it. A photograph of you at a party is used to argue you were not hurt, with no regard for how you felt the next morning. Assume anything public will be found.
2. Accepting the first offer.
3. Repairing or scrapping the car before it is documented.
4. Letting treatment lapse.
5. Giving a recorded statement without thinking.
6. Waiting months to report it to your own insurer, which most policies require promptly.

Do You Need a Lawyer?

Not always, and it is worth being honest about which case is which.

Probably not for a low speed knock with no injuries and clear fault, where the repair is straightforward and the insurer is paying.

Probably yes if any of these apply:

• Anyone was injured, particularly if treatment is continuing
• Fault is disputed or you have been blamed
• A commercial vehicle, a government vehicle or several cars were involved
• The other driver was uninsured or underinsured
• The offer does not cover your medical bills
• You are being pressed for a recorded statement or a signature

Injury work is normally taken on a contingency fee, so there is nothing to pay up front and the firm takes an agreed percentage of what it recovers. Ask what the percentage is and whether case expenses come out before or after it is calculated.

If They Were Uninsured, or Drove Off

Report it to the police immediately in both cases, because your own uninsured motorist coverage will normally require it. That coverage is what stands in for the missing insurer, and in a hit and run it is often the only route to recovery.

Look for cameras straight away rather than later. Dashcams in passing vehicles, doorbell cameras on nearby houses and shop CCTV all overwrite within days.

What Happens Over the Next Few Months

Knowing the shape of it stops the quiet periods feeling like something has gone wrong.

Week One

Police report filed, both insurers notified, medical assessment done, vehicle inspected or towed. The other insurer makes contact and may offer something early. This is the week that decides how strong the file is.

Weeks Two to Eight

Treatment continues and the vehicle claim usually resolves, because property damage moves far faster than injury. Liability is investigated and the insurers may argue about it. Little appears to happen on the injury side, and that is normal: nobody can value an injury that is still changing.

Months Three to Six

Treatment finishes or reaches a stable point. Records and bills are gathered and a demand is put to the insurer with the full picture. Negotiation starts properly here, not before.

After That

Most claims settle. A minority are filed as lawsuits, usually because liability is genuinely disputed or the offer is too far from reasonable, and filing often produces a better offer well before any trial date.

How Settlement Amounts Are Worked Out

There is no formula, whatever the online calculators suggest. What exists is two categories.

Special damages are the things with receipts: medical bills, lost earnings, property damage, travel, prescriptions. These are added up and argued over line by line.

General damages cover pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment of life. There is no invoice for these, which is why they are negotiated rather than calculated.

You will read that general damages are the specials multiplied by a number between one and five. Adjusters do not work that way, and treating it as a rule will mislead you in both directions. What actually moves the figure is the severity and permanence of the injury, how well documented it is, how clear liability is, how credible you are, and the policy limits available. A badly documented serious injury settles for less than a well documented moderate one.

Policy limits matter more than people expect. If the at fault driver carried the state minimum and your bills exceed it, the extra has to come from your own underinsured motorist coverage or from the driver personally, and most drivers do not have it to give.

If Your Car Was Written Off

An insurer declares a total loss when repairs would cost more than a set proportion of the vehicle’s value, which varies by state. They then pay you the actual cash value, meaning what the car was worth the moment before the crash, not what you paid and not what a replacement costs today.

1. Ask how the valuation was reached and for the comparable vehicles used. They are obliged to show you in most states.
2. Check the comparables are genuinely comparable, on mileage, trim, condition and location. This is where valuations are most often wrong.
3. Send your own evidence, recent service records, new tyres, recent major work, and listings for similar cars near you.
4. Do not forget the sales tax and registration fees on a replacement, which many states require to be included.
5. Decide about keeping the car. You can usually retain a written off vehicle for a reduced payout, and it then carries a salvage title, which affects resale and insurability.

If You Were a Passenger

Passengers are rarely at fault and are often the most straightforward claimants, and they are also the ones who most often do nothing because the driver was a friend or a relative.

A few points worth knowing:

• You can claim against whichever driver was at fault, including the one you were travelling with. The claim is against an insurance policy, not against the person, and that is what the policy exists for.
• You can claim against both where fault is shared between two drivers.
• Your own auto policy may help through medical payments or uninsured motorist coverage, even though it was not your car.
• Health insurance usually pays first in some states and may then seek reimbursement from any settlement, which is worth understanding before you agree one.

The awkwardness of claiming against someone you know is real and it is also the reason many passengers absorb medical bills they did not have to. Premiums exist to be claimed on.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should you do after a car accident that was not your fault?

Check for injuries and call the police, photograph the scene before anything moves, collect the other driver’s details and any witness contacts, get checked medically the same day, and report it to your own insurer. Do not discuss fault at the scene.

Should I call the police if it was not my fault?

Yes, even for minor damage. The police report is independent evidence, and without one a claim becomes two drivers disagreeing. If officers will not attend, file a report yourself the same day.

Do I have to give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer?

No. You are not obliged to give a recorded statement to the other party’s insurer. You normally do have a duty to cooperate with your own insurer under your policy.

Whose insurance pays if the accident was not my fault?

In most states, the at fault driver’s liability insurance. In the dozen or so no fault states, your own personal injury protection pays your medical bills first regardless of fault, and you can claim against the other driver only once the injury meets a threshold.

Should I use my own insurance if I was not at fault?

Often yes. Collision coverage repairs your car now and your insurer recovers from theirs, usually refunding your deductible. A not at fault claim should not raise your premium in most states.

How long do I have to make a claim?

Usually two or three years from the date of the crash, depending on the state. Claims involving a government body often require formal notice within months, and property damage can carry a different deadline from injury.

Should I accept the first settlement offer?

Not before your treatment is complete or your doctor can say how you will heal. Accepting means signing a release that ends the claim, including for treatment you have not had yet.

What if I felt fine at the scene and sore the next day?

Common, because adrenaline masks pain. See a doctor as soon as the symptoms appear and tell them it followed a collision, so the record connects the two.

What if the other driver had no insurance?

Report it to the police immediately and claim on your own uninsured motorist coverage, which exists for exactly this. Prompt reporting is usually a condition of that cover.

Can posting on social media affect my claim?

Yes. Photographs and comments are routinely used to argue an injury was not serious. Assume anything public will be found and read in the least charitable way.

The pattern behind all of it: document early, say little, get treated, and do not let the other side’s insurer set the pace. For more on how these claims work, see the other guides on the blog, including one on how injuries happen on business premises.

This is general information about how car accident claims work in the US and not legal advice. The rules, deadlines and insurance systems differ by state, so speak to a lawyer licensed where the crash happened about your own situation.