What To Do If You Are Rear Ended In Your Car

Depending upon the severity of the crash; which could be just a slight tap on your rear bumper due to some one's foot slipping off the brake at a stop light. It could be a major collision, totaling your car, and causing you or your passengers severe long-term whiplash and other medical injuries.

Call the police. Even if your rear-ender is a slight bump; in order to facilitate your insurance claim, you will need a police accident report. Insurance companies need legal documentation that an accident actually occurred; when, where, how, what happened, and the parties and their vehicles involved.

Police will help both parties to get the information they need, but you need to be sure you have their data as well, and if you are able, do so before police arrive. You will need your insurance card, and your vehicle tag registration. Each party should get a copy of the police accident report. Assuming both parties are medically able, here is a list of the information you will need to exchange with the other driver:

• Name(s) of drivers and owners of the vehicle
• Address
• Phone numbers, home, work, and cell
• License tag numbers
• Drivers License numbers
• Name of insurance company, and agency
• Their phone numbers and claims numbers
• Physically look at insurance cards and drivers licenses

Additionally, if there are any witnesses to the crash, get their name, address, phone numbers.

Try to remain emotional calm, even though you may be dazed or shocked by the crash. Do not get into a hostile confrontation. Usually the other driver is also shaken up, so try to be helpful, if anyone needs emergency aid let the 911 operators know if you are the one who summons the police.

If you have a camera with you in your car (ideally a digital camera kept in your glove compartment or a cell phone) take photos of the accident and damage done. Note any unusual circumstances that might have led to the cause of the crash, or if the camera would help the claims department of an insurance company, or attorney determine negligence, or percent of negligence.

As an example; here is a a typical rear-ender

• Driver A is stopped
• Driver B hits the car from behind.

Some states assume Driver B is at fault, but Driver B may argue against that presumption of fault. For example, Driver B may argue that Driver A stopped so suddenly it was impossible not to hit them. In that example, liability or fault may be split between the drivers. In a comparative negligence state Driver B may be 70% at fault and driver B is 30% at fault. Some states don't use comparative negligence, but many do.

Car Insurance Tips - These Tips Can Save You a Bundle

If you are looking for a way to save money on your car insurance, then there are several steps that you can take to achieve this. Reducing your car insurance cost can allow you to have more money for your other needs. Especially with the ailing economy and with the rising inflation, you would want to get a cheap auto insurance quote in order to reduce your payments. Here are some steps that you can take to reduce your car insurance.

1) Go online and search for different insurance companies and different car insurance quotes. Try to get as many quotes as possible, so that you will be able to have lots of insurance quotes to choose from. The good news is that you can do all this within the comfort of your home, as you can easily get quotes online.

2) If you have more than one policy (such as house insurance, car insurance, medical insurance etc); going to the same insurance company to get quotes for all of them can be very advantageous. Many companies will reward their clients for their loyalty and they will give you reduced insurance rates.

3) Applying for more than one car with the same insurance company can also be useful as it will allow you to get a group discount. Hence, if you own more than one car in the family, you should go for a special discount to help you reduce your costs.

4) If you are able to raise your deductible, then this can come in handy, as you wont have to worry about paying a large auto insurance bill. For example, raising your deductible to $500 can help to reduce your car insurance cost by %20, while increasing your deductible to around $900 to $1000 can help to reduce your cost by as much as % 50. Of course, you should discuss these various scenarios with your insurance agent.

5) If you have an older model car, then you may want to think about dropping collision damage to your car. This can come in handy, since having an older model car wont make it worth it to get collision damage coverage for your car as the money you pay for the insurance coverage can cost you the same amount as fixing it.

6) If you are able to keep your car in a safe environment, then this can also be very useful. For example, if you have a closed garage or if you are able to provide an alarm system or an advanced anti theft system for your car, then all of this can help to reduce your car insurance cost.

7) Being a safe driver can be the best way to reduce your car insurance bill, since insurance companies just love clients who will not file an insurance claim. Hence, if you haven't had an insurance claim in the last few years, this can also help you to get a cheap auto insurance.