3 Tips To Help You Avoid Financial Peril After A Car Accident

Experiencing a car accident can be physically and emotionally draining.

Your response after an accident can have a big impact on your personal finances. Unfortunately, most people end up in at least one car accident during their lifetime, hopefully a minor one. Car crashes can be very costly, but there are a few things you can do to avoid losing a lot of money.

Legal Liability

When a car accident happens, it’s easy for your brain to be all over the place. You lose track of what happens, and you enter panic mode. Especially if you were arguably the cause of the crash, then a natural reaction kicks into play; say you’re sorry.

It’s normal to apologize when you think you’ve done something wrong, as you want to show that you’re sorry and didn’t mean to harm them. In actuality, you’ve just admitted fault for the accident, which puts the ball firmly in the other person’s court. They can now make claims against you, based on the fact that you admitted fault.

Get free sample chapters from my book: Not Another Personal Finance Book.

To avoid this, and possibly avoid spending loads of money, speak with an attorney before admitting fault in an accident. It may be that your view of the accident isn’t accurate, and the event was actually caused by the other driver.

Seek Help

Most people think they can just go through their insurance provider to file a claim for repairs and personal injuries after a crash. The harsh reality is that a lot of insurance companies don’t cover everything for you. What’s more, when you make a claim, your insurance premiums may skyrocket.

Instead, you may want to hire an attorney to help you during this difficult time. They can help look at the situation, figure out if you have a case, and then assist you as you proceed with legal action. Sometimes, just the threat of legal action is enough to negotiate a reasonable amount of compensation. The money you win can go towards covering any medical bills or car repairs.

Take Pictures

There’s a possibility someone can fake damages to their vehicle after a crash with you, or they might exaggerate the damages and claim that you caused more harm than you actually did. They could inflict more damages to their car when they get home, and claim that’s what it looked like immediately after the accident.

To prevent this from ever happening, make sure you take pictures of both cars at the scene. This can be used as evidence to prove you didn’t cause any damages,  and to show that they damaged your car. As a result, you’ll never end up in a situation where someone tries to get you to pay for repairs that weren’t your fault.

Take a Breath

Being involved in a car accident can be traumatic, so take a deep breath before you take any action. Ask friends and family members for help and guidance, and you can get through it successfully.

This post is for educational purposes only.

Ken Boyd

Author: Cost Accounting for Dummies, Accounting All-In-One for Dummies, The CPA Exam for Dummies and 1,001 Accounting Questions for Dummies

Co-Founder: accountinged.com

(email) ken@stltest.net

(website and blog) https://www.accountingaccidentally.com/

(you tube channel) kenboydstl

Image: Bullseye, Jeff Turner CC by 2.0