Local Auto Insurance

Reader’s Question:

If I get into an accident here in California, who am I supposed to call?

Karl

Sacramento, CA

The plan of action after any accident really depends on what kind of trouble you’ve gotten yourself into. It depends on how serious it was. Basically you have to file a bunch of reports to three places.

First, you should make contact with your auto insurance company. Promptly reporting the accident is important in times like these. You might be required to submit what’s called a Notice of Loss. If you are unable to do this promptly, this might be used as a reason to deny you of auto insurance coverage. So, if I were you, I wouldn’t take that chance. The reason is that it is necessary for your auto insurance company to collect as much information as they can, as soon as they can. You might be asked to sign some kind of authorization for them to be able to record the accident.

Next comes the police report especially when one of the two drivers or any of their passengers have been injured. You will also be required to file a police report when there is significant damage on any or both of the vehicles and it exceeds a certain amount set by the state. Basically, what you will be asked to do by the police will depend on the extent of the damage and injury. Call the authorities right away, so they can tell you how to proceed.

Finally, you must contact the California DMV or the Department of Motor Vehicles. If the total cost of the damage including injuries to people goes over $500, you will be asked to file an SR-1, 5 to 10 days after the accident happened.

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