Acting as official documentation of the occurrence, a police report offers a clear, objective narrative of what occurred. Having it when involved in an automobile accident will greatly affect the success of your claim. Whether your claim is for insurance or legal action, a police report will be very helpful.
When handling an accident claim, a police report is important in the following ways:
It Helps Your Attorney
In case of disagreement on the specifics of the accident or who is at fault, a local car accident attorney can help. They can help you review the police report and direct you on how best to apply it to your claim. The report often includes officer observations and also offers insight into violations such as speeding or refusal to stop. Your attorney can help make sure this information is presented correctly to support your case.
Supporting Your Claim for Insurance
Often, when handling accident claims, insurance firms want police reports. It offers an official, unbiased narrative of the event, which can assist insurance adjusters in establishing the facts of the case.
Important information in the report includes:
- The details of the involved parties
- The degree of damage
- Traffic violations that would have caused the collision
Having this report can help you speed up the claims process and increase your chances of just compensation.
Establish the Facts
Establishing the facts of the accident is one of the main functions of a police report. It records important facts, including the location, time, and particulars of the engaged parties.
This document forms the basis of your claim and enables insurance firms and attorneys to confirm what transpired. Furthermore, included in the report could be witness accounts and accident scene diagrams. All of these can help to define the circumstances surrounding the accident.
Determining Fault
Although a police report may not directly prove fault, it might offer valuable information to determine liability. Officers frequently add their observations about the crash and any traffic offenses they might have seen.
This can be very important in cases when the parties engaged in conflict disagree on who was responsible. The report can also include tickets or citations given to one of the drivers, therefore supporting the evidence that one party bears liability for the collision.
Preventing Disputes in Claims
Many times, the police report might help to avoid claims procedure conflicts. Lawyers and insurance adjusters depend on the report to evaluate circumstances impartially.
Should differences exist in the accounts of events given by the individuals involved, the police report can act as an authoritative source. This will protect you from being unfairly blamed for the accident or from experiencing delays in processing your claim.
Presenting Evidence Supporting Possible Litigation
A police report becomes even more important as evidence in court when an automobile accident claim cannot be settled through alternate dispute resolution methods. Particularly in circumstances where there is a dispute on the cause or degree of the accident, the details recorded by the responding officer can offer a strong basis for legal arguments. The objective view of the police report can assist your attorney in proving your version of events, therefore supporting your case should it develop into litigation.
