Photo: Anthony Maw / UnsplashRight after the crash
- Accidents and injury
What to Do After a Car Accident: A Practical Checklist
The steps to take at the scene and in the days after a crash to protect your health, your insurance claim and your legal rights.
6 min read - Accidents and injury
Car Accident Legal Advice: What to Do in the First Week to Protect Your Claim
General legal guidance for the first seven days after a car accident: evidence, medical care, insurance calls, deadlines and mistakes that can hurt a claim.
5 min read - Accidents and injury
Car Crash Lawyer: What to Do in the First 72 Hours and When to Call One
A timeline for the first days after a car crash: medical care, evidence, insurance calls and the right moment to talk to an attorney.
2 min read - Accidents and injury
Hit-and-Run Accidents: What Victims Should Do
Steps to take if a driver leaves the scene, how to help police find them and which insurance may pay.
4 min read - Accidents and injury
Car Accident Claim Documents Checklist: What to Collect and Keep
A complete checklist of documents and evidence to collect after a car accident for an insurance claim or injury case, with tips for organizing and storing them.
4 min read
Insurance and your claim
- Accidents and injury
Should You Give a Recorded Statement to an Insurance Adjuster After an Accident?
What a recorded statement is, when you must give one to your own insurer, why you can usually decline one from the other driver's insurer, and how to protect your claim.
5 min read - Accidents and injury
How to Negotiate a Car Accident Claim Without a Lawyer
Step-by-step tips for handling a straightforward injury or property claim yourself, from documents to a demand letter.
2 min read - Accidents and injury
Car Insurance Claim Denied? What You Can Do
Why insurers deny auto claims, how to appeal, when to file a complaint with your state insurance department and when to call a lawyer.
5 min read - Accidents and injury
Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage Explained
What UM and UIM coverage pays for, when it applies after a crash and how to make a claim on your own policy.
5 min read - Accidents and injury
No-Fault Car Insurance: How It Works and Which States Use It
How personal injury protection pays your medical bills regardless of fault, lawsuit thresholds and what changes for injury claims.
4 min read - Accidents and injury
Property Damage Claims After a Car Accident: Repairs, Total Loss and Diminished Value
How insurers value damaged cars, what happens when a vehicle is totaled and how to dispute a low offer.
2 min read - Accidents and injury
How Much Property Damage Liability Insurance Do You Need?
State minimum limits versus real-world costs, why higher limits protect your assets and how to choose coverage.
2 min read
Fault, deadlines and value
- Accidents and injury
Shared Fault in Car Accidents: Comparative and Contributory Negligence
How states reduce or bar recovery when you are partly at fault, the differences between pure and modified comparative fault and contributory negligence.
4 min read - Accidents and injury
How Long Do You Have to File a Car Accident Claim?
Insurance notice deadlines, state statutes of limitations for injury and property damage and special rules for government vehicles.
5 min read - Accidents and injury
Car Accident Settlement Amounts: What Decides How Much You Get
Why settlement amounts vary so widely, the factors insurers and courts weigh and why online averages can mislead.
2 min read - Accidents and injury
Pain and Suffering Compensation: How It Is Calculated
What pain and suffering damages are, the multiplier and per diem methods insurers use and why there is no fixed formula.
4 min read - Accidents and injury
After a Settlement: How Long Until You Get Paid?
The usual steps and timeline from agreeing to a settlement to receiving a check, including releases, liens and attorney trust accounts.
3 min read - Accidents and injury
Car Accident Settlement Calculators: Why They Mislead
How online settlement calculators work, what they leave out and how to use them without being misled.
2 min read - Accidents and injury
Can You Sue After Settling With the Insurance Company?
How a signed release works, the limited exceptions and why you should not settle before the full extent of injuries is known.
4 min read
Hiring a lawyer
- Accidents and injury
Is It Worth Hiring a Lawyer for a Car Accident?
When a car accident lawyer is likely worth the fee and when you may handle the claim yourself, with a simple checklist.
2 min read - Accidents and injury
How Much Does a Car Accident Lawyer Cost?
How car accident lawyers are paid, typical contingency fee structures, what costs are separate and questions to ask before hiring.
5 min read - Accidents and injury
What Percentage Do Lawyers Take From a Settlement? A Worked Example
How attorney fees, case costs and liens reduce a settlement, with a clearly hypothetical example of what a client actually receives.
4 min read - Accidents and injury
How to Choose a Personal Injury Lawyer: Questions to Ask
What to look for in an injury lawyer, how to check credentials, questions for the first meeting and warning signs.
4 min read - Accidents and injury
Car Accident Lawyer Consultation: What to Expect and Questions to Ask
How a free car accident lawyer consultation works, what to bring, what the lawyer will ask, key questions to ask and how to decide whether to hire.
4 min read - Accidents and injury
Free Car Accident Lawyer: What "Free Consultation" and "No Fee Unless You Win" Really Mean
How free consultations and contingency fees work for car accident cases, what is still your cost, and how to spot misleading offers.
2 min read
Injuries and special situations
- Accidents and injury
Neck and Whiplash Injury Claims After a Car Accident
How soft-tissue injuries are documented and valued, why insurers scrutinize them and how to support a whiplash claim.
3 min read - Accidents and injury
Passenger Injured in a Car Accident: Who Pays and What Your Options Are
How injured passengers can recover compensation, which insurance policies may apply, how fault works for passengers and what steps to take after a crash.
5 min read - Accidents and injury
Rear-End Collisions: Who Is at Fault and How Claims Work
Why the rear driver is often presumed at fault, exceptions, typical injuries and how to document a rear-end crash.
2 min read - Accidents and injury
Car Accident Not My Fault: What Can You Recover?
What compensation may be available when another driver caused the crash, whose insurance pays and how to protect your claim.
2 min read - Accidents and injury
Sued After a Car Accident With No Insurance: What Happens and What to Do
What to do if you are sued after a crash without insurance, deadlines, penalties, payment options and how a judgment can be collected.
2 min read - Accidents and injury
Being Sued After a Car Accident: What Can They Take?
How insurance defends you, what happens if damages exceed your limits and which assets may be at risk after a judgment.
2 min read - Accidents and injury
Emotional Distress After a Car Accident: Can You Claim It and How to Prove It
How anxiety, PTSD and sleep problems after a crash fit into an injury claim, the evidence that supports them and the limits states set.
2 min read - Accidents and injury
Wrongful Death Claims: Who Can File and What Is Recoverable
How wrongful death lawsuits work, who may bring one, what damages are available and the filing deadlines to watch.
4 min read
By vehicle
- Accidents and injury
Truck Accident Lawyer: What They Do, What They Cost and When to Hire One
How a truck accident lawyer investigates commercial crashes, the parties they pursue, federal trucking rules, fees and what to ask before you hire.
9 min read - Accidents and injury
Truck Accident Claims: Who Can Be Held Liable?
Why commercial truck crashes are more complex, the parties that may share responsibility and evidence that must be preserved quickly.
4 min read - Accidents and injury
Motorcycle Accident Lawyer: What They Do and Why Riders Often Need One
How a motorcycle accident lawyer handles rider bias, helmet and fault disputes, insurance and severe injuries, plus fees and how to choose.
6 min read - Accidents and injury
Motorcycle Accident Claims: Fault, Insurance and Common Disputes
How motorcycle crash claims work, bias issues, helmet and insurance rules and steps to protect a claim.
4 min read - Accidents and injury
Uber and Lyft Accidents: Who Pays and What Insurance Applies?
How rideshare insurance works at different stages of a trip, claims for passengers and other drivers and steps to take.
4 min read - Accidents and injury
Pedestrian Hit by a Car: Rights, Insurance and Claims
What to do and what compensation may be available after a pedestrian accident, including fault rules and insurance sources.
2 min read
Frequently asked questions
Is this site giving legal advice?
No. These are general explanations of how car accident claims work in the United States. For advice about your case, talk to a licensed lawyer in your state.
Should I hire a lawyer after a car accident?
Consider one if you were injured, fault is disputed, the other driver is uninsured, a commercial vehicle or rideshare was involved, or the insurer is delaying or denying your claim. For minor property damage you may handle the claim yourself.
How long do I have to file a car accident claim?
The statute of limitations varies by state and claim type, often one to three years, and some claims against governments require notice within months.
What if the other driver has no insurance?
Your own uninsured motorist coverage, collision coverage or medical payments coverage may help, and you may be able to sue the driver personally.
How much is my car accident claim worth?
It depends on injuries, medical costs, lost income, fault and insurance limits. Online calculators are unreliable, and nobody can responsibly promise an amount without the facts.