Let’s take a closer look at what you should do after a wreck with a motorcycle if you’ve never been in one before.
1. Make sure you have a way to leave the scene of the wreck.
You can ride along with the person driving the wrecker truck or you can also call a friend to come pick you up. If your car does not start or run properly, do not drive away in it. The police officer investigating the wreck might even ask you not to drive yourself from the wreck.
You are more than likely still under the influence of your adrenaline. If you crash from the adrenaline rush, you could have negative side effects that cause you to break down. Make sure someone else is driving when this happens if you do not know how you will react.
2. Get a report from the police officer so you can file an insurance claim.
Make sure you get a report from the police officer who is investigating the wreck. The insurance company will ask for that report. If you do not give them the report in a certain amount of time, usually 10 days from the day of the wreck, there will be negative consequences.
The police officer will explain this for you before you leave the scene of the wreck. Make sure you listen to what the police officer tells you since he or she will give you advice on what you should do next in terms of resolving the issue.
3. Read through that report to get the police officer’s facts about the wreck itself and call your insurance carrier to report the wreck.
The first thing you should do after leaving the location of the wreck is to call your insurance carrier. You will need to file a claim with the insurance carrier and they will expect you to know certain things about the wreck. You can do so by reading through the police report given to you so you can refresh yourself about the facts of the wreck.
You can also use your own photographs or documents to do this same thing. The insurance carrier will ask you questions about the wreck so you need to know as much as you can about what happened. The most important question they will ask you is for your take on what happened.
4. Speak with a representative if they have further questions and give the insurance a copy of the police’s report.
An insurance representative is likely to give you a phone call in the next few hours to discuss the wreck in further detail. They will want to know what happened during the wreck and who you believe is at fault for the wreck. Do not give them an opinion about who you believe is at fault for the wreck since they could use that information against you.
The most important thing during this stage of the claim filing is to make sure the insurance company gets a copy of the police report. Make sure to give it to them within the time allotted to you by the police officer. The officer will tell you how much time you have to send it and will tell you what happens if you don’t give it to your insurance provider on time.
5. Get your vehicle repaired at a collision repair place that is covered by your insurance.
A problem many people have after a car wreck is finding a place to repair the vehicle that is also covered by their insurance. Most insurance carriers are able to call the collision repair place themselves since they have a list of them. This list will have places that are covered by your insurance so it is a good idea to have the insurance company call them instead of you calling them yourself.
You will more than likely have your car taken to a place covered by insurance if you have the provider call the repair place on their own. You should also have your car insurance carrier call for a wrecker company since they would have a list of those types of companies as well.
6. Get a lawyer as necessary.
Another very important thing to do after getting into a wreck with a motorcycle is to call a lawyer. The lawyer will be able to give you steps to take. These steps will help you get the claim filed in a much quicker time period.
This lawyer will be able to help you if you do not know what to do. The lawyer will be able to give you advice in case you do not feel like your insurance company is doing the right thing for your case.
Greenville and Washington, NC Motorcycle Accident Attorneys
I’m Brian Ricci, a Motorcycle Accident Lawyer serving Greenville, NC and the surrounding areas. If you have suffered a personal injury due to a motorcycle crash, please call me anytime at (252) 777-2222 or (800) 387-6406 for free, friendly advice. The call is free and there is no obligation to you.
I am a longtime member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum.
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