Is it necessary to have an accident report to file a claim?
It will depend upon state laws, the terms of your insurance policy (as well as the rules of your insurance company) as well as the type of claim if you will need an accident and/or police report in order to file a claim.
In some states an accident report is required in certain circumstances. For example in New York if in an accident the property damage of any person is $1,001 or more, all the involved drivers must file form MV-104 (Report of Motor Vehicle Accident). File form MV-104 with the DMV no more than 10 days after the accident. The DMV can suspend your driver license if you fail to report such an accident.
The state of Alabama requires those who have been in an accident where there is more than $250 worth of property damage to fill out a SR-13, Safety Responsibility Accident Report. It contains information on the accident and your insurance coverages which AL law mandates that you turn in so they can have on file if there are issues arising from the incident.
The Oregon DMV notes you must file an Accident and Insurance Report form with DMV within 72 hours when:
1. Damage to the vehicle you were driving is over $1,500, or
2. Damage to any vehicle is over $1,500 and any vehicle is towed from the scene as a result of damages from this accident, or
3. Injury or death resulted from this accident, or
4. Damages to any one person’s property other than a vehicle involved in this accident are over $1,500.
Accidents in areas open to the public for the use of motor vehicles must be reported. Some drivers who are in accidents offer to fix the damage and try to get the other driver not to file a report. If you agree to do this, you are breaking the law if the amount of damage is more than $1,500.
In Oregon you must file a report even if your vehicle was the only one in the crash. If you do not report an accident when required to do so, your driving privileges will be suspended.
Now even if your state does not require you to get a police or file an accident report your insurance company may, so read through the terms of your policy and ask your agent about the company's guidelines for when an accident or police report is necessary to file a claim.
It is helpful to insurance companies for a police crash report to be done to get details of the accident from an outside observer, the law enforcement agent. Also many times a person will admit fault at the scene to the accident or other driver but then not want to admit fault to their insurance company.
An insurance company may require an accident report for certain types of collisions such as a hit and run. It is best to try and get a police report for all accidents if for nothing else then to have a written report of the other person's information in an official report in case their insurance comes back as expired, canceled or fake. In those types of instances you can then alert the police to the fact that the person gave incorrect information in hopes they will be penalized by the state.
A police report is normally necessary if your car was stolen and may be if it was vandalized. If possible though it is better to get a police report whenever you are in an accident so that you have documentation of what each driver said happened, the exact location noted as well as the damage to the cars.
A report will not always be required, say if your car is damaged in a parking lot and police will not respond or if you have a single car accident with your mailbox and need to make a Collision claim then an accident report would not typically be necessary. Ask your insurer when either an accident or police report is required to make a claim to clarify what your specific insurance company mandates.
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