By Asheville Personal Injury Lawyer Lakota Denton
Question: “How Do I Get a Copy of An Asheville Car Accident Report?”
A: “In the aftermath of an Asheville Motor Vehicle Accident that involves a car, motorcycle, bike or truck accident, one of the pieces of information you will want to collect is a copy of the official accident report from the crash. If the police officer who responded to your motor vehicle accident was an Asheville North Carolina Police Officer, you can use their online portal to get a copy of their official report.”
If an officer from N.C. State Highway Patrol responded to your accident, you will want to use their online portal to get a copy of their accident report.
Police officers who respond to car accidents are required to create official accident reports, in order to properly document automobile collisions, especially in accidents where injuries occur, or there is significant vehicle/property damage. In order to get a copy of your accident report, you will need to provide at very least your name, and the date of the accident. If you have a report number, that makes it even easier to locate, but usually, the last name and date of the crash is enough.
An official accident report is a very important part of your insurance claim. This shows the at fault insurer that, without a doubt, this crash occurred, was serious, and was documented by a law enforcement professional. Without a crash report, an insurance company may be more likely to take the position that the accident didn’t occur after all, or that it was much less severe than you are claiming it to be. A 3rd party report cuts through much of that uncertainty and paints an objective and quantifiable picture of the accident.
The official N.C. accident report will include a variety of important pieces of information. It will have your information as well as the other drivers, including both parties insurance carriers. You will be submitting a car accident claim to the at fault drivers insurance company, so this is vital information to know.
Additionally, it will indicate whether the other driver was uninsured at the time of the accident, meaning that you will have to file the claim through the “uninsurance” portion of your own insurance policy. This is designed to protect you if you’re hit by someone with no insurance. Not all policies cover Uninsurance, so check with your agent and be sure to add this coverage if you don’t currently have it. The Accident report will also specify the degree of damage to your vehicle, in terms of estimated monetary damage, calculated by the Officer. This helps the insurer gauge how severe the accident was. Very little monetary damage can and often does indicate to an insurance adjuster that your accident was minor in nature.
Traffic Violations
Lastly, towards the end of the report, there is section called “Traffic Violations”. This is very important, as it states whether either party was cited by the responding officer in the crash. As insurance companies are skilled at finding ways to deny liability for a crash, this can be invaluable for conclusively establishing who was at fault in this crash, saving you a whole lot of back and forth with an insurer who refuses to take responsibility for their driver’s actions. Look for terms like “Failure to reduce speed”, “Left of Center”, “Driving While License Revoked”, “Hit and Run”, “Driving while intoxicated”, “No operators License” and other citations that are strong indicators for the value of your claim.
Contact Asheville Accident Attorneys
If you have questions about your Asheville car accident, getting a copy of your official accident report, or need to speak with a skilled personal injury attorney, Contact Lakota R. Denton for a free, no pressure consultation.