Car Accident Checklist: 10 Steps to Protect Yourself and Your Claim

Step 1: Call the police. Always. Even a fender-bender. A police report is the foundation of your property damage claim. Without it, the other driver's insurer will dispute fault from day one. Utah requires you to report any crash involving injury or property damage exceeding $2,500 — but call regardless of damage estimate. You will almost always underestimate the number standing on the curb.

Step 2: Document everything with photos and video. Shoot all four corners of every vehicle. Capture license plates, VINs visible through windshields, skid marks, road conditions, traffic controls, and the final resting position of each car. Then look up. Businesses, intersections, and parking lots throughout Utah — especially along the Wasatch Front — have surveillance cameras. Note every camera you can see within 200 feet. Footage is often overwritten within 48–72 hours. You need to move fast.

Step 3: Get witness information. Names, phone numbers, and what they saw. Bystanders leave. Write it down before anyone walks away. If a witness recorded the crash on a phone, ask for a copy immediately.

Step 4: Do not admit fault. Do not apologize. Do not speculate about speed or fault to the other driver, to the other driver's passengers, or to any insurance adjuster at the scene. Anything you say becomes part of the claim record.

Step 5: Start a crash diary before you leave. Voice-memo it into your phone right there. Time, weather, road conditions, what you saw, what you heard, what the other driver said. Memory degrades fast. A same-day record carries far more weight than a recollection made weeks later.

Step 6: Report to your own insurer — but keep it short. You are required to report the crash. You are not required to give a recorded statement, speculate about damages, or accept any initial valuation. Say you were in an accident, provide the basic facts, and stop. Recorded statements are used to cap your recovery, not help it.

Step 7: Do not give the other driver's insurer a recorded statement. Third-party adjusters are trained to use your words against you. Under [Utah Code §31A-26-303](https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title31A/Chapter26/31A-26-S303.html), insurers are prohibited from engaging in unfair claim settlement practices — but that does not stop them from trying. Politely decline any recorded statement until you understand the full extent of your vehicle damage.

Step 8: Find your vehicle and photograph the damage again. If your car was towed, locate it immediately. Storage fees in Utah commonly run $50–$75 per day. A vehicle sitting on a lot for two weeks can accumulate $700–$1,050 in storage costs before you even negotiate repairs. Photograph the damage again at the storage yard — sometimes damage not visible roadside becomes obvious under better lighting.

Step 9: Research your vehicle's actual market value before the insurer makes an offer. Insurers routinely open total loss offers $3,000–$8,000 below what comparable vehicles actually sell for in the current Utah market. Under [Utah Admin. Code R590-190-11(2)(a)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/utah/R590-190-11), a third-party total loss must be paid at the cost of a comparable replacement vehicle, including taxes, license, and transfer fees. That means the insurer owes you what it actually costs to replace your car today — not a lowball figure pulled from a skewed database. Search dealer listings, auction results, and private sales for your exact year, make, model, trim, and mileage in the Utah market right now.

Step 10: Know your deadline — and do not miss it. Utah's statute of limitations for property damage claims is three years under [Utah Code §78B-2-305](https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title78B/Chapter2/78B-2-S305.html). That clock starts at the date of the crash. Three years sounds long. It moves faster than you think, especially when insurers delay, lowball, and delay again. If your insurer underpaid your total loss or ignored your diminished value claim, you have legal options — but only while that clock is running.

Diminished value is the category most Utah drivers never claim. Even after a perfect repair, your vehicle is worth less because it has an accident history. That loss — typically $3,000–$8,000 on a mid-range vehicle — belongs to you. Under [Utah Admin. Code R590-190-11(9)(a)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/utah/R590-190-11), you are also entitled to a rental vehicle or loss-of-use compensation while your car is being repaired or replaced. Adjusters rarely volunteer either. You have to ask — or let someone fight for it.

Property Damage Pros is the property damage division of the LawyerUp Injury Group — a certified vehicle valuation service and law firm under one roof. Our appraisals draw on all major book valuations, actual dealer sales data, auction data, and dealer inventory demand data. We do not guess. We document.

Flat fee appraisals start at $400 for diminished value and $350 for total loss. Prefer contingency? We work on a percentage of the recovery above the insurer's initial offer — you pay nothing if we do not beat it. About 50% of our cases go to court, handled by our own attorneys, not a referral. Average total loss recovery: $6,500 above the initial offer. Average diminished value recovery: $3,000–$8,000.

We serve clients from our offices in Clearfield and Sandy, Utah, and handle cases across the country through our nationwide network. If an insurer underpaid you, we want to hear about it.