While you may think of your home as a safe place where you can relax from the world, sometimes that just isn’t the case. You could be enjoying a nice night in watching the television and the next thing you know, you’re staring at the front end of a vehicle. When a vehicle wrecks into your home, here is what you should do.
Call the Police and Medical Assistance
The first step you should take is to see if anyone has any injuries. Check over yourself and the driver for any indications of an injury. It’s not uncommon to not feel the pain from an injury right away as your adrenaline can damper the pain symptoms. If anyone is severely injured, you’ll want to contact medical assistance for them. You’ll also want to give the police a call so they can do an accident report.
Get the Driver’s Contact and Insurance Information
You’ll want to get the driver’s personal contact information. This includes their full legal name, address, and phone number. Also, you’ll want to write down the information for their vehicle insurance. This way, you know what insurance company will be covering the damages. Be sure to write down the vehicle’s license plate as well.
Contact Your Auto Accident Attorney
To help you through the claims process smoothly, there are auto accident attorney services that you can turn to. You’ll want to get in contact with an attorney shortly after the accident. They’ll want to record what your recollection of the events are so that they can get plenty of details about the incident while it’s still fresh in your mind.
Have Your Lawyer Call the Driver’s Insurance Company
One of the biggest mistakes that homeowners make is talking directly with the driver’s insurance company. They will record all of your conversations and may try to pay you off in a lump sum amount. Instead, let your accident attorney handle talking with the insurance company. They’ll know the right questions to ask. For example, most car insurance companies have a set limit of the amount they’ll payout for damages to property that their insurer caused. Anything over this limit rolls back onto the driver. Your lawyer can figure out the coverage limit and decide how to approach getting paid for any damages over that amount.
Thinking about someone wrecking into your home is not pleasant. Although, it’s important to realize that it happens from time to time. It’s best to be prepared by understanding the various steps we went over above.