After the crash,know whatcomes next.

Check on everyone’s safety first and call emergency services if anyone is hurt or the road is blocked. If it is safe, move vehicles out of traffic, exchange names, insurance details and registration numbers, and photograph the vehicles, plates, road layout and any visible damage. Report the crash as your policy and local law require, and seek medical attention even if you feel fine — some injuries present later. Before giving detailed statements or accepting an early offer, it is usually worth understanding what the claim involves.

Most policies require you to report a crash promptly, so contact your own insurer. Be more careful with the other driver’s insurer: a recorded statement becomes part of the file, and early settlement offers are often made before the full picture of injuries and repairs is known. You can ask for requests in writing, take time to respond, and have someone review a release before you sign it.

Keep the police or incident report reference, photographs of the scene and vehicles, dashcam footage, witness names and contact details, repair estimates and total-loss valuations, rental and towing receipts, medical appointment notes, records of time missed from work, and every piece of correspondence with insurers — including dates, names and what was said by phone.

You describe what happened in a short form. That account is read against the records a crash like it usually generates: the collision report, damage estimates, coverage in play and any medical notes you mention. You then get a plain-language read on where the claim appears to stand, what is typically requested next and which deadlines may apply. It is a review of the facts you provide — not a prediction of an outcome, and not an obligation to proceed.

A contingency fee is a way of charging where the fee is a percentage of what is recovered, payable only if there is a recovery. Percentages differ between firms and between stages of a case, and case costs — filing fees, records, expert reports — may be handled separately and can sometimes remain payable. Always read the written agreement and ask how costs are treated if nothing is recovered.

Deadlines vary widely. Two separate clocks are usually running: the limit for filing a lawsuit, which is set by state law and differs by claim type, and the notice period inside an insurance policy, which can be much shorter. Some situations, such as claims involving a government vehicle or roadway, have very short notice requirements measured in months or even days. The safest approach is to ask early rather than assume.

Shared fault is common and does not automatically end a claim. Most states reduce a recovery in proportion to the share of fault assigned, and a smaller number bar recovery once fault passes a threshold. Insurers also assign fault differently from courts. Because the rules and the evidence vary so much, a partial-fault crash is exactly the situation where a review of the facts is most useful.