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Accident Reports

By Aline Miranda on February 3, 2011

If you are involved in an auto accident, you must file an accident report even if the accident was not your fault.

California DMV requires that you file a Form SR-1 for motor vehicle accidents causing injury or death to any person or causing over $750 in property damage. You can get the SR-1 form at any DMV office, on the DMV website, or here. You must file an SR-1 even if there is a police or CHP report.

You also may be required to report the accident to your insurance company and the insurance companies for all other drivers involved. If the accident was your fault, you are required to report it to your insurance as a condition of coverage, meaning that if you don’t report the accident to your insurance company they may not pay the other party’s claim and you may be financially responsible for the damage you caused.

Filing a report will not automatically cancel your coverage or cause your rates to increase. However, if your insurance company determines that the accident was 51% or more your fault, you may lose your “good driver” discount or your insurance company may take other unfavorable action on your policy.

If you have been injured in a car accident and would like to discuss your reporting obligations, feel free to call my office anytime for a free consultation.

Posted in: Car Accident

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