The other driver is already out of their car. Everyone's okay — you checked twice — and the adrenaline is starting to fade into something more like annoyance. Now comes the part nobody rehearses: the next twenty minutes at the scene, and the next few weeks of the claim.
Both go better with the right pieces of paper. Here's what to collect, in order.
At the scene: collect now, sort later
Your phone is the best tool you have standing on a shoulder of the road. Use the camera for everything — photos don't have handwriting errors.
- The other driver's insurance card. Photograph it, front and back. That one picture captures their name, insurer, and policy number correctly, which is more than a shaky hand and a scrap of paper will manage.
- Their license plate and driver's license. Photos again. Add their phone number, typed straight into your contacts so it can't get lost.
- The damage — theirs and yours. Close-ups of every dent and scrape, plus wide shots showing both cars and where they sit on the road. Wide shots settle arguments later; close-ups alone don't show who was where.
- The scene itself. The intersection, skid marks, traffic signs, weather, anything that helps explain what happened. Thirty seconds of photos now beats thirty minutes of "as I recall" later.
- Witnesses. A name and phone number is plenty. People leave fast.
- The police report number. If officers respond, ask for the report number and the officer's name before they go. If they don't respond, many states let you file a report yourself — and some require it above a certain damage threshold, so check your state's rules.
One thing you'll need to produce at the scene: your own insurance card. If yours is a crumpled relic in the glove box of the car that was just hit — or worse, at home — this is the moment you appreciate having your insurance documents saved on your phone. A photo of the card works. So does a proper copy in a vault you can open with your face while your hands are still shaking a little.
The claim: what your insurer will ask for
Most insurers want to hear from you within a day or two, and the first call goes faster if you have these in front of you:
| Document | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
| Your policy number | Your insurance ID card or declarations page |
| Declarations page | The summary page of your policy — coverage, deductibles, limits |
| Other driver's insurance details | The photo you took at the scene |
| Photos of damage and scene | Your camera roll |
| Police report number | The officer at the scene, or your own filing |
| Repair estimates | Body shops — get more than one if you can |
| Medical records and bills | Only if anyone was hurt |
The declarations page deserves a special mention because most people have never looked at theirs. It's the one- or two-page summary at the front of your policy that says what you're covered for, your deductible, and your limits. Reading it before you talk to the adjuster means you know whether rental car coverage exists, what you'll pay out of pocket, and whether that "we'll take care of you" on the phone matches what you actually bought. It usually lives in the same email or folder as your policy — the same pile as your registration and title, which is its own small saga (car ownership paperwork has a way of scattering).
If anyone was hurt, even mildly, see a doctor promptly and keep everything: visit summaries, bills, and the insurance paperwork that follows. Those statements get confusing fast — medical bills and explanation-of-benefits forms are their own genre — but for the claim, the rule is simple: keep every page that mentions the accident date.
The weeks after: log everything
Claims are rarely one phone call. They're six phone calls, two adjusters, a body shop, and possibly the other driver's insurer calling you too. The habit that protects you costs one minute per call:
- After every call, write down the date, who you spoke with, their direct number if they gave one, and what was agreed. A running note on your phone is fine.
- Keep everything in writing when you can. If an adjuster promises something on the phone, a polite follow-up email — "confirming what we discussed" — turns a promise into a record.
- Save every document the claim generates: the claim number, estimates, the adjuster's report, rental receipts, towing receipts, the final settlement letter. Don't decide what matters; keep it all until the claim is closed and paid.
- Don't discuss fault with the other driver's insurer. Give facts, refer them to your own company, and let the adjusters do the arguing.
Keeping it all findable
Notice what a claim really is: a month-long quiz about your own paperwork. What's your policy number? What's your deductible? What did the estimate from the second shop say? When did you last talk to the adjuster?
You can pass that quiz with a folder and discipline. Or you can let the folder do the remembering. This is the job Paperlock is built for: save the insurance card, the declarations page, the estimates, and the receipts as you get them, and it reads each one — who it's from, the date, the amount — and files it without you naming a thing. When the adjuster asks for your policy number, you ask your phone in plain English and get the answer with the document attached. Everything sits behind Face ID, so a claim's worth of personal paperwork isn't loose in your camera roll. That's the whole idea of the app, and it's coming soon to iPhone.
Either way, do the five-minute version today, before you need it: photograph your insurance card and declarations page, and put them where you can find them from the driver's seat of a car that's just been hit. Future you, standing on that road shoulder, will be very glad you did.