After a car crash, most of what happens to your claim is decided between insurance companies: the other driver’s, yours, and sometimes your health insurer. Which company pays for what depends on the state you crashed in, the coverage everyone carried, and how badly you were hurt. Courtrooms come into it far less often than TV ads suggest.
This guide covers what’s specific to car accidents. For the general rules on proving fault, partial-fault systems and filing deadlines, see our personal injury guide.
At the scene and in the first few days
If anyone is hurt, call 911 first; everything else can wait. Once people are safe, the goal is to collect what will be hard to get later:
- The other driver’s name, phone number, license number, plate, and insurance company and policy number. A photo of their insurance card and license is quicker than writing it down.
- Photos of both cars, where they ended up, skid marks, traffic signals, and any visible injuries.
- Names and numbers of witnesses. They rarely stick around once the police arrive.
- The police report number, or the name of the officer and department.
Get checked by a doctor soon, even if you feel fine. Neck and back injuries often show up a day or two later, and adrenaline hides a lot. A prompt medical record also ties the injury to the crash, which the insurer will otherwise question.
Report the crash to your own insurer, as your policy almost certainly requires. Be factual and avoid guessing about speeds or who was at fault.
Some states also want a report from you, separate from the police report. California, for example, requires drivers to file an SR-1 form with the DMV within 10 days if anyone was hurt or killed or property damage topped $1,000. Missing it can cost you your license.
Fault states and no-fault states
Most states use a fault system. The driver who caused the crash, through their liability insurance, pays for the other people’s injuries and damage. You file a claim with their insurer, or sue them if it comes to that.
Twelve states take a different approach for injuries: Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Utah. In these no-fault states, your own policy’s personal injury protection (PIP) pays your medical bills and part of your lost income up to its limit, no matter who caused the crash. In exchange, your right to sue the other driver for pain and suffering is limited. You can step outside the no-fault system only if the injury crosses a threshold.
Those thresholds come in two kinds. Some states use a dollar amount: once your medical bills pass a set figure, you can sue. Others use a description of the injury instead. New York’s is typical of that second kind; its list of “serious injuries” includes a fracture, significant disfigurement, permanent loss of use of a body part, and an injury that kept you from most normal activities for 90 of the first 180 days. In New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Kentucky, drivers can choose when they buy the policy whether to accept the lawsuit limits in return for a lower premium.
PIP amounts and rules vary a lot. Florida requires $10,000 of PIP, which pays 80% of medical costs and 60% of lost income. Michigan, after its 2019 overhaul, lets drivers choose medical coverage from unlimited down to $250,000, or $50,000 for people on Medicaid, and lets people with Medicare opt out entirely.
In Florida, PIP medical benefits apply only if you get initial treatment within 14 days of the crash. Even then, unless a qualifying provider finds you had an emergency medical condition, medical benefits are capped at $2,500.
Which insurance pays for what
Several policies can be involved in one crash, and people are often surprised by which one picks up which bill.
| Coverage | Whose policy | What it pays for |
|---|---|---|
| Bodily injury liability | The at-fault driver’s | Other people’s injuries: medical bills, lost pay, pain and suffering, up to the policy limit |
| Property damage liability | The at-fault driver’s | Your car and other property they damaged |
| PIP or MedPay | Yours | Your medical bills (and with PIP, some lost income), regardless of fault |
| Collision | Yours | Repairs to your own car, minus your deductible; your insurer may then seek repayment from the other side |
| Uninsured/underinsured motorist | Yours | Your injuries when the at-fault driver has no insurance or not enough |
| Health insurance | Yours | Medical bills as usual; it will usually want repayment from any injury settlement |
State minimums are lower than most injuries
Every state sets a minimum amount of liability coverage, written as three numbers. California’s, raised in 2025 for the first time in decades, is 30/60/15: $30,000 for one injured person, $60,000 for everyone injured in the crash, and $15,000 for property damage. North Carolina moved to 50/100/50 for policies issued or renewed from July 1, 2025.
Those numbers run out fast. A few nights in the hospital and some surgery can pass $30,000 before lost wages or pain are counted. When the at-fault driver carries only the minimum, that limit is usually the realistic ceiling on what you’ll collect from them. Suing a driver personally for more is possible, but most people with minimum coverage don’t have assets worth chasing.
That’s where your own underinsured motorist coverage comes in, and it’s a good reason to check your policy before you ever need it. North Carolina’s 2025 changes made underinsured coverage part of new and renewed policies, and stopped insurers from shrinking it by the amount the other driver’s insurer already paid.
When the other driver has no insurance
It happens more than people expect. The Insurance Research Council estimated that 15.4% of drivers were uninsured in 2023, and that about a third were either uninsured or carried too little to cover a serious injury. The rate was highest in Mississippi, at 28.2%, followed by New Mexico and the District of Columbia.
If you carry uninsured motorist coverage, you make the claim against your own insurer, which then steps into the other driver’s shoes. Expect it to argue about fault and the value of your injuries just as the other side’s insurer would; being your insurer doesn’t make it your advocate in this situation. Hit-and-run crashes are usually handled the same way, though many policies require a prompt police report.
Trucks, rideshares and company vehicles
A crash with a commercial vehicle changes the picture. Interstate trucking companies hauling general freight for hire must carry at least $750,000 in liability coverage under federal rules, and more for hazardous loads. That means more money is available, and also a far more aggressive defense. Trucking companies often send investigators to the scene within hours.
Evidence in these cases goes beyond photos: the truck’s electronic logging device, its engine data, the driver’s hours-of-service records, maintenance logs and dispatch messages. Some of it is kept only for a limited time, which is why lawyers send a preservation letter early asking the company to keep it.
When someone driving for work hits you, their employer is often responsible too. Rideshare crashes add another layer, because the coverage that applies can depend on whether the driver had the app on, was heading to a pickup, or had a passenger in the car at that moment.
Getting your car fixed
Property damage is usually settled separately from the injury claim, and much faster. You can go through the other driver’s insurer or through your own collision coverage. Going through your own is often quicker, though you’ll pay your deductible up front and wait for your insurer to recover it.
If repairs would cost more than the car is worth, the insurer will declare it a total loss and pay its market value before the crash. That number is negotiable. Listings for similar cars in your area, with similar mileage and options, are the most useful evidence you can bring. A rental car while yours is being repaired is normally part of the claim against an at-fault driver. Some states also let you claim “diminished value,” the drop in resale price a car suffers once it has an accident history, but the rules on that differ from state to state.
When it makes sense to call a lawyer
A fender-bender with a sore neck that clears up in two weeks usually doesn’t need one. Settling the property damage yourself is almost always fine.
The calculation changes with broken bones, a hospital stay, time off work, or anything with a long recovery. It also changes when fault is contested, when a truck or company vehicle is involved, when the other driver’s limits look too low for your injuries, or when you live in a no-fault state and aren’t sure your injury meets the threshold. Car accident lawyers work almost entirely on contingency, so a first consultation costs nothing. Our personal injury guide explains how those fees work and what to ask before you sign.
Before you talk to any lawyer or adjuster, pull together your policy’s declarations page. It lists exactly which coverages and limits you carry, and it answers half the questions you’ll be asked.
Sources
- Insurance Information Institute: Background on no-fault auto insurance
- N.Y. Insurance Law § 5102
- Fla. Stat. § 627.736: Required personal injury protection benefits
- Michigan DIFS: Choosing PIP medical coverage
- California Department of Insurance: Bulletin 2023-1 on SB 1107
- NC Department of Insurance: changes effective July 1, 2025
- Insurance Research Council: uninsured and underinsured motorists, 2023
- 49 C.F.R. Part 387 (minimum levels in § 387.9)
- California DMV: Report of Traffic Accident (SR-1)