How Long Do You Have to Report an Accident?

Nobody wants to get into an accident,but this thing is not actually in our hands. No matter how careful you are, an accident can happen at anytime. An accident is always an accident. One thing we can do here is always being careful. If everyone can be careful, the rate of the accident will be reduced significantly.

Anyways, after being very careful, if you get into an accident, then you have to report. At that time, you will get a specific time to do it. In this article, we will discuss how long do you have to report an accident. We hope this article will be very informative for you.

How Long Do You Have to Report an Accident?

There have some key things that you need to do after an accident. Reporting within a specific time is one of the most important among them,but there is no universal time requirement for that. This time is actually different for the different insurers. Every insurance company has a strict window of time. You are required to report within that time.

But we can say that you should file your report as soon as possible because it is a matter of getting compensation. The insurance company will always try not to give your compensation. So, to avoid complexity, you need to do it as early as possible.

There also has a matter of statute of limitations. It is six months in Canada. That means you will be able to file a lawsuit within six months after the accident against the accused person.

If you are not in the position to report to the insurance company, you can hire a lawyer from the best Injury Lawyer in Calgary. He will do all these things on behalf of you. Hiring a lawyer for this kind of case is logical because they can arrange the highest compensation for you.

In most cases, reporting to the police after an accident is mandatory in Alberta. You need to do it within 24 hours from the accident. Here are the situations when a report to the police is required in Alberta:

  • When the damage is more than $2000, you must report that accident to the police. Here one thing notable is you can also report to the police even if the damage less than $2000.
  • When there have any kind of injury of the victim,you have to report even if the injury is minor.
  • If any criminal offense occurred there, you must report.

These are the compulsory situations when you must report to the police. However, in Canada, you can report to the police for all types of accidents. Such as, car accident. You must report to the police first before hiring a car accident lawyer.

Tips for filing report

Filing a report and getting compensation will help to increase financial support. Here are some tips for you to file a report that you can apply in your case:

  • When you are filing a report, you should get the officer’s information and the police report number. This police report number will be needed for the insurance company.
  • You should write down all the information of every person involved in the accident, like name, full address, cell number, etc.
  • You also have to note down the license number and the vehicle model involved in the accident.
  • You must take some pictures of the damages and some other information you can arrange with a picture.
  • You should keep all the documents that the police will give you.

The Bottom Line

If your accident is minor, it is unnecessary to report to the police or the insurance company for it. But if the accident is major and there have a matter of getting compensation, you should definitely report for it, and it is within a fixed time. This is called the statute of limitations. Every state has different law for it.

In this article, we have given you all the information about this which we entitled how long do you have to report an accident. Hopefully, this article will help you a lot in your case. Sometimes these kinds of cases can be very hassle-full. At that time, you can hire a motor vehicle accident lawyer to smoothen this process. You may also find undergoing school bus safety orientation helpful in preventing road accidents.