Reporting a Car Accident in North Carolina
There are several situations in which you are required by law to report a car accident to authorities. If you have a potential insurance claim or legal claim related to the accident, it will also benefit you to have a police report detailing the accident.
When do you need to report a car accident in North Carolina?
State law requires you to alert authorities and remain at the scene if you have been involved in a car accident that resulted in one of the following:
- Property damage
- Personal injury
- Death
If the accident involves an emergency situation, you need to alert authorities by calling 911. Failure to properly report an accident can result in fines. If none of the above occurred, the law does not mandate that you report it to authorities. However, if you think you might want to file a claim later (possibly for latent damage to your vehicle), you should go ahead and contact police.
Do you need to report an accident to your insurance company?
Yes, you will generally want to report any traffic accident to your insurance carrier. Even if you do not think any damage occurred, your insurance company should know about the accident in case you later need to make an Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist claim. Often, this type of coverage is subject to timely-notification provisions in your insurance contract.
How do you obtain a copy of your accident report?
You can obtain a copy of the car accident report generated by the responding agency by making a request through the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles. You can make the request in person or by mail. The cost to obtain the report is $5.
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Source:
(Downloads a PDF file - https://www.ncdot.gov/dmv/downloads/Documents/TR-67A.pdf)