If you’re reading this after an accident: take a breath. What you do in the next hours and days matters more than most people realize, but you don’t have to figure it all out at once. Follow the steps below in order.
If you’re reading this before an accident: bookmark it. You won’t remember the specifics when you actually need them.
In the First Ten Minutes
Get safe. Move to the shoulder if the vehicle is drivable and it’s safe to do so. Turn on your hazard lights. Get out of moving traffic.
Check for injuries. Yours first, then your passengers, then the other people involved. Call 911 for any injury, no matter how minor it seems. Adrenaline masks pain. Serious injuries can feel like “I’m fine” in the moment.
Call the police. Vermont requires you to report accidents involving injury, death, or property damage over $3,000 (23 V.S.A. § 1129). Even below that threshold, an official police report is almost always in your interest. It’s a contemporaneous, neutral record.
Do not admit fault. Not “I’m sorry” — even reflexively. Not “I didn’t see you.” Insurance companies parse these statements. Answer questions honestly, but keep your explanations factual and short.
Before You Leave the Scene
Do these in whatever order you can:
Photograph everything.
- The vehicles from multiple angles, including license plates
- The damage on each vehicle
- The overall scene, including skid marks, debris, traffic signs, and lane markings
- The road conditions and weather
- Any visible injuries
- The other driver’s license, registration, and insurance card
Get information.
- Names, addresses, phone numbers, and insurance details for every driver
- Names and contact info for every passenger in every vehicle
- Names and contact info for any witnesses — this is huge; witnesses disappear
- Police officer’s name, badge number, and the report number
Note the details.
- Time and exact location
- Direction of travel for each vehicle
- Speed you were traveling
- What you were doing in the seconds before the impact
Within 24 Hours
Get medical attention, even if you feel okay. Two things happen after an accident: your body floods with adrenaline that masks pain and injury, and soft-tissue injuries often take 24-72 hours to show symptoms. Whiplash, concussions, and internal injuries are notoriously delayed.
Going to an ER or your primary care doctor accomplishes two things. First, and most important, it treats injuries you may not know you have. Second, it creates a medical record that documents the accident as the cause. Without that record, an insurance company can (and will) argue your injuries came from something else.
Notify your insurance company. Report the accident but stick to the facts. Don’t speculate about fault, injury, or damages. Vermont insurance policies typically require prompt notification.
Do not talk to the other side’s insurance. They will call. They are trained to sound helpful and get statements that limit their exposure. Do not give recorded statements. Tell them to speak with your attorney, or to call back later. Then hang up.
In the First Week
Follow up on medical care. Attend every appointment. Fill every prescription. Do the physical therapy. Insurance companies read medical records looking for gaps — a missed appointment becomes an argument that you weren’t really hurt.
Keep a folder. Everything related to the accident goes in it:
- Photos (backed up in multiple places)
- Police report
- Medical bills and records
- Prescription receipts
- Repair estimates
- Rental car receipts
- Missed-work documentation
- Any correspondence with insurance companies
Keep a symptom journal. Every day for at least the first few weeks, write down what hurts and how much. Rate pain 1-10. Note what activities you couldn’t do — driving, work, sleep, exercise, playing with your kids. This journal becomes powerful evidence when the negotiation starts, because you will not remember these specifics six months from now.
Talk to a Vermont personal injury attorney. Free case reviews should be genuinely free, and getting professional guidance early prevents the mistakes that hurt your case later. At Basha Law, we don’t charge to review your case.
Mistakes That Quietly Hurt Your Vermont Injury Case
Even people doing everything else right make these:
Posting on social media. Insurance defense investigators check social media. A photo of you smiling at a family barbecue three weeks after an accident becomes evidence you weren’t really hurt. Stay off social media, or make everything private and stay off it anyway.
Giving recorded statements. Insurance adjusters ask for recorded statements early. They frame these as routine. They aren’t. Anything you say gets transcribed, analyzed, and used to reduce your claim. Never give a recorded statement without an attorney.
Accepting the first offer. The first offer is almost never the final offer. Insurance companies open with numbers that are a fraction of what a case is worth. Don’t accept anything, and don’t sign anything, without knowing what the case is actually worth.
Signing medical releases. The other side’s insurance will send you medical release forms that authorize them to obtain “any and all medical records.” These releases are usually broader than they need to be, and can hand over records that have nothing to do with the accident but hurt your case. Have any release reviewed before you sign.
Waiting too long to call an attorney. Vermont’s statute of limitations for personal injury is generally three years from the accident (12 V.S.A. § 512(4)). Three years sounds like plenty of time, but evidence disappears, witnesses forget, and the insurance company runs out the clock. The right time to talk to an attorney is early — often within the first week.
Vermont-Specific Things to Know
Comparative negligence. Vermont follows a “modified comparative negligence” rule (12 V.S.A. § 1036). If you were partially at fault, your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault, but only if your fault is 50% or less. If a jury finds you 51% at fault, you recover nothing. This is why the fault analysis matters and why insurance companies work hard to push some percentage of fault onto you.
No-fault does not apply. Vermont is a traditional at-fault state. You claim against the at-fault driver’s liability insurance, or against your own uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage if the at-fault driver has no or insufficient coverage.
Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage matters. Vermont drivers should carry meaningful UM/UIM coverage. Too many Vermont drivers are uninsured or minimally insured. If the driver who hurt you has no assets and minimal insurance, your own UM/UIM policy may be your recovery.
When to Call an Attorney
Right away, in most cases. Certainly if any of these are true:
- Anyone was injured badly enough to need medical treatment
- The other driver is denying fault or has a different account of what happened
- The insurance company is asking for recorded statements or medical releases
- You’re missing work
- The medical bills are adding up
- You’re feeling pressured to settle
We handle Vermont personal injury matters on a contingency basis. Free case review. No attorney’s fee unless we recover for you.
Free case review with Attorney Basha. No fee unless we win. Call (802) 448-4341.