What to document after a car accident in Utah
If a collision has just happened, attend to immediate safety and emergency assistance first. Documentation comes afterward, when it is safe to collect it.
The Utah Insurance Department recommends contacting police and gathering information about the people, vehicles and circumstances involved. Its guidance also explains the importance of keeping records when communicating with your insurer. Official after-accident guidance
A simple record for your insurer
Keep three groups of information together:
• People and vehicles: contact and insurance details for those involved, witness information and vehicle descriptions.
• Collision details: date, time, location, road conditions and your factual account of what happened.
• Claim records: insurer contacts, claim correspondence and relevant towing, storage or rental receipts.
Record observations accurately. If you suspect distraction, explain the basis for that suspicion rather than presenting an inference as a confirmed fact. Avoid posting another person’s private information publicly.
During the claim process
Ask your insurer which records it needs. Note whom you spoke with, when, the subject of the conversation and any agreed next step. Keep originals and submit copies through the insurer’s requested channel.
Understand first-party and third-party claims.
Planning future drives
A collision can prompt families to revisit driving routines. LATCH’s founder describes that experience as the reason he began building a platform to limit phone distractions. Read the founder’s story and learn about LATCH.
LATCH does not replace emergency assistance, an insurance policy or individualized professional advice. This guide does not promise a claim outcome.