How to Get a Car Accident Police Report

• August 31, 2022
• Car Accidents

Learning how to get a car accident police report may be necessary if you have suffered significant losses from an accident and hope to pursue financial compensation for those losses. Our attorneys at Lakota R. Denton, P.A. can provide you with assistance in getting a copy of your police report, especially if it is needed for a case. However, if you want to get a copy yourself, you can do so by following these steps:

• Contact the responding officers
• Speak to the police department directly
• Reach out to your insurance company
• Get some information from the DMV.

If you hope to obtain a copy of your police report, the process is typically not difficult to do. However, it may take a bit of time to ensure that you get the right report at the right time. If you need any help, remember to give our team a call for more information.

#1: Contact the Responding Officers

In some situations, you may want to contact the officer who responded to the accident to gather more information about the police report. You have the right to contact the officer to provide more information, gather details of what the officer learned from witnesses, or simply share more information with them. Often, a police officer will provide a business card to you at the time of the accident if you were able to talk to them. Use this business card to properly contact the officer. Be sure to let them know your name and some details about the incident so they can verify who you are. Then, you can typically ask questions that you have. The responding police officer typically has to complete the accident report and file it with the police department. If it is soon after the accident and the report is not yet filed, but you need to provide information, contact the officer directly, following the instructions provided to you.

#2: Speak to the Police Department

In most cases, this is the most direct and easiest way to get the information you need. Most of the time, you can call the police department directly in the city where the accident occurred. Within 1 to 2 days of the accident, you should have access to the information you need. You can ask them how to obtain a police report for your incident. Most often, there is a receptionist that can answer your questions and provide you with more insight into your options. You may have to come to the police department to pick up a copy of your accident report. In some situations, this is done at the courthouse rather than the police department. In either situation, the receptionist can often provide you with more specifics about how to get a police report after an accident. It should not cost anything, though some may charge a small administrative fee.

#3: Reach Out to Your Insurance Company

In some cases, your insurance company will have access to your accident report faster than you do. If you alerted them to the accident when it occurred, they will begin working on your claim right away. One component of the work they do is to reach out to the police department to gather information. They may speak to the responding officer. They nearly always request a copy of the police report. Here is where you need to be careful, though. If you are filing a claim through the insurance company, it is very important for you to ensure you are not saying anything that could place blame on yourself. You also do not want to settle your claim with the insurance company (either yours or the other party’s) until you are confident they are providing you with fair compensation. Your agent can provide you with a copy of your police report and any other details they have. If not, they can tell you where to get a copy locally.

#4: Contact the DMV

Most of the time, it will take some time for a police report to make it to the DMV if they ever receive it. If your accident resulted in points being added to your license for a violation, they may have documentation of that. You can request a copy of that information.

How Our Legal Team Can Help You

If you were in a car accident, your first priority is to get the medical care you need. Then, you need to be sure you’ve spoken to the police directly to complete a police report. Once you do that, the responding officers can go back to their office to create a formal report. Our attorneys can help you with getting a copy of your police report after an accident. We can also help you with:

• Gathering all witness statements in the case
• Gathering any other evidence, like videos or photos of the area
• Help you determine if the other party is to blame
• Work to identify the legal strategy to ensure you receive full compensation for your losses
• Help you to complete an insurance claim to ensure it is complete and accounts for all losses
• Go to trial with you should the insurance company fail to provide you with the financial compensation you need.

Working with a car accident lawyer is one of the most important steps you can take after a car accident. Your attorney is working for you. That means we are working to ensure you receive adequate compensation for your losses and that you do not settle your insurance claim for less than you’re owed. Let us be the one that handles getting a police report, managing insurance companies, and fighting to protect your rights.

Contact Us Now for a Free Consultation

To learn more about how we can help you, set up a consultation to discuss your case with our attorneys at Lakota R. Denton, P.A. Call us at 828-333-5996 to learn more about how we can help you. Expect dedicated professionals that work to prove your case.