Check that nobody is hurt, move the cars out of the lane if they still drive, hazards on. Photograph everything before anything moves — all of the damage, and the airbags if they went off. Trade names, phones, insurance and plates. Get a police report: it is the thing people skip most often and the one that costs them later. Say what happened and nothing else. Then call a body shop before you call anyone else, because the advice is free and that call is where the claim gets set up well or badly.
Minute one: people first
Before the paint, before the photos, before the phone. Ask everyone in both cars whether they are hurt. Adrenaline hides a lot, and someone who says they are fine at the roadside is not always fine an hour later. If there is any doubt, call 911 and let a paramedic decide instead of you.
If the cars still run and the crash was minor, get them onto the shoulder or into a parking lot. On Dixie, on Lake Worth Road or anywhere on I-95, a second collision into a stopped car is worse than the first one. Hazards on, and put out triangles if you have them. If a car cannot be moved, or if anyone is hurt, leave everything where it is and wait.
The ten-minute checklist
In this order, and it all fits in the time it takes for the police to arrive.
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Do
1. Photograph before anything moves
Wide shots showing both cars and their position, then close-ups of every damaged area, plus the plates and the street. If the cars have to be moved for safety, take the wide shots first — even badly.
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Do
2. Photograph the airbags
If they deployed, photograph them. It is the detail people forget, and it is one of the things that tells an adjuster how severe the impact really was. Photograph all of the damage too, not only the part that looks worst.
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Do
3. Trade information
Name, phone, insurance company and policy number, plate, and the make and model. The fastest way is to photograph their license and insurance card rather than writing anything down.
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Do
4. Get a police report
We recommend it on every accident, including the small ones. It is the piece that turns your version of events into a document, and it is what an insurer leans on when the other driver remembers things differently a week later.
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Do
5. Look for witnesses
Anyone who stopped, and any business with a camera pointing at the street. A phone number taken at the scene beats anything you can reconstruct later.
The mistake we see most often
Not getting a police report.
It always happens for a reasonable-sounding reason. The damage looks minor, the other driver offers to pay cash, nobody wants an hour at the roadside. So both cars leave and no record exists that anything happened.
Then the estimate comes back higher than the damage looked, because bumper covers hide a lot. Or the other driver stops answering. Or their insurer disputes who hit whom. At that point all that exists is your word against theirs.
To be clear: this is our recommendation as a shop, not a statement about what the law requires of you. For your legal obligations after a crash in Florida, ask the police or an attorney. What we can tell you is what arrives at the shop, and the claims that go badly are disproportionately the ones with no report behind them.
What not to say
Describe what happened. Do not editorialize about it.
- Do not apologize. "I'm sorry" is ordinary politeness everywhere else and an admission of fault here.
- Do not guess. Speed, distance, how long the light had been green — if you are not sure, say so. A number you invented at the roadside can be used against you later.
- Do not say you are fine before you know that you are. Neck and back injuries routinely show up the next day.
- Do not settle privately at the scene. You cannot see what is behind the bumper cover, and neither can they.
Call a shop before you call anyone else
This is the part most people get backwards. The reflex is to call the insurance company first and do whatever they say next.
Call a body shop first instead. Five minutes on the phone before you open a claim tells you roughly what you are dealing with, whether the damage is likely to be worth more than your deductible, and what the insurer will ask you for. We do it every day and we do not charge for it, whether or not the car ends up here.
One thing worth knowing before that call: in Florida you choose where your car gets repaired. Your insurer can recommend a shop, and often will, but you are not required to use it. We walk through how that works on our insurance claims page.
The next 24 hours
Write down everything you remember while it is fresh — the order things happened in, what was said, the weather. Notify your insurer. If you feel any pain at all, see a doctor and let there be a medical record of it. And get the car looked at even if it drives fine: modern bumpers are designed to look intact while the structure behind them absorbs the impact.
Then get a real estimate — not a number over the phone, someone has to look at the car. If the damage turns out to be smaller than it looked, we will tell you that too. That work is covered on our collision repair page.
This article is general guidance from an auto body shop about handling the aftermath of a collision. It is not legal or medical advice.
FAQs
Should I get a police report for a minor accident?
We recommend it every time, including the ones that look like nothing. It is the mistake we see most often and the one that causes the most trouble later, because without a report a disputed claim comes down to your word against the other driver's. This is our recommendation as a shop and not a statement about what the law requires — for that, ask the police or an attorney.
What should I photograph at the scene?
All of the damage, not only the worst part, and the airbags if they deployed. Wide shots showing where both cars ended up before anything moves, then close-ups of each damaged area, plus the plates and the street. Photographing the other driver's license and insurance card beats writing the details down.
Should I call my insurance company first?
Call a body shop first. The advice is free, it takes five minutes, and it tells you what you are dealing with before you open a claim — including whether the repair is worth more than your deductible. Then call your insurer, knowing what to expect.
Can my insurer make me use their shop?
No. In Florida you choose where your car gets repaired. An insurer can recommend a shop from its network, and there are reasons they prefer you use it, but the decision is yours. Bring us the claim number and we handle the estimate, the supplements and the direct billing from there.
Related services
What else we do
Just had an accident? Call before you call the insurance.
Five minutes on the phone will tell you what you are dealing with. We do not charge for it and it commits you to nothing.
Free estimate by text. Send the photos you took at the scene to 561 797 0353 — one wide and a few close-ups works best. We reply with a price range.