If you have sustained an injury in an accident you must try to protect evidence to help you prove your claim to an insurance company.

1. Return to the Scene

If the accident took place somewhere other than your home return to the scene as soon as possible to locate any evidence, and take photographs of conditions you believe may have contributed to the accident. Sometimes you can find unexpected evidence such as a worn or torn spot on which you fell, or even a defective traffic light. When you are there you may also find someone who witnessed the accident or has seen similar injuries sustained at that location.

Remember to take photgraphs from various angles – particularly your view just before the accident – to keep a good picture in your mind and to give to the insurance company later on. Always photograph the scene at the same time of the day as your accident occured, and for vehicle accidents, the same day of the week to reflect the same amount of traffic.

2. Protect Physical Evidence

Sometimes defining who was at fault for your accident can come down to a piece of ‘physical’ evidence  - something you can see or touch, as opposed to a description of what happened. Examples can include a broken stair that caused a fall, the dent in a car showing where it was hit or an overhanging branch that blocked visibility on a bike path.

Physical evidence can help prove the extent of your injury: Damage to the car can demonstrate how hard a collision was, for example, and torn or bloodied clothing can show your physical injuries dramatically. Try to preserve any physical evidence exactly as it was at the accident. If you can’t preserve the actual object, take photographs of it. You can later show your evidence to an insurance company as proof of what happened.

3. Take Good Photographs

  • Regular photos are better than Polaroids. They usually show greater detail and more accurate light conditions.
  • Take a number of photos from different angles so that you can later pick out the ones that show most clearly whatever it is you want to highlight to the insurance company.
  • Take the photos as soon as possible so that they will accurately represent the condition of the evidence immediately after the accident.
  • To establish the date the photos were taken, ask a friend to both watch you take the pictures and to write a short note stating that he or she observed you taking the pictures on that date. Also, print your photographs immediately with the date on the back of the prints.