What to do after an accident in a company vehicle

After a crash in a company vehicle, the driver's job is to protect people, call for help, document the scene and say as little as possible about fault. The company's job begins in the first hour: report the loss to the insurer, preserve every record and recording, and notify the other policies that may be involved. The standard auto policy conditions the insurer's duty to cover on prompt notice and cooperation, so delay is the most avoidable mistake.

At the scene: the driver's checklist

1. Safety first. Stop, turn on hazard lights and check for injuries. Do not move anyone who is hurt unless there is immediate danger.
2. Call 911 for any injury, serious damage or a blocked road. A police report becomes a central document in the claim.
3. Warn traffic. If a commercial motor vehicle is stopped on a highway or shoulder, FMCSA's rule at 49 CFR 392.22 requires the driver to turn on the hazard flashers and, as soon as possible and within 10 minutes, place warning devices: one about 10 feet behind on the traffic side, and others about 100 feet ahead and behind. Business and residential districts are partly excepted unless lights are required and street lighting is insufficient.
4. Exchange information. Names, phone numbers, driver's license numbers, plate numbers, insurer names and policy numbers, and the vehicle descriptions. Get witness names and numbers.
5. Document. Photograph all vehicles, the road, signs and signals, skid marks, weather and injuries. Note the time and location. Take video if you can.
6. Do not admit fault or discuss liability. An apology can be quoted later. State facts to the police. Say "I'll report this to my company and insurer" to the other party.
7. Do not sign anything except a police form, and do not promise payment.
8. Call the company right away. Many fleets have a 24-hour number. A card in the glove box with the claim number and policy number helps.

If the accident involves the other driver leaving the scene, record the plate and direction of travel and tell the police. That may become an uninsured-motorist claim.

The first hours: what the company does

1. Report to the insurer or broker immediately. Don't wait for the full facts. The insurer will want the date, time, location, vehicles, drivers, injuries, police report number and a brief description. The reporting channel is on the policy and in the carrier's claims instructions (how to file a business insurance claim, step by step).
2. Check on people. A hurt employee triggers a workers' compensation claim, which is separate from the auto claim (the workers' comp claims process for employers).
3. Send a preservation notice inside the company. Preserve dashcam footage, telematics and ELD data, dispatch records, driver logs, text messages, GPS data, fuel and toll receipts, maintenance records and the driver's file. Stop any automatic deletion. See below.
4. Secure the vehicle. For anything serious, do not repair, sell or scrap the vehicle until the insurer has inspected it and any engine control module or event data has been downloaded.
5. Notify every policy that might respond. That means the primary auto policy, the umbrella or excess carrier, cargo coverage if freight was involved, and the physical damage carrier if different. Umbrella and excess policies usually have their own notice conditions for serious injuries or deaths, and you should ask your broker which events trigger notice.
6. Name one contact. Direct reporters, plaintiffs' investigators and other insurers to a single person, and tell staff not to post about it.

Why prompt notice matters

The ISO Motor Carrier Coverage Form (CA 00 20) and the Business Auto form both contain a "Duties in the Event of Accident, Claim, Suit or Loss" condition. In the copy of the CA 00 20 10 13 edition on National General's site, it says the insurer has no duty to provide coverage unless there has been full compliance with the duties, which include:

• Prompt notice of the accident or loss, with how, when and where it occurred, the insured's name and address, and the names and addresses of injured persons and witnesses.
• Assuming no obligation, making no payment and incurring no expense without the insurer's consent, except at the insured's own cost.
• Immediately sending the insurer copies of any demand, notice, summons or legal paper.
• Cooperating in the investigation, settlement or defense.
• Authorizing medical records and submitting to examination, if requested.

For loss to the vehicle itself, the insured must also notify the police if the vehicle is stolen, protect the vehicle from further damage, permit inspection before repair or disposition, and give an examination under oath on request. Other forms use their own wording, but the principle is general. In many states an insurer must show it was prejudiced by late notice before it can deny, and in others the rules are stricter. The details are in notice of claim and late notice: why timing matters.

Preserve evidence

Video, telematics and electronic data are the first things a plaintiff's lawyer asks for. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(e), a court can impose measures when electronically stored information that should have been preserved for litigation is lost because a party failed to take reasonable steps to preserve it, and the most severe sanctions require a finding of intent to deprive (Cornell LII). State courts have their own spoliation doctrines. Many camera and telematics systems overwrite on a loop, so locking the clip within hours matters. See telematics and dashcams in commercial auto insurance.

Trucking and DOT rules

If the vehicle is a commercial motor vehicle, federal rules add steps:

• Accident register. Motor carriers must keep an accident register for three years for each "accident" as defined in 49 CFR 390.5, which means a fatality, bodily injury treated away from the scene, or disabling damage requiring a tow. The register lists the date, location, driver, injuries, fatalities and any hazardous materials release, and includes copies of accident reports required by governments or insurers (49 CFR 390.15).
• Post-accident testing. Under 49 CFR 382.303, the employer must test surviving drivers subject to DOT testing for alcohol and controlled substances after an accident involving a fatality, and after an accident with a citation to the driver for a moving violation where there was an injury treated away from the scene or a disabling tow-away. Alcohol tests should be done within two hours (the employer must record why if not) and attempts stop after eight hours. Controlled-substance tests have a 32-hour limit. The rule does not require delaying medical care.
• Cooperation with investigators. Carriers must make accident records available to FMCSA and state or local authorities and give reasonable assistance in an investigation.
• OSHA. An employee death or in-patient hospitalization from a motor vehicle accident on a public street or highway does not have to be reported to OSHA unless it occurs in a construction work zone, but it must be recorded on the injury log where logs are required (29 CFR 1904.39(b)(3)).

Private companies with non-CDL fleets are outside the DOT testing rule, but many have their own post-accident policies. State drug-testing laws govern those, so have the policy reviewed.

What happens next on the claim

The insurer assigns an adjuster, who will investigate fault, take statements, inspect the vehicles and handle the injured parties' claims. Your cooperation shapes the outcome: answer promptly, send documents and let the carrier negotiate. If a lawsuit arrives, forward it the same day. The insurer's duty to defend (the insurer's duty to defend: what triggers it and when it ends) may come with a reservation of rights (reservation of rights letters: what they mean and how to respond). If the damage was caused by someone else, the carrier may recover from the other party's insurer, and your deductible may be reimbursed through subrogation. For a serious injury, consider contacting your own attorney in parallel, and ask your broker how excess exposure is being handled. working with an insurance adjuster on a business claim covers the working relationship.

Train for it before it happens

Most of this should be written into the fleet's procedure and taught to every driver: the glove-box card, the scene checklist, the call tree, the preservation steps and who is allowed to speak. Drills take an hour. A company that has to improvise after a serious crash gets a worse outcome than one that rehearsed. The training and policy are part of a building a fleet safety program that insurers notice.

Key takeaways

• At the scene: protect people, call 911, warn traffic, document, exchange information, and do not admit fault.
• Report to the insurer immediately. The standard auto conditions require prompt notice, cooperation and no voluntary payments, and the details are state-specific.
• Lock down video, telematics, ELD and dispatch records and the vehicle itself the same day; courts can sanction failure to preserve electronic evidence.
• For commercial motor vehicles, expect an accident register entry, possible post-accident drug and alcohol tests under 49 CFR 382.303 and cooperation with investigators.
• Notify the umbrella or excess carrier and workers' compensation where relevant, and put the whole sequence in a written procedure that drivers know.