If you've been in an accident, it is important to get a copy of your police report. If you plan to bring a personal injury case to the other driver's insurance company, the police report can be an important piece of evidence for proving liability and damages. Read more about how to request this report.
When you file a personal injury claim, the insurance company of the other driver will always want to make sure their insured driver was responsible before paying for your medical and property damages. This means they need proof of liability as well as proof that you are hurt as badly (or your car wrecked as badly) as you claim.
When you are in an auto accident in Portland, there will usually be a police report filed. The police try to file reports on all accidents, and will definitely do so if they are present. Sometimes, no report is filed if neither party reports the accident or no law enforcement officials were present. If you are mentioned in a police report, however, you are entitled to a copy of this document and you may request a copy from the Portland Police Bureau Records Division (if your accident took place in Portland Oregon).
Here are some tips when requesting the report:
1. There is a fee for the report. It's $10 for up to 5 pages, and $2 for each additional page.
2. There is a fee for how much time they spend searching for the report (min. $10)
3. To avoid search fees, you should know: the date of the incident, your name and birthday, the location of the crash, the type of crash (bike, car, truck, etc.), and the VIN of the vehicle (car ID number).
A police report can help your case by giving evidence of:
1. The details of the incident, which you might forget at a later date if your case takes months. These include: the time of day, the date, the weather, the specific location, etc.
2. The officer's preliminary assessment of fault, including any citations received. This will go a long way to establishing liability.
If you aren't sure there is a police report for your accident, gather all the information listed above and send a Police Report Request. It could mean a lot in helping your personal injury lawyer with your case.
