Thank you to our friends at J.C. Milliken Insurance Agency for bringing this to our attention. Good advice is always worth sharing. The information below comes from today's article on ClaimsJournal.com:
Do you know what to do after you've had a motor vehicle accident? After safety and medical treatments are made comes everyone's dreaded part…exchanging information with the other driver(s) involved. What information needs to be exchanged? According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 5 million wrecks occur every year. However, according to a July 2012 survey from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), many Americans do not know what steps to take or basic information to share - or not share - after an accident. They may even put their identities and safety at risk by sharing too much personal information.
A new WreckCheck mobile application from the NAIC may help eliminate that risk.
NAIC photo
"The last thing you're probably thinking about following a car accident is protecting your privacy," says NAIC President and Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin M. McCarty. "Understanding what information to share, and with whom, will help keep you safe after an accident and decrease some of the challenges of filing a claim later on. That's also why the NAIC created WreckCheck. The app will take the guess work out of what information to get following a car accident."
To take some of the guesswork out, here is a little cheat sheet put together about what Information to NOT share after an accident.
DO NOT share the following information after an accident:
1. Do not share driver's license information. This poses a risk for identity theft, allows someone access to your address and then poses a personal safety risk. NAIC estimates nearly 40% of consumer share this information needlessly.
2. Do not share home addresses. This poses a personal safety risk and also gives identity thieves a new place to scour. Nearly 25% of consumers share this information, according to NAIC.
3. Do not share your personal phone number. Almost 30% of drivers think they are required to share this, but the only numbers necessary are of the Insurance Company.
The new WreckCheck mobile application from the NAIC outlines what to do immediately following an auto accident and takes users through a step-by-step process to create their own accident report. It also provides safety tip, captures photos and documents the necessary information to file an insurance claim. The app also lets users email a completed accident report directly to themselves and their insurance agents. The app is free and available for both iPhone and Android smartphone users.
Once again, thank you to J.C. Milliken Insurance Agency for the information. For more on the Wreck Check Mobile App by NAIC, visit: http://www.claimsjournal.com/news/national/2012/08/16/212046.htm
