How to Dispute an Inaccurate Auto Accident Report
by Laura Catella
Car accidents tend to create prolonged stresses for the victims. In addition to the physical and financial toll, your insurance rates may rise, increasing your expenses for the future. To help prevent your rates from unfairly increasing, you must first confirm that all information taken in a police report is accurate. If information is inaccurate, you can file a dispute against it and seek any necessary changes.
Step 1
Contact the police officer who filed the report. Find his contact information through the precinct's directory system. This is most helpful to those who dispute factual pieces of information such as car model, make, design, time and name. If the officer agrees with your observed discrepancy, he or she may amend the report.
Step 2
Go to your Department of Motor Vehicles to file a dispute form. If you cannot reach the officer, or the officer does not amend the incorrect report, file a dispute form. Types of forms, wait times and other particulars will vary from state to state. If you have statements from eyewitnesses, attach these to your dispute reports.
Step 3
Use an attorney to help you properly correct your report. Depending on the severity of your situation, it may be in your best interests to hire an attorney. They can aid you in correcting the report and seeing that the corrected report reaches the proper channels.
Step 4
Contact your insurance provider and the other party's insurance provider. Explain inaccurate parts of the police report and discuss the evidence you have to support your position, including eyewitness accounts, doctor's reports and physical evidence. Sometimes, either yours or the other party's insurance provider will send you additional documentation to file a dispute. File these forms and attach additional evidence to them.
References
Writer Bio
Laura Catella has been a professional freelance writer since 2004. She specializes in Web content and copy, and promotional emails in the home and professional services niches. She was an editor for the 2008 edition of "Inside New York." Catella holds a Bachelor of Arts in economics with a minor in creative writing from Columbia University in New York.
