Auto Accident Intake: What to Capture on the First Call

This guide is for law firms. If you were injured, contact a licensed attorney in your state.

What should an auto accident intake call capture?

An auto accident intake call should capture the date, the place, the vehicles, the injuries and both sides’ insurers, in the caller’s own words. Record each item as the caller says it. The checklist is a list of facts, not questions to debate with someone who may still be in pain.

1. Date, time and exact location of the crash, including city, county and state
2. Whether police came, the agency, the report number if the caller has it, and any citation
3. The other vehicle: personal car, commercial truck, rideshare, delivery van, or a city, county or state vehicle
4. Injuries, whether the caller left by ambulance, and every place they have been treated since
5. The other driver’s name and insurer, and the caller’s own carrier and PIP or medical payments coverage
6. Witnesses, photos and dashcam footage the caller has, recorded as “has” or “does not have”
7. Any sign the other driver was impaired, fled or was arrested
8. Whether the caller has given a recorded statement, signed anything or spoken to another lawyer

Why does the state fault rule matter on an auto accident call?

The state fault rule decides how much the caller’s own conduct can cost them, so the auto accident record has to describe that conduct precisely and neutrally. Four systems are in use, according to the Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer 50-state chart (updated April 2025). In a pure contributory negligence state such as Virginia or Maryland, any fault can bar recovery. Under a 50 percent bar, as in Georgia, an even split ends the claim. New York added a modified rule for motor vehicle suits filed on or after May 26, 2026, under CPLR § 1411(b).

Georgia’s SB 68 now lets juries hear whether the plaintiff wore a seat belt, according to Kennedys (2025). None of this calls for the intake specialist to judge fault. It calls for a clean record: where each car was, the light, the speed limit, the weather, and what each driver said after the crash. Our personal injury rules by state table lists the rule for each state we cover.

Sources: Contributory Negligence and Comparative Fault Laws in All 50 States, Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer (2025); N.Y. CPLR § 1411, NewYork.Public.Law (updated May 29, 2026) (2026); Georgia Enacts Sweeping Tort Reform: Key Takeaways from SB 68, Kennedys (2025)

How does a no-fault state change auto accident intake?

In a no-fault state, the auto accident caller claims first against their own insurer, so intake has to capture their policy and their treatment dates as well as the other driver’s details. Twelve states and Puerto Rico have no-fault auto insurance laws, according to the Insurance Information Institute. Two of the states Call Della covers are among them. Florida’s PIP pays up to $10,000 in medical and disability benefits, covers 80 percent of reasonable medical expenses, and reaches only care first received within 14 days of the accident, under Fla. Stat. § 627.736.

New York’s no-fault benefits cover up to $50,000 per person in basic economic loss, and a suit for pain and suffering needs a serious injury as defined in Insurance Law § 5102(d), such as a fracture or a significant limitation of use. Auto intake in those states should record the caller’s carrier, whether a no-fault claim is open, and each injury in specific terms.

Sources: Background on: No-fault auto insurance, Insurance Information Institute; Fla. Stat. § 627.736, Florida.Public.Law; N.Y. Insurance Law § 5102, NewYork.Public.Law

Which deadlines can an auto accident caller already be up against?

The deadline most likely to be running is not the statute of limitations but a government notice period, when a public vehicle or road was involved in the auto accident. The general limitations periods for personal injury are two years in Texas, Florida, California, Illinois and Georgia, and three years in New York. Government claims move faster. New York requires a notice of claim against a municipality within 90 days under General Municipal Law § 50-e. California requires a government claim for injury within six months under Gov. Code § 911.2. Texas requires written notice to a governmental unit within six months under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 101.101. Illinois gives one year to sue a local public entity under 745 ILCS 10/8-101.

An auto accident caller often does not phone a firm until weeks after the crash, once the pain persists or the insurer stops returning calls. That makes the question “Was the other vehicle a bus, a city truck, a police car or a school vehicle?” one of the first an intake specialist should ask. If the answer is yes, the dossier should record the vehicle markings and the incident date so the attorney can check the notice period first thing.

Sources: N.Y. General Municipal Law § 50-e, NewYork.Public.Law; Cal. Gov. Code § 911.2, California.Public.Law; Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 101.101, Texas.Public.Law; Ferguson v. City of Chicago (quoting 745 ILCS 10/8-101), Illinois Appellate Court

What makes an auto accident call urgent?

An auto accident call is urgent when a deadline is close, the injuries are severe, or evidence is about to disappear. In practice that means a death or a hospital admission, a commercial truck, a government vehicle with a notice period running, or a Florida caller inside the 14-day PIP window who has not yet been treated. A report that the other driver was drunk or arrested also matters: Texas lifts its exemplary damages cap for intoxication assault and intoxication manslaughter under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 41.008, and Georgia has no punitive cap for impaired drivers under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-5.1(f).

Every Call Della plan includes urgent-call email alerts to the attorney on call, so an urgent auto accident call does not wait for the morning. A crash with a semi-truck has its own records clock, covered in our trucking accident intake guide.

Sources: Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 41.008, Texas.Public.Law; O.C.G.A. § 51-12-5.1, CaseMine

How does Della take auto accident intake calls after hours?

Della, Call Della’s intake specialist, takes auto accident calls in the firm’s name nights, weekends and holidays. She plays the state recording disclosure, works through the checklist in a calm order, and never gives legal advice or tells a caller whether they were at fault. Each call becomes a dossier with a summary, urgency score, recording and transcript, and the 7am morning brief lists which callers need a callback first.

The reply is where firms lose callers. According to Lawyers Mutual NC (2019), reporting an ABA Law Practice Division secret-shopper study, lawyers took three or more days to reply to voicemails and online requests 42 percent of the time. See how Della runs after-hours personal injury intake, check the deadlines in our personal injury rules by state table, or look up terms in the PI intake glossary.