Before You Call: What to Prepare for a Complete Accident Intake Statement

State your full legal name (first and last) and the phone number where you can be reached. This is essential for intake processing and follow-up. A submission without a reachable identity cannot be associated with a caller — it will be flagged as incomplete.

Why it matters: Submission completeness is an eligibility checkpoint. Identity and contact information are the minimum required identifiers.

State where the accident occurred as specifically as possible: the city name, the cross streets or intersection, the highway route number, or a named location such as a business parking lot or building address. The more specific, the better.

Examples of useful location descriptions:

• "The intersection of Main Street and 5th Avenue in Riverside, California"
• "Northbound I-5 near the Highway 99 junction in Sacramento"
• "The parking lot of the Target on Foothill Boulevard in Rancho Cucamonga"

Why it matters: Geographic verification — confirming the accident occurred in California — is the first eligibility checkpoint. An ambiguous or unverifiable location can cause a submission to fail this checkpoint.

State the date (month, day, and year) and approximate time of the accident. An exact time is not required — morning, afternoon, or evening is sufficient. If you were in the hospital when you learned the exact date, state that and give your best estimate.

Why it matters: Date and time are part of the minimum descriptive content needed to identify the incident and assess submission completeness.

Describe the incident in your own words: how it started, what happened, and in what sequence. State the type of accident (vehicle collision, slip-and-fall, pedestrian incident, workplace injury, etc.) and include any contextually relevant detail.

Do not read from a script or limit yourself to short phrases. The Single-Call Documentation Model is designed for free verbal narration. Contextual details you mention casually — road conditions, time of day, presence of witnesses, what the other party did immediately after — may be relevant to intake screening.

Why it matters: The accident description is used to classify the incident type for follow-up determination. More complete narratives produce more accurate classifications.

Describe the physical injuries you sustained as a result of the accident. Include the type of injury (back pain, broken bone, head injury, soft tissue injury, lacerations, neck strain, etc.) and which part of the body was affected.

If injuries worsened over time after the accident, describe that. If you do not yet know the full extent of your injuries, describe what you do know.

Why it matters: Personal injury must be present for a submission to be eligible. A statement that omits any mention of injury may not pass the personal injury criterion. Medical records are not required — self-reporting is accepted.

State whether you have received medical attention and describe the type and timing of treatment: emergency room visit, urgent care, hospitalization, doctor consultation, ongoing physical therapy, chiropractic care, or specialist referrals.

If you have not yet received medical treatment, state that and explain why — for example, if you called before seeking care because the accident just occurred.

Why it matters: Medical treatment information supports intake screening for follow-up determination and helps the review team assess injury severity as reported.

If you know it, include: your own insurance carrier and policy number; the name and policy information for any other party involved; and whether you have filed an insurance claim related to this accident.

This information is not required to call. If you do not have it available, note that in your statement and provide what you do know.

Why it matters: Insurance information improves submission completeness and is useful for follow-up processing. It is not an eligibility criterion on its own.

Clearly state whether you currently have an attorney representing you for this specific accident and injury claim. This is a mandatory eligibility criterion — the intake line is restricted to callers who do not have existing legal representation for the incident at the time of submission.

If you do not have an attorney for this incident, say so explicitly in your statement. If you are unsure, see who should not call the intake line.

Why it matters: Representation status is the second eligibility checkpoint in the Structured Intake Protocol. This checkpoint is applied to every submission.