When you are involved in a crash, it's critical to file your vehicle accident claim as soon as possible.  For those people who have insurance, which should be the majority of people since it is legally required in most locations, it's required by your insurance company to file soon after the accident happens.  If you delay, there's a chance that your insurance company may not cover your claim.  It's particularly important to file your claim as soon as possible in the case that someone in your car or the other car was injured.  In most cases, you will just need to call your insurance company at the number which is usually on your proof of insurance card and then tell them the details of the accident.  If there is significant damage to your car, they will refer you to a service shop where you can get the car fixed.  Typically they will remind you about the deductible which is the amount of money you must pay out of pocket before your insurance coverage kicks in.  Depending on your insurance, they may also offer you a rental car to use you while your car is getting fixed.  If you delay in filing the claim, there is a chance that your insurance company may use some fine print policy and decide that you are not covered.  This is not a risk worth taking so you should always report an accident as soon as you safely can.  Some companies even allow you to file a claim via their website and perhaps never even speak to a real person.

When you have a car accident, you should almost always report it to your insurance company.  There are a few cases when you can choose to not report it without problems.  First, it's important to always call in the accident if someone else's car was damaged and you know that they will be calling their insurance company.  If it was a one-car accident, you may not need to report it.  When the damage only involves your own car, you can decide whether the costs of filing  an accident claim are more than benefits.  For example, my side window was recently smashed.  I knew that my deductible was $100 and that the repair would cost $200 if I paid for it myself.  Therefore it made sense to file claim because it was $100 cheaper.  If my deductible was $500, I should not file a claim because then I will still be paying the entire repair cost AND my insurance company will consider me to be more of a risk and potentially raise my rates for reporting damage.  In almost every case you should report damage, but there are a few cases when it makes complete sense for you to not file a claim.