No Appointment Needed · We Take Insurance · Hablamos Español
No Appointment Needed · We Take Insurance · Hablamos Español
After a car accident in Delaware: get to safety, call 911 if anyone may be hurt, exchange information, photograph everything, and get a medical exam within 72 hours even if you feel fine — Delaware’s PIP insurance covers your accident treatment regardless of fault, and no referral is needed to be seen.
Move to safety if vehicles are drivable; turn on hazards. If a vehicle can’t be moved, get people away from traffic — secondary collisions injure bystanders every year.
Call 911 if anyone is injured or roadways are blocked. In Delaware, crashes involving injury, death, or an apparently impaired driver require a police response — our full guide on when you must call the police after a minor accident in Delaware covers the exact rules.
Exchange information: names, phone numbers, insurance carriers and policy numbers, plate numbers, driver’s license numbers. Photograph the other driver’s license and insurance card rather than transcribing — it’s faster and error-proof.
Photograph everything: all vehicles from multiple angles, the road, skid marks, signals, weather, debris field, and any visible injuries. Wide shots establish the scene; close shots establish the damage.
Identify witnesses and get contact information before they leave. A thirty-second phone number exchange at the scene is worth more than a week of searching later.
Say less, not more. Be factual with the other driver and police. Don’t speculate about fault, don’t apologize reflexively, and don’t announce that you’re uninjured — you don’t know that yet, and it will be quoted back to you.
Adrenaline masks pain. The inflammatory processes behind whiplash, ligament sprains, and disc injuries typically build over one to three days — which is why so many people feel “fine” at the scene and can barely move by day three. The medical literature on whiplash-associated disorders consistently describes delayed onset as typical, not exceptional.
Go to the ER first if you have: loss of consciousness, severe bleeding, suspected fractures, chest pain, difficulty breathing, or worsening headache with confusion or vomiting.
See an accident clinic within 72 hours for everything else — and even after an ER visit. The ER rules out emergencies; it does not diagnose or treat the musculoskeletal injuries that make up most accident cases. An early exam does two things at once: it starts your recovery before injuries compound, and it creates the contemporaneous medical record that insurance carriers treat as the baseline of your claim. A gap between crash and first treatment is the single most common reason claims get discounted — adjusters read a two-week silence as “not really hurt,” whatever the real reason was.
PIP is mandatory and no-fault. Every Delaware-registered vehicle carries Personal Injury Protection, which pays accident medical bills and a portion of lost wages for you and your passengers regardless of who caused the crash.
No referral needed. Delaware permits chiropractic physicians to evaluate and treat accident-related conditions without a referral from another doctor — you can start care the day of your crash.
Claim timing matters. How long you have to claim injury after a Delaware accident depends on the type of claim — PIP claims, injury lawsuits, and property claims each run on different clocks. Our detailed guide covers the deadlines.
Delaware is not a no-fault state for lawsuits. PIP pays your bills first, but you retain the right to pursue the at-fault driver for damages beyond PIP.
Complete the Form Below and We’ll Get Back to you Immediately.
Within days — sometimes hours — you’ll hear from insurance adjusters, possibly from both carriers. A few rules protect you:
Report the crash to your own insurer promptly. Your policy requires it, and your PIP claim starts here. Stick to facts: time, place, vehicles, visible damage.
Be careful with the other driver’s insurer. You’re generally not obligated to give a recorded statement to the at-fault carrier, and early recorded statements — given while injuries are still developing — are how “I’m a little sore” becomes a claim-killing quote. If an attorney is involved, route that carrier to them.
Don’t sign medical authorizations or accept quick settlements before your injuries are fully evaluated. A settlement signed in week one closes the door on the disc injury diagnosed in week four.
Insurance adjusters and attorneys evaluate accident claims on records, not stories. From your first visit, CAIC documents: objective examination findings, imaging results, diagnoses, treatment provided, your response to treatment, and work or activity restrictions. Keep your own file too — photos, the police report number, repair estimates, and a simple symptom diary noting pain levels and missed activities. If your case involves an attorney, we coordinate directly with their office — see how our attorney referral program works.
Start with a same-day exam at our Bear clinic — serving Bear, Newark, Wilmington, and all of New Castle County. Walk-ins welcome, no referral needed: (302) 595-2584.
You must report a crash to police if it involves injury, death, or an apparently impaired driver. For minor property-damage-only crashes the rules differ — our dedicated guide walks through exactly when a police call is required in Delaware.
Deadlines depend on the type of claim — PIP claims, injury lawsuits, and property claims each run on different clocks. See our full guide to Delaware claim deadlines, and don’t wait: late documentation weakens every kind of claim.
Yes. Delaware PIP coverage pays for reasonable and necessary accident-related medical care, which includes chiropractic evaluation and treatment, regardless of who caused the crash.
Yes. Injury correlates poorly with vehicle damage — low-speed collisions routinely produce whiplash and disc injuries. A brief exam either documents an injury early or gives you genuine peace of mind.
Your own PIP still covers your medical treatment. For damages beyond PIP, uninsured motorist coverage and legal options may apply — we can connect you with experienced local counsel.
Generally no. You must cooperate with your own insurer, but you’re typically not obligated to give the at-fault driver’s carrier a recorded statement — and early statements made before your injuries fully develop are frequently used against claims later.
