What Is the Cost of a Car Accident Police Report in Indiana?

In the days following a car accident in Indiana, it is important to obtain a copy of the corresponding crash report. To do so, victims must know how much Indiana car accident police reports cost and how they can obtain them for free.

In Indiana, the cost of car accident reports depends on how victims access them. Digital reports cost $12, while paper copies cost four cents per page and may be very difficult to obtain. However, car accident injury victims in Indiana can obtain an immediate copy at no cost as part of a free lawyer case evaluation. If you were injured in an accident and go this route, our legal staff can also review the official car accident police report with you, free of charge, and let you know what the information means to your right to recover damages. Obtaining a copy of a police report for a car accident in Indiana is a crucial first step to recovering what you are owed from a negligent driver.

The Indiana car accident lawyers at Wruck Paupore are dedicated to helping auto accident injury victims get the compensation they deserve. Our attorneys can obtain a police report for you and review it with injury victims immediately when you contact us. Call now for a free case evaluation with the Indiana car accident lawyers at Wruck Paupore at (219) 322-1166.

How Much Do Car Accident Police Reports Cost in Indiana?

After a car accident in Indiana, police officers will create an accident report if called to the scene. While it’s important to gain access to a police report for a car accident in Indiana to support your compensation claim against a negligent driver, victims should know that obtaining these reports isn’t free.

Car accident victims in Indiana can independently access a copy of a police report in three ways. They can go online and use a third-party site called www.BuyCrash.com; they can visit the correct police department in person to ask for a copy, or car accident victims in Indiana can request a mailed copy of a police accident report. Digital copies of police reports for car accidents in Indiana cost $12, while paper copies cost four cents per page. This means victims must prepare the proper form of the payment beforehand.

If you request the report by mail, you may not know how many pages the report is ahead of time, and the state agency may reject your request for the report. For example, if the report is 5 pages, you must send a check for $.20 to obtain the crash report. If the report is actually 6 pages, the agency will return your check and will not send you the report because your check is $0.04 short. It may sound absurd that the agency will spend $0.50 in postage to tell you that your check is $.04 too small, but this, unfortunately, can and does happen all the time.

If you were injured in the accident, we highly recommend that you call qualified Indiana car accident lawyers for a free case evaluation. As part of this process, we can obtain the crash report immediately when you call, free of charge, and review it with you during the case evaluation so you know how to best protect your rights. This process is typically faster and easier than trying to obtain the report yourself and comes with the added advantage of a case review by experienced Indiana personal injury attorneys.

Why Do Car Accident Police Reports Cost Money in Indiana?

No matter where you live, police reports for car accidents often cost money. The general justification for these fees is that Indiana police officers must use resources and time to complete an accident report, and a police department must properly file these reports. Of course, this basic function is already supported by the taxes you pay.

It is true that police reports for car accidents in Indiana are detailed accounts of a collision’s events. They contain significant information, including eyewitness observations, insurance information, and notations about the victims’ injuries. Because of this, it may take days for police officers in Indiana to properly complete a car accident report. In cases of more serious injury where an accident reconstruction is ordered, the complete report may take several weeks to become available. Again, however, this is a core function of police departments and part of what your taxes are for.

Unfortunately, costs related to obtaining crash reports are also related to profits made by non-government entities. Third-party platforms such as the BuyCrash service are for-profit companies that make money by offering crash reports online to victims and entering into contracts with insurance companies and others. BuyCrash, which is owned by LexisNexis Risk Solutions, has a contract with the Indiana government which allows them to profit as the online provider of official Indiana crash reports. While there are supposed to be alternatives to using this service for obtaining the reports, our experience is those police departments make the process extremely difficult in order to encourage people to use the for-profit LexisNexis service.

We believe that it is unfair to charge people to access these important government documents. It just adds insult to injury when an innocent victim injured in a car accident is forced to pay to obtain an official government record of how that injury occurred. However, this is the unfortunate reality in Indiana and many other states.

How Can You Get a Car Accident Police Report for Free in Indiana?

While car accident police reports generally cost money to access in Indiana, there is a way to obtain yours for free if you are a car accident injury victim. By obtaining a free case review from a Fort Wayne car accident lawyer at Wruck Paupore Injury Lawyers, we can obtain your police report and review it with you as part of our free case evaluation for injury victims. This is part of our consultation process with those who have been injured in Indiana car accidents.

Why Do You Need to Purchase a Police Report After a Car Accident in Indiana?

If you’ve been injured in a car accident in Indiana, it is crucial to access a copy of the corresponding police report. These documents contain important information that can help support your claim against a negligent driver. A skilled Hammond, IN car accident lawyer can use the information in a police report to build a strong case for compensation. Official reports are almost always required as part of the insurance claim process, and information in the report is critical to any Indiana car accident lawyer pursuing compensation against a negligent driver.

Wruck Paupore’s attorneys use the information in the report as part of their efforts to obtain full compensation from insurance companies. Documentation in these reports is almost always considered authoritative by insurance companies. If there are errors in the report, it is therefore important that we follow established procedures to correct these mistakes as soon as possible. Although the crash report itself is usually not admissible if the case were to go to trial in court, only a very small percentage of car accident injury cases make it that far. Statistically, the vast majority of such cases are resolved by settlement with the auto insurer.

The official crash report is an important part of this process, not only because it contains law enforcement’s assessment of what happened, but because it includes very important information we will use to uncover other evidence on behalf of our clients. Contact us now and an Indiana car accident lawyer can begin the process of obtaining the crash report and putting you on track for financial recovery.

Our Indiana Car Accident Lawyers Can Help You Obtain a Police Report

If you’ve been injured in a car accident, our Indiana attorney can help you obtain and understand a police report regarding their collision as part of a free case evaluation. Call the South Bend car accident lawyers at Wruck Paupore now at (219) 322-1166.