Technically reviewed by Maximilian Fromm, independent vehicle expert (B.Sc. in Mechatronics). Last updated: September 2026
Eight points that people often overlook, and the usual next step for each one.
Advance payment (Vorschuss), default, choice of repair shop, access to the police file (Akteneinsicht), evidence documentation, reduced payment (Kürzung), limitation period (Verjährung) and legal expenses insurance (Rechtsschutzversicherung). From a mechatronics engineer and independent vehicle expert for damage and valuation in Erlangen.
Maximilian Fromm
Founder and Mechatronics Engineer (B.Sc.)
After a traffic accident, you have more options than you may see at first. We cover repair cost reimbursement, your right to choose your own expert and loss of use on other pages. See, for example, the page about Loss-of-use compensation. Here we explain eight more points that are often missed. Below you will find the most common extra questions from our phone calls.
| Right | What it means | Next step |
|---|---|---|
| Advance payment during a long claim settlement (Regulierung) | Not every claim settlement is finished after a few weeks. If processing clearly takes a long time, an advance payment may be possible for items that are already clear. These are amounts that are documented and not disputed, while other points are still open. | It is usual to request the advance payment in writing and set a deadline. Whether you have a right to an advance payment in your case, and how to word the request, is a matter for your traffic law lawyer. |
| Default if payment does not arrive | If payment does not arrive, the insurer can fall into default. Before that, the insurer is entitled to a reasonable time to review the claim. A short deadline that you set yourself does not shorten this time. When default begins, and what follows from it, depends on your case. | Write down the date of the first payment request. Keep all letters. Whether and from when default has occurred is assessed by your traffic law lawyer. |
| Keep an eye on the limitation period | Claims from a traffic accident are subject to a legal limitation period. It can start at different times depending on the case. If you rely on an informal promise from the insurer without registering the claim in writing, you may face a problem later. | Keep the report (Gutachten) and all letters in order. It is usual to register the claim in writing. When the deadline starts and ends in your case is decided by your traffic law lawyer. |
| Choice of repair shop | As a rule, you decide yourself which repair shop gets the order. How much of the cost is paid is a second, separate question. It depends on how the claim is settled: by actual repair costs (konkrete Abrechnung) or by a fictitious settlement (fiktive Abrechnung). It also depends on whether the insurer validly refers you to an equivalent alternative. This question belongs to your traffic law lawyer. | It is usual to tell the insurer in writing which repair shop you chose before the repair starts. Whether a referral to another repair shop (Werkstattverweisung) applies is checked by your traffic law lawyer. |
| Collect your own evidence at the accident scene | Note: Marks on the road disappear within hours, vehicles are towed, and witnesses can no longer be reached at some point. Anything you do not document at the accident scene is very hard to add later. This is one of the few steps that you can take right away and without outside help.
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Take the photos before any vehicle is moved, even if the situation is hectic. Later they are often the basis on which we classify the damage in the Damage report . |
| Access to the investigation file | After the accident, the authorities may start an investigation or a traffic fine procedure. In that case, a lawyer can ask to see the file if there is a legitimate interest. The file often contains information that matters later for the liability share (Haftungsquote). This includes police findings about the accident scene, a sketch, and statements by the people involved and by witnesses. | Ask for the police file number when the police record the accident. Your traffic law lawyer files the request and also evaluates the file afterwards. |
| If the insurer reduces the payment or presents its own insurer review report (Prüfbericht) | If the other party's insurer reduces items or presents its own review report, that is its payment decision, not a binding finding. A reduced payment does not have to be accepted as the end of the matter. | Send us the reduction letter (Kürzungsschreiben). We check the technical side in our report review (Gutachtenprüfung) and expert statement (Stellungnahme). Whether and how a remaining amount is claimed is decided by your traffic law lawyer. You can read which arguments often appear in reduction letters on the page about reasons for reductions. |
| Your own legal expenses insurance | If the liability share is disputed or a longer dispute looks likely, check your own legal expenses insurance. Whether it pays depends on the coverage you chose, the waiting period (the time before cover starts) and the deductible (Selbstbeteiligung). You can clarify this with a coverage request to your own insurer. | Make a coverage request before you hire a lawyer. Your own insurer decides whether the case is covered. |
Advance payment, default, choice of repair shop, access to the police file, evidence documentation, reduced payment, limitation period and legal expenses insurance: eight points where the legal assessment in your individual case belongs to the traffic law lawyer. We inspect vehicles for this throughout the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region.
If a case takes weeks, an advance payment may be possible for items that are already clear. Whether you can obtain it in your case, and in what amount, is a question for your traffic law lawyer. Talk to your lawyer as soon as the settlement clearly drags on, and give your lawyer the report as a basis.
Default interest can arise as soon as the insurer is in default. Before that, the insurer is entitled to a reasonable time to review the claim. Calculating and claiming it is the job of your traffic law lawyer, not ours. Write down the date of your first payment request and pass it on.
As a rule, you decide which repair shop gets the order. How much of the cost is paid is a separate question. It depends on the type of settlement and on a possible referral. Tell us the planned repair shop during the inspection, and we note it in the report. The hourly labor rate used in the calculation follows the regional market level, not the wish of the person who ordered the report.
Access to the police investigation file is requested through a lawyer if a legitimate interest is shown. Your traffic law lawyer clarifies whether this makes sense in your case. Ask for the police file number when the accident is recorded. It is needed for the request.
Yes, your own photos support the later assessment. Take photos of the final position of both vehicles, the road and the visible damage before anything is moved. Write down license plates, names and contact details of witnesses at the scene. Later, witnesses often cannot be reached.
Claims from a traffic accident are subject to a legal limitation period. It can start at different times depending on the case. It is best to leave the exact calculation to your traffic law lawyer. Keep the report and all letters from the insurer in order, so the course of the deadline stays clear.
Whether your own legal expenses insurance pays depends on the coverage module you agreed, the waiting period and the deductible. A coverage request to your insurer clarifies this. Make the request before you hire a lawyer.
A reduction is the payment decision of the insurer, not a binding finding. As an office of independent vehicle experts, we do the technical check against it. We do not do the legal assessment. Send us the reduction letter. Your traffic law lawyer decides on the next steps.
In our cases, an insurer sometimes does not answer for weeks. It is usual to set a deadline for a reply in writing. If the insurer still does not respond, the case belongs to your traffic law lawyer. The lawyer can move the settlement forward with legal means.
Photos that show the situation clearly matter: the final position of the vehicles, skid marks, debris fields, license plates and the traffic situation from several angles. Also photograph traffic lights, signs and road markings. Later, during the inspection, we place these details in the course of events.
You may decide this yourself, but from a technical view we advise against it. Important: Once the damage is repaired, individual items often cannot be proven beyond doubt. So do not repair the vehicle until it has been inspected. Book the inspection appointment as soon as the accident is reported, so the repair shop can start without delay afterwards.
If the other driver later denies fault, clarifying this becomes a legal question. It is not part of our role as an office of independent vehicle experts. The report gives the technical classification of how the accident happened, as a basis. Show it to your traffic law lawyer together with your own photos. The lawyer assesses the evidence.
Knowledge hub: Compensation for the time without a vehicle, groups and daily rates. Open topic
Knowledge hub: Eight arguments from reduction letters and what a report says in response. Open topic
Service: The technical basis for the claim settlement after an accident. Open topic
Knowledge hub: The overview of all topic pages about vehicle damage. Go to overview
We write the report as the technical basis for the claim settlement. For the legal handling of your claim with the other party's insurer, we recommend a traffic law lawyer, and we receive no commission for this. For accidents that were not your fault, we bill the report costs directly to the other party's insurer, and you do not get an invoice from us.
CleverCrash is an office of independent vehicle experts, not a law firm. This page is general consumer information and does not replace legal advice in an individual case.
Last updated: September 3, 2026. The page reflects the information known at that time.
Maximilian Fromm
Independent vehicle expert, B.Sc. in Mechatronics
Maximilian Fromm is an independent vehicle expert and the founder of CleverCrash in Erlangen. He studied mechatronics. Since August 2025, he has written damage reports (Unfallgutachten) for private customers, repair shops and lawyers in the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region. He supports his customers until the insurer pays out.
