How to Photograph Car Damage for an Insurance Claim (Shot List)

Quick answer: After making sure everyone is safe, photograph the whole scene from several directions, then walk around both cars and take a shot from every corner. Photograph each area of damage three times: from about 10 feet, about 3 feet, and close up. Add the other car's license plate, road markings, signs, and weather. Keep the original files, because they carry the date and location in their metadata, and send copies to your insurer.

The photos you take in the ten minutes after an accident often shape the whole claim. The adjuster wasn't there. The other driver may remember it differently. What the cars looked like at the scene, and where they were, is the part nobody can reconstruct later.

This is a shot list you can follow on the side of the road, when you're shaken and not thinking clearly.

Safety comes first

Before you take a single photo: check whether anyone is hurt, and call emergency services if they are. If the cars can be driven and it's safe, move them out of traffic. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) puts safety first in its own guidance on auto claims, and it is right. No photo is worth standing in a live lane.

If the cars can't be moved, or it isn't safe to walk around them, take what you can from the shoulder and come back to the rest later.

The shot list

1. The scene (before anything moves, if it is safe)

Take wide shots from at least four directions. You want someone who wasn't there to understand the layout:

• Where each car ended up, and which way it was facing.
• Lane markings, stop signs, yield signs, traffic lights, and speed limit signs nearby.
• Skid marks, broken glass, debris, and fluid on the road.
• The weather and the road surface: rain, ice, glare, potholes, construction.

The NAIC specifically suggests recording the time, date, and exact location, with notes about skid marks, weather, and road conditions, and taking a photo or sketching a diagram of the scene. Photos do most of that for you, as long as the date and location are attached (more on that below).

2. Every corner of both cars

Walk around each vehicle and take one photo from each corner, so the whole body is visible across four shots. Include the parts that aren't damaged. This matters later if someone claims a dent was caused by this accident when it was already there, or if more damage appears after the car is towed.

3. The damage, three times

For each damaged area, take three photos:

Distance	What it shows the adjuster
About 10 feet	Where on the car the damage is
About 3 feet	The size and shape of the damage
Close-up	Depth, cracks, paint transfer, and scratches

Paint transfer is worth a close-up of its own. A streak of the other car's color on yours is a simple way to show the two cars touched.

Photograph the damage in the light you have, and take extra shots if there's glare. Crouch down to get the angle along the panel, where dents show best.

4. The inside of your car

• Airbags that went off.
• Anything broken inside, like a cracked dashboard or seat.
• The dashboard with warning lights on, and the odometer reading.

5. The other driver's details

The NAIC lists what to collect: the other driver's name, address, and insurer, the other car's make, model, year, and license plate number, and the names and contact details of any witnesses. If a police officer comes, note their name and badge number and ask where to get the accident report.

A photo is faster and more accurate than writing things down while your hands are shaking:

• The other car's license plate, clearly readable.
• The other driver's insurance card, if they agree to let you photograph it.
• The police officer's card, or the report number if they give you one.

Ask before you photograph someone's documents, and don't post any of this online.

6. Injuries

If you or a passenger has visible injuries, photograph them at the scene and again over the following days as bruises develop. Get medical care first. These photos support the medical records, they don't replace them.

Get the date and location onto the photos

Your phone writes the date, time, and GPS location into each photo's metadata, as long as location access is turned on for the camera. That's useful, because it ties each photo to the exact place and minute.

It's also fragile. Metadata is often stripped when photos are sent through messaging apps or some websites, and nobody sees it unless they go looking for it with an EXIF viewer.

A timestamp camera avoids both problems by printing the date, time, and address on the image itself. The TimeStamp Camera app does this as you shoot, so every photo from the scene shows where and when it was taken, even after it has been forwarded, screenshotted, or printed.

Whatever you use, keep the original files. If a date is ever questioned, the original is what you want to hand over.

After the scene

File the claim quickly. The NAIC recommends contacting your insurer as soon as possible, and notes that many insurers let you file a claim from their smartphone app. If your insurer's app asks you to take photos inside the app, do it, but keep your own copies too.

Photograph the car again before repairs. Once the car is towed or parked, take a second, calmer round of photos in good light. Some damage, like a misaligned panel gap or a leaking fluid, only shows up later.

Keep a record of the claim. The NAIC suggests taking notes and tracking the dates of every conversation with your agent or adjuster. Photos from the scene belong in the same folder. A single file is easier to send and harder to lose: the photo report generator turns a set of photos into one dated PDF in your browser.

You don't have to accept the first offer. If you disagree with the settlement, the NAIC's advice is to ask the adjuster for a written explanation, check your policy for an appraisal clause, and contact your state insurance department if you still can't agree. Your photos are the basis for that conversation.

Parked car, hit and run, or damage you found later

If your car was hit while parked, or the other driver left, call the police promptly, then follow the same list: the scene, all four corners, the damage at three distances. Look around for anything that shows the other car, like paint on your bumper or debris on the ground, and photograph any cameras nearby that might have recorded it, so you can ask the owner later.

Printable shot list

1. Safety first, then photos.
2. Scene: four wide shots, signs, lights, skid marks, debris, weather.
3. Both cars: one shot from each corner, damaged or not.
4. Each damaged area: 10 feet, 3 feet, close-up. Paint transfer.
5. Inside: airbags, dashboard lights, odometer.
6. Other driver: plate, and insurance card if they agree. Officer's name and report number.
7. Injuries, if any, at the scene and over the following days.
8. Keep originals in two places. Send copies to your insurer.

Source: National Association of Insurance Commissioners, "What You Should Know About Filing an Auto Claim."