How to Use Dashcam Footage for an Insurance Claim

A dashcam only helps if the footage survives long enough to matter and reaches your insurer in a form they can use. Loop recording is the whole point of a dashcam, but it's also exactly what erases the clip you needed if you don't act on it. This is the sequence that actually protects the footage and gets it in front of the person deciding your claim.

Right after the incident

1. Flag the clip immediately. Before you do anything else, tap to flag the recording. This is the single step that matters most: an unflagged clip is just another file in the loop, and it will get overwritten within hours or days depending on how much you drive.
2. Check the clip actually captured the incident. Open the clip library and scrub through it while you're still at the scene. If the angle or timing missed the key moment, you want to know now, while you can still gather other evidence (photos, witness details, the other party's information).
3. Note anything the footage doesn't show. Dashcams don't capture everything, injuries, damage that happened out of frame, conversations after the fact. Write down what happened outside the frame while you remember it, since you'll be filing the claim days later.

Exporting the footage correctly

How you get the clip off your phone matters as much as capturing it in the first place.

• Export the original file, not a screen recording. A screen recording re-compresses the video and can strip the embedded GPS/speed/timestamp overlay's readability. Export directly from the clip library instead.
• Keep a backup outside the app. Save the exported clip to your Photos/Gallery app or a cloud drive immediately. If the phone is lost, damaged, or you need the storage back before the claim closes, you don't want the only copy sitting in one place.
• Send the file itself, not a link that expires. Email the video as an attachment or use whatever upload portal your insurer provides. Some insurers have surprisingly small attachment limits, if yours does, ask them how they want large files delivered rather than compressing the video yourself and losing quality.

What to include when you send it

A raw video file with no context makes the adjuster do extra work, and extra work is where claims slow down. Include:

• The date, time, and general location of the incident (the GPS overlay in the footage covers the specifics, but a plain-text summary helps whoever's triaging the claim)
• A one-line description of what the footage shows, from your perspective
• Your policy number and claim reference, if one has already been assigned
• Any other evidence you gathered at the scene (photos of damage, the other driver's insurance details)

Common mistakes that undercut good footage

Waiting to export until you're asked for it

By the time an adjuster explicitly requests footage, days or weeks may have passed. If you didn't flag the clip at the scene, it may already be gone. Export as a habit immediately after any incident worth mentioning, even a minor one, delete it later if you don't end up needing it.

Sending a re-recorded or edited clip

Trimming a long clip down to the relevant seconds is fine and often helpful. Editing the footage in any way that could look like alteration, adding text overlays, cutting mid-scene without noting it, is not. Keep the original untouched file as your source of truth even if you also send a trimmed version.

Assuming the footage speaks for itself

Dashcam footage is strong evidence, but insurers still need to know what they're looking at and why it matters to your specific claim. A GPS speed overlay showing you were stationary is only useful if you point out that it directly contradicts the other party's account.