You have just been in an incident. A car crash. A slip and fall at a store. A workplace injury from faulty equipment. Your adrenaline is pumping, your mind is racing, and your first instinct is probably to check yourself for injuries or to argue with the other person. Stop. Take a breath. There is one thing you can do right now that will affect the outcome of your legal liability claim more than almost anything else you do in the next week: get the contact information of independent witnesses.

Let me be clear about what I mean by independent. That person is not your spouse, your best friend, your coworker, or anyone who has a close personal or financial relationship with you. An independent witness is a stranger who saw what happened. They have no skin in the game. They are not your aunt who will swear you were going the speed limit no matter what. They are not your neighbor who will lie because you bought him a beer last week. In the eyes of an insurance adjuster or a jury, an independent witness is a neutral observer. Their word carries weight. Your word, and the word of your family and friends, carries significantly less.

Here is the hard truth about liability claims. Insurance companies are not in the business of paying you money. They are in the business of denying, delaying, and minimizing payouts. When you file a claim, the adjuster will look at your version of events and the other party’s version of events. If it is your word against theirs, the adjuster has a perfect reason to deny your claim or offer you a lowball settlement. They will say there is a dispute of fact, and without corroborating evidence, they cannot determine fault. That is where the independent witness comes in. A single witness who has nothing to gain can break that deadlock and force the adjuster to take your claim seriously.

So how do you get witness information in the chaotic moments after an incident? First, do not assume that someone will step forward. Most bystanders do not want to get involved. They have their own lives, their own schedules, and they are afraid of being dragged into court. You have to be proactive, but you also have to be calm and polite. If you are screaming or aggressive, witnesses will walk away. Take a few deep breaths, look around you, and scan for anyone who was watching. Look for people standing on a sidewalk, sitting in a parked car, or walking out of a nearby store. Make eye contact and say, “Excuse me, did you see what happened? I need your name and phone number, just in case I need someone to confirm what happened. It will only take a second.”

If the incident happened in a public place like a parking lot or a retail store, there may also be security cameras. Note where the cameras are mounted and what direction they point. Write that down immediately, or take a photo with your phone. But do not rely solely on cameras. Security footage often gets erased, overwritten, or not requested in time. Witnesses are better because they can be asked follow-up questions and can describe things the camera missed, like the other driver using their phone or the store employee who was mopping the floor without a wet floor sign.

Once you collect a name and phone number, write it down in multiple places. On your phone notes app, on a piece of paper in your glove compartment, and send a text to yourself with the information. Do not assume you will remember it later. The stress of an incident can cloud your memory, and studies show that recall deteriorates rapidly. In fact, you should also ask the witness to repeat back what they saw in their own words. If they say something like, “That guy ran the red light,” ask them to clarify whether they mean the light was red for your direction or for the other direction. Get as many specific details as possible. Where were they standing? How far away? What time did they look up? All of these details make their testimony more credible.

There is another reason witnesses matter beyond the initial claim. If you end up in court, a jury will be deciding your case. Juries are skeptical of plaintiffs. They assume you are exaggerating your injuries or your version of events. But when an independent witness repeats your story, it becomes far more believable. The jury thinks, “Why would that stranger lie for this person?” The answer is they would not. That is the power of the independent witness.

Now, a word of caution about what not to do. Do not coach a witness. Do not tell them what you think they saw. Do not say, “You saw that guy speed up, right?” That can come back to haunt you. A good defense lawyer will tear into a witness who was led. Instead, ask open-ended questions: “What did you see?” Then write down their exact words. Keep that record. Do not alter it. If you get a lawyer later, they will want to see the raw, untainted version.

Finally, do not assume that just because the police are on the scene, you do not need witnesses. Police reports are helpful, but they are not gospel. Officers often miss things, and their reports can contain errors. A witness statement is a separate, independent piece of evidence that can contradict or support the police version. And in many cases, the witness is what tips the scales.

So remember: after any incident, before you call your lawyer, before you call your insurance company, before you even call your spouse, look for the strangers. Ask them to stay. Get their information. Protect your claim from the very first moment. That five-minute effort could be the difference between a fair settlement and a denial letter.