A crash file can contain reports, policies, estimates, medical records, bills, photographs, messages, and notes that answer different questions. A question-to-source table prevents one familiar document from being used beyond its actual subject. Each row states the question first, identifies the source capable of addressing it, records what was located, and preserves what remains open.

A question-to-source table records what is being asked, which source can address it, what that source actually states, and what remains unresolved; it is not a substitute for the underlying record or qualified interpretation.

Build the table before writing conclusions

  • Unique row number, category, precise question, why the answer matters, and person responsible for checking it
  • Source type, custodian, requested date, received date, file or item identifier, version, page or timestamp locator, and applicable time period
  • Neutral source statement, source limitation, conflicting material, missing material, confidence, next action, and review date
  • Link to the preserved original while extracts, notes, annotations, and summaries remain clearly labeled working material

Classify the question before choosing a source

  • Event identity: date, time, location, people, vehicles, ownership, report number, and claim references
  • Collision sequence: positions, movements, controls, conditions, observations, contact, and physical or electronic records
  • Insurance: policy identity, insured, vehicle, effective dates, language, endorsements, exclusions, notices, and stated position
  • Property, health, work, expense, procedure, deadline, communication, authority, and representation kept as separate categories

Limit a crash-report row to what the report records

The current NCDMV DMV-349 Instructional Manual defines the fields, codes, narrative, and diagram used in North Carolina crash reports. Cite the field, code, diagram element, narrative passage, officer entry, report date, and version actually reviewed. If the row asks what another source shows or what legal consequence follows, identify that as a separate question.

  • Report identity and version separated from a supplement, correction, citation, dispatch record, statement, photograph, or video
  • Direct observation separated from reported information, coded entry, diagram, narrative, estimate, and later interpretation
  • Blank, unknown, not applicable, illegible, redacted, and not included recorded as different conditions
  • Conflicting vehicle, person, location, time, movement, or condition field linked to the source needed for reconciliation

Use policy and claim records only for insurance rows

The North Carolina Department of Insurance discusses reports, repair estimates, repairable and total-loss vehicles, rental issues, and bodily-injury subjects in After an Accident. Use that material as general guidance. The actual policy, declarations, endorsements, notices, correspondence, and position letters remain the sources for a particular insurance question.

  • Policy identity, named insured, covered vehicle, effective period, form, endorsement, exclusion, limit, and page cited without paraphrasing beyond the text
  • Claim number, reported date, adjuster, requested material, response, reservation, stated position, payment, and unresolved item recorded by version
  • An insurer statement kept separate from a crash-mechanics, medical, repair, accounting, or legal source
  • A policy amount recorded as a policy term, not converted into an estimate of loss or a prediction about payment

Give every amount a source and type

  • Estimate, supplement, appraisal, valuation, invoice, charge, adjustment, payment, refund, balance, wage entry, benefit, or requested amount
  • Author or issuer, date, account, service or property described, underlying document, and whether the figure is preliminary, disputed, paid, or outstanding
  • Property amount kept separate from health, work, household, insurance, tax, cost, and legal questions
  • Calculation method, included rows, excluded rows, duplicates, versions, and unresolved figures stated alongside every working total

North Carolina Rule of Evidence 414 addresses evidence offered to establish past medical expenses, including amounts paid and amounts necessary to satisfy incurred but unpaid bills. The rule is not a general calculation method. Preserve billed, adjusted, paid, refunded, disputed, and outstanding amounts separately for legal review.

Audit the table without filling gaps by assumption

  • Every answer has a source locator and every source has a preserved original
  • Every contradiction identifies both sources and the exact field or statement that differs
  • Every missing item names the requested source, possible custodian, request status, and next review date
  • Every medical, technical, accounting, insurance, or legal conclusion is reserved for a person qualified to address that subject

The related guide to separating property-damage and injury records after a North Carolina car crash explains how to maintain linked but distinct record tracks. This page focuses on assigning each unresolved question to the source and reviewer capable of addressing it.

Rosensteel Fleishman Car Accident & Injury Lawyers provides general record-organization information for people who may later consult a Charlotte car accident lawyer. Source meaning, insurance, medical issues, deadlines, and legal strategy depend on the individual facts and current law.

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