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Nobody reads this while it is happening. Read it now, and it will be there in the part of your memory that still works when the adrenaline arrives.
Immediately
- Stop. Leaving the scene of a collision is an offence almost everywhere, regardless of fault.
- Check for injuries — yours, your passengers’, the other vehicle’s.
- Make the scene safe. Hazard lights on. If the vehicles are drivable and in a live lane, move them clear.
- Call emergency services if anyone is hurt, if the road is blocked, or if the other driver leaves.
Before anything moves
- Photograph both vehicles from four corners, then close-ups of the damage
- Photograph the road, the junction, the signage and the skid marks
- Photograph the other vehicle’s plate, and its insurance details if offered
- Note the time, the weather and the light
Exchange details
Name, address, phone number, vehicle registration, and insurer. You are obliged to give yours; you are entitled to theirs. Take a witness’s name and number if there is one — witnesses become unreachable within a day.
Do not apologize, and do not agree fault at the roadside. It is a reflex and it is not your decision to make. Fault is determined from the evidence, and a roadside admission complicates a claim you might otherwise have won.
Within twenty-four hours
- Report to your insurer even if you do not intend to claim. Most policies require notification of any incident.
- Get the police incident reference if officers attended.
- Write down your own account while it is fresh, in the order things happened.
- See a doctor if anything hurts. Soft-tissue injuries often present the next day, and an untreated injury is much harder to substantiate later.
In the following weeks
Keep every receipt. Do not authorise permanent repairs until the insurer confirms the scope. If a hire car is part of your cover, arrange it through the insurer rather than independently — an independently arranged one is not always reimbursed.
