Insurance
Accident Advice
What should you do if you are involved in a motor vehicle or road accident?
The first thing to remember is that if you have a motor vehicle accident involving another person, and there is any injury to someone, or someone's property, car or person, then you are required by law to stop. In the case of injury you must notify the police, and they will usually ask you to produce your drivers license and you should also be prepared to exchange name, address and insurance details with anybody else involved in the accident, even if there are no injuries.
Remember, immediately after the car accident is not the time to argue over whose fault the accident was. Your insurance company will do this on your behalf later on. It is also strongly advisable not to admit any liability at the scene of the accident, even if you think you were to blame.
Rather than wasting time arguing over the car accident, remain calm and make a careful record of exactly what happened, take pictures if possible of the positions of the motor vehicles as they came to rest, most modern cell phones have built-in cameras. This will help you later on when you are filling in your form, and will also help the insurance companies to more accurately establish who was at fault.
Once you have made a record of exactly what happened, it is best not to move the motor vehicles, unless they are causing an obstruction, so that an independent person can make a note of their position. The names and addresses of any witnesses should also be taken. It is also useful to make a note of the registration numbers of any motor vehicles involved as this may make them easier to track down later.
Contact your car insurer as soon as possible and give them as much information as you can about the accident. Once your claim has been submitted, you will normally be required to pay the amount of your excess to your insurer. You will have to pay this, at least initially, regardless of whose fault the accident was. However, if the accident turns out to be someone else's fault, you will usually be able to claim your excess back from them.