What to do if you have an accident

In many circumstances you will not be able to prevent an accident, especially if the accident is not your fault. If you are involved in an accident, there are several steps you need to undertake.

Hot Topics

What are the principles Motor Insurance is built upon?: During the process of applying for motor insurance you will be asked for many details ranging from personal details to location and security based questions. As with all insurance you are well advised to answer any and all questions as honestly as possible in order to ensure any claims are fully met by your insurance company in the event of an accident.
What is a Comprehensive Motor Insurance policy cover?: Comprehensive cover is when you cover your vehicle against most forms of damage that may occur to your vehicle. This doesn't mean you are covered for absolutely everything. If you look in depth into your comprehensive car insurance contract you'll probably find some significant exclusions.
What to do if you have an accident: In many circumstances you will not be able to prevent an accident, especially if the accident is not your fault. If you are involved in an accident, there are several steps you need to undertake.
How do I find the cheapest motor insurance premiums?: In order to get the best possible quote for your Motor insurance you should compare and contrast quotes provided by many different insurers. You'll find the difference between quotes can be enormous with a potential 50% difference between the most expensive and the cheapest quote.
Why do some Motor insurance specialise in High Performance Motor Insurance?: When you are thinking of buying a high performance car, what you may not have thought about is how much your insurance premiums would be when you come to insure the vehicle.

Firstly, you need to look through your certificate of motor insurance to identify whether or not you are covered. For example with third party insurance only your passengers are covered, not your vehicle itself, so any repairs to the car itself are your responsibility. If you can prove that you were blameless in the accident all the repair costs are paid by the other party involved in the crash.

Comprehensive motor insurance often allows the policy holder to take additional personal injury cover, however in most circumstances the maximum allowed is around £5,000. The premium for this cover is unlikely to be that much so it is well worth adding to your policy, do be aware that the faster the car the greater this additional premium is likely to be.

Don't panic after being involved in an accident, it is your legal responsibility to both exchange insurer details with the other parties involved and also to report the accident to the police within 4 hours, especially if there has been an injury caused. The insurer also often requires you to provide to the during the claims procedure an incident provided to you when you report the accident to the police.

Do not lose your temper, the other party involved in the accident may be angry and try to start an argument with you. You must also NOT, under any circumstances, admit liability at the scene of an accident. You should also try to get an independent witness of the accident to note the position of the vehicles before they are moved.

You must take the details of all parties involved and the details of any witness’ to the accident as well as the car number plate and their important details such as a rough check-up of the damage cause to both your car AND their car. When you have collected all the necessary information leave then scene of the accident and pass all the information you gathered to your insurance company.