{"id":172604,"date":"2019-02-25T16:12:00","date_gmt":"2019-02-25T16:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.finder.com\/uk\/?p=172604"},"modified":"2026-04-02T13:23:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T12:23:29","slug":"what-to-do-after-a-car-accident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.finder.com\/uk\/car-insurance\/what-to-do-after-a-car-accident","title":{"rendered":"What to do after a car accident"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019ve ever been in an accident, you know how scary they can be. Be prepared for a collision by learning the right way to handle an accident before it happens.<\/p><h3 id=\"safety\">Secure the area<\/h3><p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Image: Finder\" src=\"https:\/\/www.finder.com\/finder-us\/wp-uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/Car-accident-infographic-UK-433x1024.png\" alt=\"What to do after a car accident\" width=\"290\" height=\"924\" class=\"alignright size-large wp-image-202879\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.finder.com\/finder-us\/wp-uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/Car-accident-infographic-UK-433x1024.png?fit=180 180w, https:\/\/www.finder.com\/finder-us\/wp-uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/Car-accident-infographic-UK-433x1024.png?fit=360 360w, https:\/\/www.finder.com\/finder-us\/wp-uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/Car-accident-infographic-UK-433x1024.png?fit=600 600w, https:\/\/www.finder.com\/finder-us\/wp-uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/Car-accident-infographic-UK-433x1024.png?fit=870 870w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/p><ul class=\"list-10\"><li><b>Do you or anyone else require medical assistance?<\/b> If anyone is injured, call 999 immediately. If you don\u2019t need emergency response call 101, the police non-emergency number.<ul class=\"list-9\"><li>Apply first aid if you know how and make the person comfortable.<\/li><li>If spinal or head injuries are suspected, don\u2019t move them under any circumstances and wait for the ambulance to arrive.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><b>Is the surrounding area safe?<\/b> Make the area safe to prevent another accident from occurring. Secondary accidents account for many of the accidents that occur on roads.<\/li><li><b>Is the car safe?<\/b> Make sure there are no hazards such as leaking fuel or debris lying on the road.<\/li><li><b>Is the car still running?<\/b> Make sure engines are switched off.<\/li><li><b>Can you move the vehicles? <\/b>If it\u2019s safe to do so, you should move the vehicles involved in the accident to the side of the road and put on your hazard lights.<\/li><li><b>Have you called the police?<\/b> Call the police if someone has been injured or if there is third-party property damage where the owner is not present. The police should also be notified if there is any suspicion of drugs or alcohol involved in the accident.<\/li><\/ul><h3 id=\"information\">Collect information<\/h3><p>The next step is to exchange details with other drivers involved in the accident. Ideally, you\u2019ll have a notepad and pen in your glovebox for this purpose. You could also take notes on your phone. Some insurers also now have mobile apps to help with the accident-recording process.<\/p><p>If you have your mobile phone, take photos of the accident scene, as well as the scene itself. These pictures should include the damage to your car, damage to other vehicles and any third-party property damage.<\/p><h4>How to deal with a difficult driver<\/h4><p>Unfortunately, not all drivers will be cooperative and helpful when involved in an accident. Here are some scenarios and how to deal with them:<\/p><ul class=\"list-10\"><li><strong>Uninsured driver. <\/strong>If the other driver does not have insurance, get their driving licence number and contact info. Your insurance company might be able to help you recoup some of the costs associated with the accident.<\/li><li><strong>Hit and run. <\/strong>If you\u2019re involved in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.finder.com\/uk\/car-insurance\/car-insurance-hit-and-run\">hit and run<\/a>, try to get the licence plate number, make, model and colour of the other car involved. Then immediately call the police. If there were any witnesses, ask if they will wait around to provide their account to the police officer.<\/li><li><strong>Uncooperative driver. <\/strong>If the other driver isn\u2019t willing to provide their insurance or contact info, call the police. Then take photos and get what information you can, like the licence plate number.<\/li><\/ul><h3 id=\"contact\">Call your insurer<\/h3><p>If possible, call your insurance company from the accident scene. It will be able to talk you through the process and advise you of your next steps. You\u2019ll usually be advised to not admit liability to anyone.<\/p><p>This is because you may be in a state of shock or may not be fully aware of the circumstances of the accident. It\u2019s not up to you or anyone else at the scene to determine fault, which should be left to the police and insurance companies to decide at a later date.<\/p><p>Even if no one is hurt or the damage is only minor, you should still report an accident to your insurer. This will protect you in the event that the other party involved decides to make a claim against you, if you develop an injury or discover further damage to your vehicle at a later date.<\/p><h4>What you should say to your insurance provider<\/h4><p>It\u2019s against the law to lie to your insurance company, but be mindful of the information you do provide. Answer the questions truthfully and provide an honest recount of the incident, but don\u2019t try to guess on any fuzzy details.<\/p><p>Don\u2019t assume blame. Relay the facts, then let the police and insurance company determine who\u2019s at fault.<\/p><h3 id=\"vehicle\">Take care of your vehicle<\/h3><p>If your vehicle is damaged, you\u2019ll need to determine whether it\u2019s roadworthy before driving it from the scene of the accident. Damage may be obvious in the form of a flat tyre or punctured radiator, but other damage may be harder to determine, such as steering or brake problems. Check your vehicle over thoroughly before driving it. If there\u2019s any doubt about its roadworthiness, don\u2019t drive it away from the scene.<\/p><p>If your vehicle isn\u2019t drivable, tow truck drivers attending the accident may try to talk you into taking your vehicle to a mechanic they\u2019re affiliated with. Don\u2019t let yourself be talked into anything you don\u2019t understand or trust. Under no circumstances should you sign a contract, as it may be committing you to having your vehicle repaired at a particular mechanic.<\/p><p>Ask your insurer what you should do. You\u2019ll generally be directed to an approved mechanic, which the tow truck should take your vehicle to.<\/p><h3 id=\"insurance\">Whose insurance should I use: theirs or mine?<\/h3><p>Even if you aren\u2019t at fault, you can (and often should) contact your insurance provider.<\/p><p>Your insurance company will handle the claim with the other driver\u2019s insurance company on your behalf. Typically, your provider will cover the costs upfront and then seek reimbursement from the other insurance company. However, you will most likely have to pay the excess, even though you aren\u2019t at fault. Once your insurer is reimbursed by the other insurance company, your excess will be refunded. This process often results in faster claims since you will be paid before fault is determined. But you will have to cover your excess upfront.<\/p><p>If you opt to use the other driver\u2019s insurance, you might have to wait longer before you receive money for repairs to your car. This is because the insurer will need to investigate who is at fault before releasing any claims money. However, you won\u2019t have to pay the excess. The negative to using the other driver\u2019s insurance is when they don\u2019t have enough cover to pay for all of the damage to your car, in which case you\u2019ll have to go ahead and file a claim with your provider anyway.<\/p><h3 id=\"claim\">Making a claim<\/h3><p>The final step after an accident is to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.finder.com\/uk\/car-insurance\/car-insurance-claims\">make a claim<\/a> with your insurance company. If your vehicle was towed to a mechanic that has been approved by your insurer, repairs will usually be authorised fairly quickly.<\/p><p>On the other hand, if your vehicle is drivable after the accident and only needs minor repairs, your insurer may require you to obtain at least two quotes (sometimes three) from different mechanics, from which they will choose the lowest quote.<\/p><p>Whether you choose to make a claim at all will depend on the cost of repairs compared to your deductible and the effect a claim would have on your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.finder.com\/uk\/car-insurance\/no-claims-bonus\">no claim bonus<\/a>. Many people choose not to make a claim on repairs under \u00a3500 for these reasons.<\/p><h3 id=\"staged\">Don\u2019t fall for a staged accident<\/h3><p>Unfortunately, there are unscrupulous drivers out there who will stage an accident in order to scam your insurance company out of money. These fraudsters often stage an accident that appears to be your fault, then exaggerate injuries and\/or damage to their car. Although your insurance provider is the ultimate victim, the loss they incur due to these fraudulent claims is passed on to you in the form of higher premiums.<\/p><h4>Warning signs<\/h4><p>Here are some warning signs to look out for:<\/p><ul class=\"list-3\"><li><strong>You were driving in an urban part of town. <\/strong>These types of criminals often strike in urban areas where there is a lot of traffic, which makes it harder for you to avoid their staged accident.<\/li><li><strong>You were driving in a wealthy part of town. <\/strong>Wealthy drivers are more likely to have better insurance.<\/li><li><strong>You were driving a newer, higher-end car. <\/strong>A nicer, newer car is also more likely to have a good insurance policy taken out on it.<\/li><li><strong>You had to slam on the brakes. <\/strong>A common practice is to have a passenger watch for when you\u2019re distracted, then the driver comes to a sudden stop, forcing you to slam on your brakes and potentially rear-end their car.<\/li><li><strong>The driver waves you into the lane. <\/strong>What appears to be a courteous driver signalling you the right of way abruptly speeds up and crashes into your car.<\/li><\/ul><h4>What to do if you suspect you\u2019re the victim of a staged accident<\/h4><ul class=\"list-10\"><li>Get the info of the driver and all of the passengers in the car, including driving licence, address and phone number.<\/li><li>Use the camera on your smartphone to document the damage to all cars involved in the accident, as well as all of the passengers.<\/li><li>Call the police.<\/li><\/ul><h3 id=\"cash\">Don\u2019t take cash at the scene of an accident<\/h3><p>When you\u2019re involved in an accident and the damage seems to be minimal or even non-existent, it could be tempting to take a cash offer from the other driver. Resist that temptation. There may be damage to your car that isn\u2019t visible or you could be underestimating the cost of repairing any visible damage. You also could have suffered an injury that isn\u2019t apparent at the time of the crash.<\/p><p>Take the time to get the diver\u2019s insurance and contact info, and be sure to document the accident by taking pictures with your smartphone. If the costs of the accident exceed the cash offer (which will most likely be the case), you\u2019ll be glade you did.<\/p><h3>Bottom line<\/h3><p>If you\u2019re involved in an accident, try to stay calm. The best thing you can do after an accident is to go through the steps listed here and let the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.finder.com\/uk\/car-insurance\/a-to-z-list\">car insurance companies<\/a> argue the legalities of the situation at a later date.<\/p><p>Make sure you\u2019re covered for any kind of accident or claim with the right car insurance.<\/p><h3>Frequently asked questions<\/h3><ul class=\"luna-accordionGroup accordionGroup\"><li class=\"luna-accordion\" data-accordion=\"accordion\">\n  <div class=\"luna-accordion__summary\">\n    <h4 class=\"luna-accordion__heading\">\n      <button class=\"luna-accordion__action collapsed\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"accordion0000000000\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" data-target=\"#accordion0000000000\">\n        <span class=\"luna-accordion__title\">Do I have to call the police when I'm involved in a car accident?<\/span>\n        <svg class=\"luna-icon\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n          <use xlink:href=\"#chevron-down\" data-accordion-icon=\"show\"><\/use>\n          <use xlink:href=\"#chevron-up\" data-accordion-icon=\"hide\" class=\"is-hidden\"><\/use>\n        <\/svg>\n      <\/button>\n    <\/h4>\n  <\/div>\n  <div class=\"luna-accordion__details collapse\" aria-hidden=\"true\" id=\"accordion0000000000\" data-accordion=\"details\">\n    <div class=\"accordionContent\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.finder.com\/car-insurance\"><\/a>The Road Traffic Act says accidents must be reported to a police constable or police station within 24 hours. You can do this by calling 101<span>, the police non-emergency number.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n  <\/div>\n<\/li><li class=\"luna-accordion\" data-accordion=\"accordion\">\n  <div class=\"luna-accordion__summary\">\n    <h4 class=\"luna-accordion__heading\">\n      <button class=\"luna-accordion__action collapsed\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"accordion0000000001\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" data-target=\"#accordion0000000001\">\n        <span class=\"luna-accordion__title\">What is the most important thing to do after a car crash?<\/span>\n        <svg class=\"luna-icon\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n          <use xlink:href=\"#chevron-down\" data-accordion-icon=\"show\"><\/use>\n          <use xlink:href=\"#chevron-up\" data-accordion-icon=\"hide\" class=\"is-hidden\"><\/use>\n        <\/svg>\n      <\/button>\n    <\/h4>\n  <\/div>\n  <div class=\"luna-accordion__details collapse\" aria-hidden=\"true\" id=\"accordion0000000001\" data-accordion=\"details\">\n    <div class=\"accordionContent\"><p>Make sure you\u2019re in a safe, secure area. Then gather as much information as possible about the accident itself, including damage, injuries and the details of any other drivers or passengers involved.<\/p><\/div>\n  <\/div>\n<\/li><li class=\"luna-accordion\" data-accordion=\"accordion\">\n  <div class=\"luna-accordion__summary\">\n    <h4 class=\"luna-accordion__heading\">\n      <button class=\"luna-accordion__action collapsed\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"accordion0000000002\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" data-target=\"#accordion0000000002\">\n        <span class=\"luna-accordion__title\">Do I have to report the accident to my insurance company?<\/span>\n        <svg class=\"luna-icon\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n          <use xlink:href=\"#chevron-down\" data-accordion-icon=\"show\"><\/use>\n          <use xlink:href=\"#chevron-up\" data-accordion-icon=\"hide\" class=\"is-hidden\"><\/use>\n        <\/svg>\n      <\/button>\n    <\/h4>\n  <\/div>\n  <div class=\"luna-accordion__details collapse\" aria-hidden=\"true\" id=\"accordion0000000002\" data-accordion=\"details\">\n    <div class=\"accordionContent\"><p>Yes, all insurance providers require drivers to report any accident right away. However, that does not mean that you have to file a claim.<\/p><\/div>\n  <\/div>\n<\/li><\/ul><article class=\"luna-card luna-card--alt\"><div class=\"luna-card__block\">*Based on data provided by Consumer Intelligence Ltd, www.consumerintelligence.com (January \u201926). 51% of Confused.com car insurance customers could save \u00a3529.15.<\/div><\/article><article class=\"luna-card luna-card--alt\"><div class=\"luna-card__block has-padding-small\">The offers compared on this page are chosen from a range of products we can track; we don't cover every product on the market...yet. Unless we've indicated otherwise, products are shown in no particular order or ranking. The terms \"best\", \"top\", \"cheap\" (and variations), aren't product ratings, although we always explain what's great about a product when we highlight it; this is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.finder.com\/uk\/terms-of-use\" class=\"fin-text-navy\">subject to our terms of use<\/a>. When making a big financial decision, it's wise to consider getting independent financial advice, and always consider your own financial circumstances when comparing products so you get what's right for you. Most of the data in Finder's comparison tables is provided by Defaqto. In other cases, Finder has sourced data directly from providers.<\/div><\/article>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A step-by-step guide to handling a car accident, whether you are at fault or the victim of a car crash.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":680,"featured_media":374937,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2645],"tags":[3174,3708,3172],"asset_tag":[],"class_list":["post-172604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-car-insurance","tag-car","tag-car-accident","tag-car-insurance"],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.9 (Yoast SEO v24.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What to do after a car accident | Finder UK<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A step-by-step guide to handling a car accident, whether you are at fault or the victim of a car crash.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.finder.com\/uk\/car-insurance\/what-to-do-after-a-car-accident\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What to do after a car accident\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A step-by-step guide to handling a car accident, whether you are at fault or the victim of a car crash.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" 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