On average each year over 3.7 million motor claims are reported in the UK and many more go unreported.
Whether the vehicle is a company vehicle or a personal vehicle, there are certain things that are advised to gather at the scene of an accident and this list is the same as to whether the accident was your fault or not your fault. At the time of accident drivers are often in shock leaving you to be apologetic if you feel you are in the wrong or even defensive and emotions can be high.
If the accident is on a main carriageway or motorway, the main thing to do is inform the police to ensure that they make the area safe for other drivers and reduce the risk of further incidents occurring. Also, if there are any injuries these need to be seen to first if serious.
Information to Collect at the Accident Scene
Once you know the scene is safe for yourself and others, and injuries have been seen to, the following items are of great importance whether you are at fault or not: –
- Photos of the accident
- Photos of both vehicles from all 4 corners
- Further in-depth photos of any damage
- The time of the incident
- Location and date of the incident
- The other drivers name, registration, contact details and their insurance company, if they know who that is
- Make, model and colour of the other vehicle/s involved
- Number of passengers in the vehicle
- If any property such as walls, barriers were damaged also take photos and rough size/damage and if it is private property the owner’s details or address
- Rough speed you were going, details of which direction you were driving and which lane you were in
- Names, contact numbers and emails of any witnesses who can verify what happened
- Brief description of what happened with a sketch noting road marking, points of impact, road signs etc
- If the police attend then you will need their name, station they are based at an incident number along with whether anyone was cautioned
- If the incident involves a commercial vehicle also take details of the business name and any contact details on the vehicle
At the time of incident, the above information may seem like a lot to take down especially if you feel the incident is not your fault, however, this information will greatly help your insurer speed up the claims process to get a settlement. This information is vitally important should you ever find yourself in a situation where your insurance company contacts you to advise the other driver believes the accident was your fault when you believed it was theirs.
Here at Safe and Insured, we are an award-winning motor specialist insurance broker for commercial insurance. If you would like to know more about our cover and claims support, then please contact one of the team on 0808 161 7008.