Duties after an Accident

Legal Requirements

The Road Traffic Act 1988 (RTA 1988) sets out your duties in case of accident. An accident for this purpose is defined as one in which a) personal injury is caused to a person other than you (the driver), or b) damage is caused to a vehicle or trailer other than yours, injury or death is caused to an animal that you were not carrying, or to any property involved in the incident. In this case, 'animal' refers to horses, cattle, asses, sheep, pigs, goats or dogs.

Failing to do the following constitutes committing a driving offence:

• You must stop, and share your name and address (and the name and address of the owner of your vehicle if relevant), as well as the identification marks (car registration details, for example) with any person having reasonable grounds to request such information. If for any reason you do not give your name and address you must report the accident (at a police station or to a police officer and as soon as possible: at the latest within twenty-four hours).
  
  
• You must produce your insurance certificate for anybody who has reasonable grounds to see it, such as any other driver(s) involved and/or a police officer requesting proof of cover. If you do not have your insurance certificate with you at the time of the accident, you must tell the officer the police station to which you will report within five days to prove that you have valid insurance.
  
  
• If there has been an injury you should inform the police within four hours of the accident.

The legal requirements are in force to ensure that road safety is maintained and, as far as possible, to build up an accurate picture of what took place. It is always advisable to inform the police of an accident so that they can establish an official version of events. This protects innocent victim(s) and ensures that the subsequent insurance claim can be carried out as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Insurers' Guidelines

Your insurer may give you guidelines to follow if you are involved in an accident. These may include: asking the police officer which station they are assigned to, so that you can follow the accident report's progress; gathering as much information about the scene of the accident as you can, such as taking photos, names and addresses of witnesses, and making a note of weather conditions.

By adhering to legal requirements and following simple guidelines you can ensure that any subsequent car insurance claim is completely quickly and efficiently.