Being involved in an accident can be frightening but the most important thing to remember is to stay calm. There are a number of things you can do to give yourself the best chance of having the situation dealt with quickly and fairly.
We’ve summarised what you should do if it happens to you – memorise these four steps to keep it cool if you’re involved in an incident:
1. Stop!
If the collision occurred whilst the car was moving, you need to pull over as soon as it’s safe to do so and switch your engine off. If you don’t, you’ll be committing an offence under the Road Traffic Act. Leaving the scene of an accident is taken very seriously and could even lead to a prison sentence.
2. Check if everyone’s OK
The first thing to address after an accident is the safety and wellbeing of you and your passengers. Does anyone require medical attention? If you’re a drive like a girl customer, your black box might detect a strong impact on your car and alert our team. We’ll try to call and check you’re OK, or alert the emergency services. We can’t guarantee they’ll attend so you should always call the emergency services immediately if needed.
3. Gather everyone’s information and document the incident
- Get everyone’s name, address and vehicle registration.
- Take some pictures of the scene and any damage to the cars.
- Write down the time and date of the accident and the names and contact details of any witnesses. Sketching the accident while it’s still fresh on your mind is also useful.
4. Call your insurer!
It’s important you call your insurer about the accident before anyone else. It’s understandably upsetting being involved in an accident and you might want to talk to your loved ones, but informing your insurer about the incident immediately will help with your claim and reduce the chance of being a victim of fraud. We recommend our customers to save our claims number on their phone.