Legal Tips For Dealing With The Aftermath Of A Car Accident
In a perfect world, there won't be any car accidents but that's not the case, and car accidents are a reality. It's better to be prepared and know what to do in case you are involved in a car accident. Being prepared will help you prevent a bad situation turn into a worse one, and will also ensure that you do not face any issues while claiming car insurance. We review a lot of cars and in our reviews, we pay special attention to the safety of each car. Check out the best cars to discover our recommended models.
If you are involved in a car accident, the first thing you need to do is stop immediately, even if you think it’s a minor thing. Keep in mind that the Road Traffic Act defines failing to stop after an accident as an offense. You need to switch off the car's engine and also turn on the hazard lights in order to make sure other users on the road are aware of your presence.
You should immediately call 101 or 999. You should also take a look around and find out if a person has been injured in the accident. In case you discover an injured person, you should immediately call the police and also an ambulance, if necessary.
You also need to call the police in case the accident has led to blocking of the road or if you think that there is there was foul play involved in the accident. If you think that someone has deliberately caused an accident for making a fraudulent insurance claim, you need to call the police as you may be the victim of a crash for cash scam.
One of the best ways to avoid crash for cash scams is a dash cam. However, you need to choose the right dash cam in order to make sure it provides high quality footage as you won't be able to prove anything with low quality footage. Do not forget to check out our reviews of the dash cams for our recommendations.
It's your obligation to provide your name as well as address and contact details to anyone involved in a car accident. It is also necessary to provide your details even if no other people are involved in the accident when your car crashes into something. For instance, you should provide your contact details by keeping it on the windscreen when your car crashes into a parked car. It is also recommended not to say sorry or accept blame until you are sure about what happened as it may go against you on a later date.
It is also required to report all the car accidents to the police within 24 hours. Keep in mind that failure to report accidents may lead to penalty points, fine or even disqualification. If you're involved in a car accident, you should try everything to get the names, contact details as well as addresses of passengers, drivers as well as witnesses. You should also ask the driver of the other car for their car insurance details. It's also important to try and figure out whether the drivers are the registered keepers of the vehicles and in case they aren’t, you should try to find out name and address of the actual person.
If someone does not give details before leaving the scene of the car accident, you should give a call to 999 immediately. There are several other important details that need to be collected at the time of the accident.
One of the most important things you need to do after an accident is collect information about the vehicles involved in the accident. You should note down the registration number as well as the make, model and color of the vehicle. Another important thing you need to note down is the date and time of the crash. You should also try to prepare a sketch that roughly shows the exact position of the vehicles involved in the accident. You should also note down the weather conditions as well as anything unusual about the lighting or quality of the road.
You should also prepare a list with description of injuries suffered by drivers, passengers and pedestrians in addition to the damage to vehicles. It is also recommended to take photos of the accident as these photos can be used as evidence, if needed. Some drivers use disposable cameras for taking photos but most of the modern mobile phones come with a good enough camera to photograph all the important details.
Needless to say, it's not fun being left on the side of the road, even without being involved in a crash. Check out our guide on the best breakdown cover providers in order to spend minimum time being stranded on the side of the road.
Claiming Insurance
You will need to get in touch with your car insurer once things settle down and you are in the right mind to start the process of making an insurance claim in case your car has undergone substantial damage.
It's important to get in touch with the insurance company to make them aware of the car accident as quickly as possible. Keep in mind that every policy requires the policyholder to inform the insurance company in a particular time period. Otherwise, you may have to foot the bill on your own. Your insurance may rise and so you should compare car insurance providers to get a better deal.
You need to carefully check the insurance policy to find out the time as different policies can have periods ranging from two days up to 2 weeks. It's important to inform the insurance company about the accident even when you don't feel the need to make a claim. All the insurance companies are not the same. Check out our guide to find the best as well as the worst car insurance providers.
When you are involved in a car accident involving other vehicles, your insurance company will require details of the drivers of the other vehicles. You should try to find out and provide the name, address, contact details, vehicle registration number as well as the car insurance company details of the other driver. Your insurance company will also expect you to provide as much information as you can to them about the accident. The information that you provide them should include detailed sketches to explain the accident as well as any pictures taken by you at the accident scene. Do not forget to provide the contact details of witnesses supporting your claim.
Your insurance company is going to tell you the things you need to do in case you want to make the claim. If the accident involves other people, your insurance company will need to get in touch with the insurance company of others involved in order to resolve the insurance claim.