If you are unfortunate enough to get into an accident in the UK, you will need to know how to make a claim on your UK car insurance.
Personal Injury
After a car accident, the first thing you should do is check to see if anyone in your car or any of the other cars has been hurt. If they have, you should call for help as soon as possible (ambulance). Once you've done this, keep in mind that you may need to include a medical report as part of the accident claim.
Call the cops
Depending on how bad the accident is, you may need to call the police right away.
help 24 hours a day
By law, you must always keep a copy of your car insurance certificate in your car. This will include a hotline number that you can call 24 hours a day if you get into an accident. You need to call this number and find out what steps you need to take. Remember that there are different types of car insurance in the UK, such as third party or fully comprehensive. The steps you need to take will depend on the type of insurance you have and the way your insurance company handles claims.
Remember to ask your car insurance company to send you an accident report form when you call them. The accident report form should be pretty easy to fill out, but if you have any trouble, it would be best to call your insurance company and clear up any confusion before you send in the form.
Gather proof of what happened.
After you've called your insurance company and asked for help, it's a good idea to get some proof about what happened. This can include getting the names and contact information of any witnesses and/or taking pictures of the accident scene (mobile phone cameras are useful for this purposes).
Getting your car fixed
It is very important that you know that any costs you incur for your car after an accident are your responsibility (i.e., you pay for them) unless you have agreed to these costs ahead of time with your insurance company. Since this is the case, it is not a good idea to just take your car to a garage after an accident and have the repairs done. Your car insurance company may not agree to pay you back. Far better to call your car insurance company first and ask if there is a specific garage in your area where you need to take the car for repairs.
Keep receipts for all expenses
Even if you don't think you'll get the money back, you should keep all receipts if you have an accident and want to file a claim with your car insurance company. Keep in mind that if you don't have proof of the cost, your car insurance company is very unlikely to pay it back.
