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When you have been in an car accident, the first thing you should do, is assess that everyone is okay. If there has been some serious injuries or you suspect a driver is under the influence, call 000.
Its handy to keep a note pad and pen in your car to write a few things down as your insurance provider will ask you for the details of the accident. Time, Date of accident, location/street, cross streets, weather conditions, the direction you were traveling and the details of the other driver. Its important to ensure that you have their drivers license, registration, phone number and insurance company if they are insured.
Almost everyone has some form of smart phone, so take some photos of the drivers license and number plates of the other car. This helps to ensure the other driver gives you the correct details. It is also very helpful to take photos of both cars once you are exchanged personal details, this can be given to the insurance company and help prove who was at fault.
Note: it is against the law for the other driver to refuse to provide you with these details and vice versa.
Now to identify who is at fault.
Were you hit from behind?. If the answer to that is yes, then you need to look at the circumstances as to why they hit you. It may be a very straightforward situation and they may be deemed to be at fault. There may be more into the rear-ended, there may be more people who has cased the accident. This all needs to be taken into account when trying to identify who is at fault.
Was the accident caused by someone running a red light?. If the answer is yes, then the other driver would most likely be found at fault. It would be helpful to get witnesses which were at the intersection to testify for you if it was to end in a court hearing.
Did someone reverse into you?. If the answer is yes, then you need also look at the circumstances as to why they hit you. It may be straightforward if you are stationery, the other driver may be deemed at fault.
Lodging a claim with the insurance provider. Who should lodge the claim?
You hope after being in an accident that the person who hit you is insured, this should be one of the pieces of information you obtain from the driver when you have been hit.
In most cases either driver can lodge a claim with their insurance company. However in some cases it can be just a easy to let the driver at fault lodge the claim as they will need to pay their excess and this will cover your repair. This can be an easy process when the driver at fault accepts liability for the accident. If they do not accept liability then best process would be to lodge a claim with your own insurance provider and let the insurance companies work out the dispute. This may take some time.
When the at fault driver does not have insurance, you just need to provide the details of the driver to your insurance provider. Its best to call them once you find out the at fault driver does not have insurance cover.
When you are a not at fault driver, there are a few things that you are entitled to when you lodge a claim.
You are entitled to chose your repairer, regardless if you have choice of repairer selected on your policy. You are entitled to a hire car for the duration of the repair. You will not have to pay an excess as long as you are able to identify the other driver who caused the damage to your car.
Note: If you are not able to provide the full details of the other driver to your insurance company you may have to pay the excess and may not be entitled to a hire car.
The team at PRSR are always happy to answer any and all questions you may have regarding your accident and we can guild you though the process and assist with car hire options if you may need it.
Please call our friendly team on 02-96246322
