First, make sure you’re in safe place. Then get as much information as you can – it’ll help us to sort your claim out sooner if you can tick off the following:

• The other driver’s name, address, telephone number and insurer – plus their policy number if they know it
• Their registration number, as well as the make, model and colour
• The weather conditions
• Any injuries or damage to cars or property
• Photos of damaged cars or property
• The names and addresses of any witnesses
• A rough sketch of the accident
• Any dash cam or video evidence
• If the police are called, ask for their reference number and station address
  
  

Even if you’re not going to make a claim, please give us a call to let us know what’s happened. 

If you’re in an accident and someone’s injured or there’s damage to a car or property, you legally have to give your name, address and insurance details to the other people involved.

If there’s an injury or you don’t give your details at the scene, you have to report it to the police within 24 hours.

At the scene of the accident don’t:

• Discuss whose fault the accident was
• Apologise or admit any fault or liability

Forget to record any injuries or damage to cars or property

If you’ve got comprehensive cover with us and your accident was in the UK, we’ll:

• Get you and your passengers home or to your planned destination if you can’t drive your car. And if you can’t finish your journey, we’ll pay up to £50 per person – maximum £250 – for you to stay in overnight accommodation
• Take your car to one of our approved repairers
• Fix your car if it’s cost effective
• Give you a small, manual gear box car for free, while yours is being fixed  
• Wash and clean your car and get it back to you at a time that’s good for you
  
  

Whether you were to blame for the accident or not, you’ll need to pay your policy excess to the car repairer.

Not a problem. We understand you may prefer your car to be fixed by your local garage. Just so you know, if you go down this route:

• We’ll need one estimate from you
• We may arrange for a qualified engineer to look at your car
• The repairs can’t be started until we’ve given you the go ahead
• We won’t be able to give you a free courtesy car while yours is being fixed
• The quality of the repairs won’t be guaranteed by us
• You’ll need to pay your policy excess to the repairer, whether the accident was your fault or not 

We’ll arrange for your car to be assessed by a qualified engineer. If it can’t be fixed, this may be for a number of reasons, including:

• It’s impossible to repair
• It isn’t safe to repair
• The repair costs exceed the market value of your car
  
  

The engineer will send us their report and we’ll sort out your settlement offer. Just so you know, to make you an offer we’ll need:

• Receipt of the original Vehicle Registration Document
• Receipt of the MOT test certificate
  
  

Your settlement offer will then be subject to the following deductions:

• Any outstanding vehicle finance
• Any outstanding insurance premium – unless you’ve got another arrangement with your broker
• The policy excess – whether or not you were to blame for the accident

Not to blame for the accident? You’ll still need to pay your policy excess, but we’ll try and recover 100% of our costs for the claim. That way, you won’t lose your No Claims Discount.

There may be some things you can’t claim for as your policy with us doesn’t cover it. These are called uninsured losses. All is not lost, though. If you’ve got a legal expenses policy, this may cover you or you may be able to recover these from the other person or their insurer.

Whether it’s a chip or a crack, we can get someone to come and repair or replace it. Just so you know, you may need to pay your policy excess to the glass company that fixes your windscreen.

Call the police and get a crime reference number. We’ll need this to progress your claim, as well as your:

• MOT test certificate
• Vehicle registration document  (V5 or Log book)
• Purchase receipt
• Service history
• Spare car keys

Then we’ll get to work to make you an offer for the market value of your car, so you can get back to normal.

If your car’s found – before or after you’ve made a claim – please get in touch with us so we can recover it.

Please click here to view more information about what to do if you've been involved in an accident with one of our customers.