If you have gotten yourself in the unfortunate situation of being involved in a car accident then you need to know the steps to take after it has happened. You want to make sure you follow the law while also ensuring everyone is safe and insurance claims are sorted. This blog post will go over the initial steps to follow after the crash has happened.
Stop Your Car!
This may be a given but if you fail to stop after you have crashed, even if it wasn’t your fault, you are breaking the law, make sure you pull over somewhere safe where you can.
Switch The Car Off
After stopping, you must switch your car off and put your hazards on to alert any other drivers on the road that there has been an accident. Even if the road is quiet, this procedure should be carried out because you don’t know if someone else could be coming down the road and might not see your vehicle possibly resulting in another crash.
Check For Injuries
After following the first two steps you should then check yourself and any passengers for any injuries. If you are capable of getting out of your vehicle you should proceed to do so, safely and check on the other driver and passengers to see if they are okay and if there is anything you can do to help.
Call The Authorities
If you believe that you or someone else has been injured you should call 999 and ask for an ambulance to be sent immediately. If the road has been blocked by the collision, you believe that drinking or drugs were involved or that the crash happened on purpose, then you should also alert the police who are able to come and make the road safe for others while assessing the legal situation around the crash.
Limit Your Conversation – Just Get The Facts
After the accident, you should limit conversation about the crash and your side of the story to anyone except the police or your insurance provider. Make sure you don’t admit to it being your fault in the heat of the moment, wait for the authorities to make that judgement.
However, where you can, get the names, addresses and phone numbers of everyone involved. You should also get the number plate and a description of the car when you can as well. It is also extremely important to get the driver’s insurance company and the vehicle identification number, not just the registration.
Take Photos
This isn’t necessary but can be useful when being used as evidence especially if you feel that the crash was not your fault. The insurance company may use these photos to assess the situation. We’d recommend taking pictures of any damage to both cars, not just your own.
Call Your Insurance Provider
Once you have got all the information you need it is time to call your insurance provider. They will tell you all of the steps you need to take from here including submitting a claim, repairs and discussing the fault of the crash.
Fix Your Vehicle
The final step is fixing your vehicle, of course, a lot of garages have their own garages they like to work with however if this is not the case, you will need to find a reliable garage. At Diamond Bodycraft this is something we specialise in. We help to transform cars that have been damaged in crashes and return them back to their original state. If you are located near Harrow and you need a reliable car body repair shop, give us a call on 020 8861 2628 or fill out our online contact form.