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How To Report A Car Accident – A Complete Guide

Updated 12th August 2024. If you’re involved in a road traffic accident, you might not know when you need to report the incident or who you have to report it to. Do you need to contact the police? Do you need to tell the insurer? It can all be quite confusing. Therefore, in this guide, we’ll aim to clear up the confusion about when and how to report a car accident.

We’ll also look at your right to claim compensation for injuries sustained in an accident if another road user was to blame (or you were only partially to blame). To make things clearer, we’ll also review the types of accidents you have to report, how to report a car accident, and when you need to contact the police.

Legal Expert can help you claim for injuries sustained in a road accident on a No Win No Fee basis. We begin by offering a no-strings-attached assessment of your claim. Our advisors can provide free legal advice and more information regarding when and how to report a car crash.

If you’d like to learn about the key points from this guide, why not check out our video below:

If you’d like to begin a claim right away, please contact our team on 0800 073 8804 today. Otherwise, please continue reading for advice on when you need to file a car accident report.

A woman enquires about how to report a car accident following a crash.

How to report a car accident guide

Select A Section

  1. Who Do I Report A Car Accident To?
  2. Reporting A Car Accident To The Police
  3. How And When To Report Car Accidents To The MIB
  4. When Could I Claim For A Car Accident?
  5. Car Accident Injury Claims With A No Win No Fee Solicitor
  6. Essential References

Who Do I Report A Car Accident To?

It can be difficult to know who to report a car crash to, but reporting your car crash to the correct authorities can have a big impact on your claim.  Section 170 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 states that you must report a car accident that has caused damage or injury to a police constable within 24-hours if details are not exchanged. This can be in person at a police station or via the 101 non-emergency services.

As well as informing the police, you are obliged to provide any details to anybody who has reasonable grounds for requesting them. This could include another driver or somebody whose property has been damaged by the accident.

Finally, you should contact your insurer as soon as possible, even if you don’t intend to make a claim. That’s because the other driver might claim against you so your insurance company must be made aware of the collision.

A car following a crash with a broken bonnet.

Reporting A Car Accident To The Police

If you’re wondering whether you need to complete a road traffic accident report to the police, it depends on the circumstances of the incident. If you’re involved in an accident that results in personal injury or damage to property, then you need to exchange insurance details with the other driver. If you can’t do this, for example, because they flee the scene, then this should be reported to the police within 24 hours.

Reporting a car accident to the police might also be necessary in other circumstances. For example, you may want to report it if:

  • The road is blocked because of the accident
  • You suspect that the other driver is drunk or on drugs
  • If you suspect that the other driver caused the crash on purpose

We can provide further guidance on how you should complete local accident reports for car accidents. Contact us to find out more.

How And When To Report Car Accidents To The MIB

In this section, we examine how to report a car accident when a driver is uninsured or fails to stop. As well as reporting such incidents  to the police, in order to claim compensation for a hit and run accident, you will need to go through the Motor Insurers Bureau (MIB).

There are some important things you need to know about reporting a car accident through the MIB, which we have summarised here:

  • The MIB was established to help drivers claim against uninsured and unidentified motorists. The Road Traffic Act 1988 stipulates that all insurers are required to be members of and help fund the scheme.
  • Claiming through the MIB will not affect your no-claims bonus.
  • You will still need to file a car incident report with the police, as the MIB requires a police reference number.
  • Claims against drivers from abroad can also be made through the MIB.

For further guidance on when you should report a car accident or for information about claiming though the MIB, contact our advisors using the information provided above.

Reporting A Hit And Run – Can I Claim?

As we have said, you could still be able to claim compensation for injuries caused in a hit and run by claiming through the MIB.

A claim through the MIB works in a similar manner to a regular claim. You will be required to present evidence to the MIB that shows that you were injured due to negligence.

Reporting a hit and run can help you claim this way. A police report of the hit and run can act as supporting evidence in your claim.

There are certain situations where reporting a car accident will be a legal responsibility, such as if the accident causes a blockage in the road or you believe the collision was purposeful.

Please get in touch with our advisers for any more questions you may have about claiming for a hit and run, or whether you will be required to report the crash to the police.

When Could I Claim For A Car Accident?

While using the roads, every road user must navigate in such a way that they avoid causing injury and damage to themselves and others, as per their duty of care. This duty requires them to adhere to standards of the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Highway Code.

If another driver breaches this duty and causes a car accident, you might be eligible to claim compensation. However, you must prove that you meet the personal injury claims eligibility criteria. This means that you need evidence that proves:

  • You were owed a duty of care.
  • This was breached.
  • You suffered injuries as a result.

If you would like to discuss the eligibility criteria in further depth and find out if you could make a claim, please contact an advisor from our team. They can evaluate your case for free, and could potentially connect you with one of our solicitors.

Car Accident Injury Claims With A No Win No Fee Solicitor

If you have a valid personal injury claim to make after reporting a crash in a car that harmed you, then you could seek help from a solicitor. If you speak to our advisors, they may connect you with our No Win No Fee solicitors that have experience with car accident claims.

Furthermore, they may offer to represent your claim under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), which is a type of No Win No Fee arrangement. Under this agreement, you won’t be required to pay any upfront or ongoing fees for their services. You also won’t need to pay your solicitor for their services if your claim is unsuccessful.

If your claim is successful, then the solicitor who supported your claim can take a legally capped percentage from the compensation awarded to you. This is referred to as a success fee.

To learn more about making a personal injury claim with a No Win No Fee solicitor after you report a car accident, contact our advisors. They can provide free advice about your potential claim. You can reach them by:

Two toy cars in front of a solicitor who can help you claim against an insurance company.

Essential References

Thanks for reading this guide about how to report a car accident. We’ve provided some further information for you in the form of more guides and links to external resources below. If there’s anything else you’d like to know, please contact a member of our team.

Whiplash Information – A detailed look at the causes, symptoms and the treatment of whiplash injuries.

The Highway Code – The safety rules which govern the use of roads for all.

Broken Bones – Advice from the NHS on how to tell if you’ve broken a bone which is a common injury following a road traffic accident.

We also have some other guides on car accident claims that you may find useful:

Guide by Hambridge

Edited by Billing