Making Car Insurance Claims UK

When it comes to making a claim on your car insurance policy, we all hope that we've chosen the right policy, right coverage and right insurance company that will cover the claim we are submitting. The last thing we need after being involved in an accident is having to fight with your insurance company. Since you will need to write down a lot of information yourself, it always makes sense to have pen and paper in your car, but even better, to have a check list of things you need to get when involved in an accident. Many insurance companies provide such checklists, so have one handy in your car to avoid any mistakes and confusion.

The claims process can vary from company to company, but some basic steps nevertheless remain the same. If you are involved in a car accident, regardless of whether it was your fault or not, the first thing you need to do - assuming that no one was severely injured - is to obtain the details of everyone who was involved in the accident. Get the license plate number, model, make and colour of the cars that were involved in the incident. Get names and telephone numbers of the drivers, as well as passengers. If the fault or cause of the accident is unclear, try to get contact details of bystanders that may have seen the accident. This may be important if other people involved in the accident contest your version of events. Your insurance company will usually advise you to never accept responsibility for the accident. Even if it is clear that you were at fault, let the legal people do the talking. It is also prudent to call the police, even if no one was injured, just to have an official record of the event. Some insurance companies may even require that a police report be lodged, so always be aware of this. Next, try to get the insurance details of everyone involved; the name the policy is in, the name of the insurance company and policy number of the vehicle you have had an accident with.

Depending on the severity of the accident, your car insurance company may ask you to have an insurance or claims adjustor look at the damage to your vehicle or the third party's vehicle to determine the extent of the damage. Most insurance companies will ask you to fill in a claims report detailling what happened and where it occured. Also, some insurance companies will require that you report the accident within 24-hours and some companies will have a 24-hour accident hotline. In any case, it is advisable to contact your car insurance company as soon as possible as some companies stipulate a limit on the amount of time that can lapse between the accident and submission of a claim.