What to Do in the First 24 Hours After a Non-Fault Accident
What you do today shapes everything that follows. A short checklist for the moments when you are least able to think clearly.
Make sure everyone is safe, exchange details, and photograph everything before the vehicles are moved. That evidence cannot be recreated later.
Then get advice before agreeing anything with the other driver’s insurer. The first day is when most avoidable mistakes are made.
At the scene
In order, and before anything is moved if it is safe to stay put:
Make it safe
Hazard lights on, everyone out of the carriageway. Call 999 if anyone is injured, the road is blocked, or the other driver leaves or seems impaired.
Exchange details
Name, address, phone, registration, make, model and insurer. You are legally required to give yours. If they refuse, note the registration and call the police.
Photograph everything
Both vehicles from several angles, the damage close up, the wider road layout, signs, markings and conditions. Include the other car’s registration in shot.
Do not apologise or accept blame at the scene, however instinctive it feels. Fault is decided on evidence, and an apology given while shaken is regularly quoted back later as an admission.
Before the day is out
See a doctor if you are sore
Whiplash and soft tissue injuries often worsen over 24 to 48 hours. An early medical record matters.
Tell your own insurer
Required by almost every policy, even where you are not claiming on it.
Write down what happened
Speeds, positions, what was said, weather and light. Dated today, while it is fresh.
Chase any CCTV
Ask nearby premises in writing immediately. Most footage is overwritten within days.
Had an accident today?
Call us before you agree anything with the other driver’s insurer. Recovery can usually be arranged within hours.
The mistakes that cost most
Accepting the other insurer’s courtesy car
Do it on day one and a like-for-like replacement claim becomes much harder to make.
Giving a recorded statement too early
Hours after a collision, without advice, from memory. It gets used later.
Letting the vehicle go somewhere unknown
If it is recovered to a compound you did not choose, storage charges start immediately - sometimes in your name.
Common questions
Only if someone is injured, the road is obstructed, the other driver fails to stop or give details, or you suspect drink, drugs or no insurance. Otherwise details are exchanged directly.
Report it to the police as soon as you can and note everything you remember, including the registration. The Motor Insurers’ Bureau covers untraced drivers, and there are strict deadlines.
If there is any soreness at all, yes. Soft tissue injuries commonly present a day or two later, and a contemporaneous record is far stronger than one made weeks afterwards.
Yes. Notification is a policy requirement. Notifying is not the same as claiming.
Call us before it is taken anywhere. We can arrange recovery and secure storage at no cost to you, so charges do not start accruing in your name somewhere you did not choose.
Terms and conditions apply to all services described on this page. Free recovery, storage and replacement vehicles are provided on the basis that the charges are recovered from the at-fault party’s insurer. We will explain the terms in plain English before anything is arranged.
Before we act for you we are required to verify your identity and to carry out fraud and anti-money laundering checks. This may include checks with credit reference and fraud prevention agencies, which will leave a record on your file.
Where fraud is suspected, information may be shared with fraud prevention agencies, insurers and law enforcement. Providing false or misleading information in support of a claim may mean your claim is refused, and can be a criminal offence.