Having recently been involved in a minor collision myself I thought it would be useful to highlight the information that should be exchanged following a minor road traffic accident.

For accidents involving injury or anything of a serious nature the first thing to do is call the emergency services. However, if nobody is injured it is unlikely the police will attend therefore it will be down to you to gather the relevant information. Following any accident, no matter how minor, you often feel shaken and panicked. Nevertheless, it is essential that you obtain as much information as possible at the scene as failing to do so can cause you difficulties further down the line.

Vehicle Registration

The first thing to obtain is the vehicle registration. Unfortunately just taking the name and address of the other party is not always enough. Obtaining the vehicle registration will allow us to perform an online check to establish whether there is insurance in place. Then obtain the relevant details such as name, address, insurance details if they know them.  Ask for a telephone number and I would suggest calling the number at the scene just to make sure it is correct.

Photographs and videos

A picture is worth a thousand words and a video is worth so much more! Whilst it can be hard to think straight following an accident it has never been easier to pick up your phone and press record. A video can gather the vehicle registration, the damage to the car and a description of the other driver so make sure you take photographs at the scene. Take pictures of the damage to both vehicles, close up and from a distance. This can help to demonstrate the point of impact should there be a denial of liability. If possible get photographs before the cars have been moved. Try and gather as much information surrounding the accident as possible, road names and the road layout can all be gathered in the click of a button.

Witnesses

Look for witnesses. Sadly what the other driver tells you at the scene can often change once insurance companies get involved so see if there is anyone else nearby that saw the accident. Take their name and telephone number and perhaps send a text message to them that evening asking them to confirm what they saw. You might need them to confirm what happened at a later date.

Look for CCTV

Look around, if there are any cameras nearby go and ask for the CCTV footage. Most shops and businesses record over these after a certain amount of time so don’t wait for the other party to dispute liability. Go into the shops, email the owners and request a copy of the footage. Take your own USB stick down there or ask to record the screen if they are struggling to download the footage but do your best to gather as much evidence as possible as early as possible.

The next step will be to notify your insurers and by this stage, you should have all the information they require to demonstrate that this accident was not your fault.

If you have been involved in an accident and suffered injury then contact Rhian Lowe on 01206 700113 or email [email protected] for a free consultation.