If you are involved in a road accident, it is important to try not to panic. If the accident is serious, you should call the emergency services and offer any help and assistance to the injured people that you can safely provide.
If anyone was injured in the accident it is always a good idea to call the police to the scene. They will advise you whether it is safe to leave and also make a report of the accident that could be useful later on.
Failing to collect information at this stage can make it difficult to establish what happened and whose fault the accident was later on. You should always obtain details of the driver or drivers involved in the accident including their insurance details and registration number.
Take details of any witnesses who saw the accident. If possible obtain their names, addresses and telephone numbers. Only independent witnesses will be useful to provide evidence of what happened. Friends, family and other passengers in your vehicle are unlikely to be sufficiently independent to be useful witnesses.
Obtain photographic evidence of the position of the cars involved in the accident, the damage caused, and the locus around the accident. Many people now have mobile phones with cameras, and photographic evidence can be very useful.
Make a note of where the accident happened and how the accident happened. A sketch of the road showing the cars and direction of travel can be particularly helpful.
If you notice any pain or discomfort, or you are unsure whether you might have been injured, you should seek medical advice as soon as possible. With some injuries, such as whiplash, it can take hours or days before the full symptoms are obvious. Sometimes, the shock and adrenaline of the accident can disguise injuries for some time.
People who are injured in road accidents that are not their fault are entitled to compensation for the pain and suffering caused by the injury, as well as for the damage to their vehicle and other property. Seeing a doctor early on will help to show the type and severity of any injuries at the time of the accident. It is also helpful to have a diagnosis of the injuries caused in the accident because your solicitor may be able to arrange for you to have private medical treatment to help you recover as quickly as possible from your injuries.
As soon as possible after the accident you should inform your insurance company AFTER you have spoken to an Injury Lawyer first. Your insurers will likely try and pass your claim to one of their panel of approved solicitors through Legal Expense Insurance, or Motor Legal Protection. All they do is pass your personal details to some third party solicitor who pays them around £1,000 to have your case. This leaves them with far less money to spend on you and running the claim, and has been proven to reduce the quality of their legal services, and result in lower payouts. This practice is soon to be made illegal.
Go to an independent lawyer direct for the best advice and representation.