What to do after a road accident
You are trying to work out everything you are supposed to handle now.
There is a manageable order to this. Handle safety and evidence at the scene, medical care and the police report in the days right after, and only think about a claim once those are settled. Here is the full sequence in one place.
At the scene
- Make sure everyone is safe, and call for help if anyone is hurt.
- Exchange particulars with the other driver: name, phone number, identity card and vehicle registration.
- Photograph the vehicles, the road, and anything else that helps explain what happened.
- Get contact details from anyone who saw it, before they leave.
The full detail on capturing this properly is in what to capture at the accident scene, and the specific hour-by-hour order is in the first 24 hours after a crash.
In the days right after
Report the accident to the police, generally within 24 hours where reasonably possible, and keep the reference number you are given. See reporting your accident to the police for exactly how.
See a doctor even if you feel fine, and attend any follow-up appointments rather than treating the first visit as the end of it. Keep every receipt, certificate and referral letter, since these all matter later when a medical report for a claim is put together.
Notify your insurer within the window your policy expects, described in reporting the accident to insurers.
Gathering your evidence properly
Save any dashcam or phone footage before it is overwritten, using saving your dashcam and photo evidence, and follow up with any witnesses or nearby CCTV while people still remember and footage still exists.
Mistakes worth avoiding along the way
A few habits undo otherwise good early steps: admitting fault out of politeness, discussing the accident in detail on social media, signing something you have not read, or letting weeks pass before seeing a doctor again. Each of these has its own page if you want the full reasoning, starting with mistakes to avoid at the scene.
Once the early steps are done
With your report, medical care and evidence in place, you are in a position to actually consider whether you have a claim. Making a road accident claim explains who can claim and what affects it, and the claim process walks through what happens step by step from here.
There is no need to rush this last part. Evidence and medical records only get weaker with time, but the decision about a claim itself can wait until you are ready to make it clearly.
Common questions
Is this the same as knowing what to do in the first 24 hours?
They overlap but answer different questions. The first 24 hours page walks through the actual order of the first day, hour by hour, while this page is the fuller checklist covering everything from the scene through to deciding on a claim.
Do I need to do all of this even for a minor accident?
Scale it to what happened. A minor bump still deserves a police report and a few photos, but a serious injury needs everything here, including medical follow-up and evidence you might otherwise skip.
What if I already skipped some of these steps?
Pick up from where you are. Missing a step early on rarely ends a claim outright, though it can make the remaining steps more important to get right.
When should I actually think about a lawyer?
Once you have a sense of your injuries and the other party's insurance position, a short conversation can clarify whether you need one, covered in do you need a lawyer for your claim.
What is the single most common thing people forget?
Following up on medical treatment after the first visit. People often see a doctor once, feel better, and never complete the follow-up that a claim later needs to show a full and honest picture of the injury.