What to Do After a Car Accident: Step by Step Guide

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What Should You Do in the Event of an Automobile Accident?

Following an automobile accident, there are several things you should do:

Stop the Automobile or Look for a Nearby Secure Refuge Spot.

At the scene of an accident, you are required by law to stop your car. Find the closest refuge spot to pull into and stop if it’s not safe to stop your automobile right away. This might be a side street away from a busy main road or the hard shoulder of a highway.

In Case of Any Injuries, Call for an Ambulance.

Someone could be hurt as a result of the collision, depending on how bad the accident was. Before checking for injuries on your passengers or any other parties involved, including spectators on foot, check for injuries on yourself. If necessary, dial an ambulance.

If Necessary, Evaluate the Situation and Contact the Emergency Services.

Emergency services must be contacted in the case that a car is on fire, if occupants are hurt or trapped inside, or if the collision has blocked a road. If you don’t need an emergency response, call 101.

Share Information with Those Involved.

You must share information with the drivers of the affected cars, including their names and addresses, in accordance with the law (unless they are one and the same). It is unlawful to do otherwise. Your insurance provider will also need this information to handle any claims. Make a note of the vehicle identification markers (registration plate, make, and model) for all involved vehicles and exchange driving licence information (take a photo) for contact information.

Obtain Details on the Incident.

To evaluate culpability and liability, insurance firms use facts from the accident scene. It’s best to constantly make an effort to learn as much as you can about the accident site. Take pictures of the crash site and the damage the automobiles sustained. Take thorough notes on other crucial details, such as the time of day, the weather, the traffic situation, and the driving conditions. The police and insurers may find all of this information relevant. Additionally, trade contact information with any onlookers or witnesses who can corroborate your account of what occurred. If you write a thorough list of all the people and cars involved, you will be able to recall the accident with ease.

Call Your Insurance Provider.

In order to give your insurer all the information you acquired at the accident scene, you should get in touch with them as quickly as you can. Your insurance provider will get in touch with the other parties if you decide to move through with a claim in order to determine blame and liability and settle any claims. You can then proceed to schedule auto repairs after notifying your insurance provider of the accident. Find out more about fixing your car after a collision.

Repairing your vehicle after an accident

Having to repair your vehicle after a road accident can be time-consuming and costly, never mind frustrating. You have a few options for repairing your car after a collision, and it is ultimately up to you how and with whom you repair your vehicle.

How do insurance companies manage car repairs?

Insurance companies will always try to encourage you to use their “approved repairers” if you are making a claim for car repairs. An approved repairer is typically a garage that is in partnership with the insurance company in order to manage repairs for their customers. Using an approved repairer makes it easy for insurance companies to keep track of vehicle repairs and quickly process claims, but it may not always be in the best interest of the policy holder.

Your options for repairing your car after a road accident.

When it comes to repairing your vehicle after an accident, you have the legal right to choose who repairs your car. Since then, insurers are not able to force you to use their approved repairers and must still pay out if you choose your own repairer. Your insurance company will probably still try to get you to use their approved services, but you don’t have to agree with them.

Choosing your own repairer gives you a much wider choice of garages and you have much more control over who repairs your vehicle. Your insurance company cannot deny you this right, and they are not able to refuse a pay-out if you repair your car through a non-approved repairer. Approved repairers typically work in the best interests of the insurance company and may be pressured to repair your vehicle quickly and cheaply, using non-original parts that could invalidate your warranty.

Once you’ve received an estimate or a quote from the garage, your insurer will first need to authorize the work. If work is carried out on your car that isn’t approved by your insurer, you may be refused a pay-out. In the event that your vehicle is severely damaged, your insurer may simply write-off your vehicle and pay you the market value. This is where insurance from Tserv can come in handy to keep you covered if your car is written off.

Tips on Finding a Reliable Accident Repair Garage

Choosing your own car repairer can be overwhelming. There’s lots of availability out there, from local garages to national companies. But how can you determine a garage that will do a quality repair on your car?
What should you be looking for when choosing a garage for accident repairs?
Fair and transparent pricing
manufacturer-approved repairer if your car is under warranty.
Use OE (original equipment) specification parts.
Repairs to pre-accident condition are guaranteed.
A courtesy car is provided.
A valid guarantee is offered on all repairs.
Positive customer experience reviews

Firstly, fair and transparent pricing is important when handling insurance claims. You need to be able to trust that the quoted price provided by the repairer is honoured and that there are no additional fees charged or any extra work undertaken that wasn’t agreed upon. This can cause complications for your claim insofar as your insurer refuses to pay for the unquoted fees. If repairs are overcharged or are expensive, your insurer may also not pay out in full, especially if they argue that they could have done the repairs cheaper through their approved garages.

It is also paramount that your chosen repairer is able to provide quality repairs for your car. This includes using OE specification parts, which means that parts are made to manufacturer specifications that fit the make and model of your car. Using non-approved parts can compromise the safety of your vehicle and could potentially cause breakdowns in the future. It can also invalidate your manufacturer’s warranty. The parts and practises a garage uses should be well advertised, and we recommend that you enquire about this with any garage that you receive a quote from.

About Manufacturer-Approved Repairers

If your vehicle is under any form of manufacturer’s warranty, you are likely to require a manufacturer-approved repair service in order to maintain the validity of the warranty. A “manufacturer-approved repairer” will be a garage that has been approved by a car manufacturer to repair their vehicles to meet factory-standards. This is usually done after the manufacturer has looked at the garage’s tools, taught the mechanics how to fix their cars, and sent parts.

Tserv has been approved by some of the world’s leading automakers, including Audi, Fiat, Ford, Kia, Mazda, MG, Maruti, SKODA, Suzuki, Toyota, and Volkswagen.

Stipulations of Choosing Your Own Repairer

Choosing your own repairer can come with a few caveats. Your insurer may increase the excess on your policy, refuse you access to services like a courtesy car while yours is being repaired, and they may only partially pay out for the final bill if they deem the cost of the repair to be expensive.

In fact, Defaqto found that only 6% of 363 insurance companies surveyed would provide a courtesy car if the customer chose their own repairer. With this in mind, you may wish to find a repairer that provides their own courtesy vehicles to customers. You may also lose the insurance company’s guarantee on car repairs, so it’s imperative that your chosen repairer offers a warranty on all repairs and labour they provide, so you’re protected.

Tserv Accident Aftercare offers a lifetime guarantee on all car repairs (Ts & Cs apply), so you can have complete assurance when repairing your car through us that you’ll be covered for future manufacturer and labour faults. We will also pay up to £250 of your insurance excess and provide a courtesy car or comparable replacement vehicle* (*only for non-fault claims).This means you will not have to worry about your insurer increasing your excess or refusing access to a replacement vehicle if you choose Tserv as your repairer.

Managing Insurance Claims for Car Repairs

If you’re not at fault for the accident, you will be able to make a non-fault claim as long as your insurer is able to recover the cost from the third party. In these cases, you will not have to claim on your insurance and your no-claims bonus will be protected.

If you are deemed at fault for the accident, you will not be able to claim on third-party insurance and will need to claim on your own insurance. The same process applies to at-fault claims as it does to non-fault claims. You still have the right to choose who repairs your vehicle, and the same fair process still applies on the insurance company’s behalf.

At Tserv, we can handle car repairs for both fault and non-fault claims. If you have been involved in a car accident, we can provide a free and honest estimation or a competitive quote on repairs so you know how much it may cost to repair your vehicle. For non-fault claims, we can also provide a comparable replacement vehicle while yours is off the road, and we’ll contribute up to £250 towards your insurance excess.

For all accident repairs, we’ll always liaise with your insurer on your behalf to authorize all necessary repairs. This will help you make a successful claim and avoid suffering any surprise stipulations of your insurance policy. We’ll always provide a fair and honest estimation, so the cost of your repair is completely transparent to you and your insurer.

Get in touch with us today to find out more about how we can help repair your vehicle! Contact us over the phone to speak with our accident repair and car body shop team about your repair.

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