The hour after is the part nobody rehearses.
Everything that makes a claim straightforward is decided in the first sixty minutes, usually by someone who is shaken and working from memory. This is the order to work in, so you are not deciding it then.
In order
People, then the road
Injuries before anything else. If the vehicles are drivable and the location is dangerous, move them clear before exchanging a single detail. Nothing else on this page matters more than this.
Photograph more than feels necessary
Every vehicle from four corners, both plates, the wider scene showing position and road markings, and any damage close up. Photographs are the part of your account that cannot be argued with weeks later.
Collect the details that matter
Name, phone number, insurer and policy number for the other driver. The plate. The location and time. Where police attend, the report reference. Names of anyone who saw it.
Say less than you want to
Exchange facts, not conclusions. Fault is determined later from evidence, and an apology offered in the moment is routinely quoted back as an admission.
Tell your own insurer
Report it even if you do not intend to claim, and even where you were not at fault. Late notification is one of the more common reasons a claim is refused outright.
Keep one file
Photographs, the reference number, every letter, and a note of each call with the date and who you spoke to. A claim can run for months, and memory will not hold it.
What happens next
How the number gets decided
An adjuster assesses the damage and either authorises a repair or declares the vehicle a total loss. That decision is arithmetic: when the repair estimate approaches what the car itself is worth, it is written off instead.
Where a car is totalled, most policies pay actual cash value — what your car was worth the moment before the loss, depreciation included. That is frequently less than the cost of buying the same car again, and the gap surprises people at the worst moment. If you have finance outstanding, that gap is the thing gap insurance exists to cover.
You can question a valuation. Comparable local listings, service records and evidence of recent work are what move it; frustration is not.
General information about the claims process, not advice on your claim. Terms vary by insurer and by state.
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