Right after a car accident you may feel a little shell shocked and confused, especially when it wasn’t your fault and came out of the blue. This is only natural, however it’s important at this time to record a collection of things for future use to help you with your not at fault accident insurance claim.
If the car accident was someone else’s fault (so you are not at fault), the other person may want to get away quickly, and not provide proper information or try to make out like it was not their fault. This is where really good record-keeping comes into play.
After a car accident, you need to get the other person’s details, including:
- If the other person admits fault or apologises, record it or write it down – this helps your case
- Contact details – phone number, email address
- Employer details (if applicable)
- Driver’s licence number – take a photo of their driver’s licence (ask first – you are not entitled to take a photo of this, so be courteous)
- Licence plate number – you can take a photo of this as it is in the public domain
- The other person’s insurance company name
Extras at a car accident that are great to have a record of:
- Take a video of the accident area
- Video or photograph the damage to both vehicles
- Record anything the other person says about the accident, including “It was my fault” or “sorry” (write this down, as it can be used to support your case as an admission of fault)
- The more information, the better
You need as much evidence that backs up your not at fault car accident version of events as possible.
What to do if you freeze and don’t know what to do:
- Call us! We can help you on the spot
- We can help guide you through the recovery process
- We can help you get a rental car from your insurer if need be
- We can help resolve insurer disputes so that you don’t have to worry about stressful insurance company battles – we can handle everything for you
Things to remember about Third Party Claims (us)
- We are independent!
- We are not employed by smash repairers or insurance companies
- We offer completely independent advice that has your best interests in mind
- Your success is our success
- We work on a no-win no-fee service arrangement – your win is our win, so you know we will work hard for you always
- We don’t advise on insurance claims or policies – only third party claims
How Third Party Claims works for you after a not at fault accident
Call our Melbourne office on 0407 294 580 to discuss your situation. We need to know what happened, what evidence exists, and what your individual situation is. We’ll answer any of your questions about the process while explaining to you if we think we can recover your costs from the other person the not at fault driver. You may be entitled to a rental car paid for by the other person, so ask us.
When we go into bat for you in a dispute
If there is a problem with the at fault driver, our expert team will go into bat for you so you don’t have to. That feeling of someone else expertly taking care of business so that you can relax and know everything is taken care of is priceless.
Third party insurance company disputes have to be among the worst disputes we can have with a big corporation, because they have so much money and power, but don’t let that scare you. Let us take care of everything.
You do not have to use your insurer’s preferred repairer!
You may not know this, but you don’t need the at fault driver’s insurer’s permission to get your car fixed by anyone you choose. At fault driver’s insurer’s repairers are not the only option, and it is against the law for them to say otherwise.
Took time off work to fix your car? Had to pay an excess? Recoup your losses!
Any uninsured losses when you are the not at fault driver can be recouped from the other person’s insurance company, like insurance policy excess, hire car costs, loss of earnings to take time off work to sort your car out. We can help.
Contact us at our Melbourne office to find out how we can help you recoup your losses after a not at fault car accident.