If you’ve had an accident in a rental car, there are some steps you can take to ensure it goes as smoothly as possible. The following guide will aid you when you’ve had an accident in a hire car, whether you have insurance or not.
Always attend to any medical emergencies first
The first thing to do after an accident is to make sure everyone involved in the accident is OK. If anyone is seriously injured, please contact emergency services on 000.
Note down as much information from the car accident as possible
After you’ve made sure everyone is safe, the next step is dealing with the details of the accident.
You need to gather all the following details required to resolve the situation:
- Date, Time and Location of the accident
- Draw a rough diagram if possible with the name of the roads.
- Contact information of the drivers involved in the accident and any witnesses
- Note down details like their Full Name, Contact Number, Address, Email, Drivers Licence, Insurance Information
- Also make sure to note down the Rego of the other cars involved as a minimum. If you can, also write down the Make, Model and Colour of the cars.
- Take photos of the accident and any damages that were caused by the accident. Photos will help tremendously with the claims process.
- Do a quick check to see if any surrounding buildings have CCTV Cameras that might have captured the car accident on video. Video footage can further support your claim if there are any disputes of how the accident unfolded and determining liability.
Determine which driver is liable for the hire car accident and all damages
After you’ve captured all the above information, there are some questions we need to ask:
- Who was at fault for the rental car accident?
- Does the at fault driver have insurance coverage?
- Does the not at fault driver have insurance coverage?
- Did the Driver of the Rental Car opt for the additional claim reduction excess for insurance coverage?
There are different pathways you can follow if you’ve had a rental car accident with no insurance. We suggest speaking with one of our Insurance Claim specialists first. Our team will happily advise you on the best way to handle a hire car accident with no insurance.
If you were Not At Fault for the Rental Car Accident
If you had a not at fault car accident and you have the at fault driver’s details, we’ll provide you with a Not At Fault Hire Car. We will then deal with the entire Not At Fault Claim process on your behalf.
This includes:
- Dealing with the at fault party
- The Rental Car Company
- Insurance Companies
- Organising Independent assessors to value the damage to your vehicle
- Having the car repaired by our trusted network of repairers
- Recovering the Repair Costs
- Providing you with and recovering the costs for an Accident Replacement Vehicle courtesy car
Contact our team at National Motor Claims and we will be more than happy to help. We help ease the stress of being involved in a car accident for Australians everyday.
