At the scene: the first five minutes
Stop the car — leaving the scene of an accident is an offence in Northern Ireland. Turn on your hazards, check yourself and your passengers for injuries, and call 999 if anyone is hurt, the road is blocked, or another driver seems under the influence or tries to leave.
- Get everyone safe: behind a barrier on fast roads, onto the footpath in town
- Never argue fault at the roadside — and never apologise, it can be used as an admission
- Turn engines off and no smoking if there's any fuel spill
Exchange details — and gather your own evidence
You must exchange names, addresses, registrations and insurance details with the other driver. If they refuse or drive off, note the registration and report to the PSNI as soon as possible — within 24 hours at the latest.
Then become a photographer. Your phone is your best witness:
- Both vehicles where they stopped, from several angles, before anything moves
- Close-ups of all damage, both cars
- The road: junctions, markings, signs, skid marks, debris, weather and lighting
- The other car's registration, tax/MOT disc area, and the driver if they're being difficult
- Names and numbers of any witnesses — independent witnesses win disputed claims
Do you need to tell the police?
Call 999 at the time if anyone is injured, the road is blocked, or an offence looks likely (drink-driving, no insurance, failing to stop). If details weren't exchanged at the scene — for example a hit-and-run or damage to a parked car — you should report to the PSNI within 24 hours.
For a routine damage-only collision where everyone exchanged details, you don't generally need police at the scene — but you must still tell your own insurer the accident happened, even if you don't claim through them.
The step most NI drivers get wrong: who to call next
Most people's instinct is to ring their own insurer and let the process happen to them: excess paid up front, a tiny courtesy car if any, premium loaded at renewal — for an accident that wasn't their fault.
There's a better route. If the accident wasn't your fault, an accident management company claims directly against the at-fault driver's insurer. With 4 Accident Management that means free recovery, a like-for-like replacement vehicle (usually same day), managed repairs and full claims handling — no excess, no cost, and your no-claims bonus untouched. We're Belfast-based, we cover all of Northern Ireland and the Republic 24/7, and the first call costs nothing: 02890 024 744.
In the days after: injuries and paperwork
Whiplash and soft-tissue injuries often surface a day or two after the adrenaline fades. See your GP or attend A&E and get it recorded — medical notes made early carry real weight. In Northern Ireland you generally have three years from the accident date to bring an injury claim, and the process here differs from England and Wales, so use advice specific to NI.
Keep every receipt connected to the accident: taxis, prescriptions, damaged items, lost earnings evidence. Recoverable losses go well beyond the car.