Whilst it is not a nice thing to talk about, accidents do happen involving cars on roads every day of the week and, occasionally, a classic car could be damaged in such an accident. So, what should you do if your classic car was unfortunate enough to become caught up in a road traffic accident?
Having an accident in your classic car can be stressful
Well, the first thing to do is to make sure that you stop at the scene and do not just drive off, otherwise you could be committing an offence.
If someone at the scene of the accident has been injured or the road has been blocked then the police should be called. It may also be necessary to phone for an ambulance.
It is a legal requirement if you are involved in a car accident that you exchange names and addresses with those people that have also been involved. Do not admit liability. Try to get the car insurance details of all those involved. If you had hit an empty parked car and could not find out who owned it by knocking on the doors of properties nearby then you should leave your contact details under the windscreen wipers. It would be necessary to notify the police within 24 hours of an accident if personal details were not exchanged at the scene.
It is also a good idea to make a note of the registration numbers of the vehicles involved, names and contact details of any witnesses, take a photo of the scene and any damage using your mobile phone, the date and time that the accident took place, what the weather was like and the road conditions.
You need to notify your classic car insurance company as soon as possible many of whom may have a specific claims department set up to deal with such enquiries. They will require much of the information we have detailed above so that they can speedily deal with your claim.
