Claim process visual map

A road accident claim is often described as one straight line from accident to settlement. In practice the route forks several times, depending on your insurance, whether liability is agreed, and whether the case settles.

What this map shows

This map groups the process into stages with branch points. At each fork, follow the path that matches your situation.

The map, stage by stage

1. Scene and treatment: get medical help and gather what evidence you safely can.
2. Report and notify: lodge your police report, generally within 24 hours, and tell your insurer.^[1]
3. Check the insurance situation:
   • The other driver is insured: your claim proceeds as an ordinary third-party claim.
   • The other driver is uninsured but identified: the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) route may apply instead. See claiming against an uninsured driver.
   • The vehicle cannot be identified at all: your options are limited, and hit-and-run: can you claim explains what that means.
4. Get your specialist medical report once your treatment and prognosis are clear enough.
5. The insurer’s loss adjuster reviews liability and the likely amount.
6. Check whether liability is agreed:
   • Agreed: the discussion moves toward negotiating a settlement figure.
   • Disputed: filing suit becomes the more likely next step.
7. Check how the case resolves:
   • Settled: recorded as a consent judgment.
   • Not settled: pre-trial steps follow, and the case may eventually reach trial.

Where you probably are right now

If you have not yet reported the accident or seen a doctor, you are at the very start. If you are waiting on a medical report or an adjuster’s response, you are in the middle stretch, which is often the slowest part. If you have received a settlement offer or a letter about court, you are near one of the later forks.

What to do next

The claim process step by step covers each stage in full detail, and claim deadlines explains the outer limit you are working within regardless of which path you take. Do you need a lawyer is worth reading once you know where you stand.

At any fork, such as a disputed fault, a low offer or a suit to file, an independent lawyer can take on the claim. Send the accident date, where it happened, whether anyone was injured (yes/no) and the police report status.