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Driving and accidents – frequently asked questions
What are my legal obligations after an accident?
What if the accident is my fault?
Do I have to notify my insurer about an accident if I decide not to make a claim for it?
How do I decide whether to make a claim on my insurance?
Will insurance cover me if I was over the limit when I had the accident?
What if a driver isn’t insured?
Can I get help with my medical expenses if I’m injured in a motor accident?
What are my legal obligations after an accident?
The law says that after a motor vehicle accident where someone is injured or property has been damaged:
- you must stop and give assistance
- you must provide your name and address to the other driver/s involved and owners of any property that has been damaged
- you must report the accident to the police if anyone is injured or if there is damage to property whose owner is not in attendance (such as if a fence is knocked down)
- you must not drive away from an accident in an 'unroadworthy' vehicle, that is, if damage to the car means that it’s not safe to be on the road.
What if the accident is my fault?
Never admit that you caused the accident, even if it seems obvious that it was your fault.
Say nothing, other than exchanging name, address and car details with the other driver/s.
Some insurance companies will want to decide for themselves what caused the accident. If you say what caused it before they have had a chance to assess the situation, they may refuse to cover you.
Make sure you get the name and address of any witness to the accident who can support your story of how it happened if there is an argument. Keep a copy of everything you send to the insurance companies, or letters you write to the other driver/s.
Do I have to notify my insurer about an accident if I decide not to make a claim for it?
It is a term of most insurance policies that you notify the insurer of any event that may affect the insurer's decision to provide you with insurance – this is called a ‘duty of disclosure’.
Also, if you haven’t notified the insurer of the accident quickly enough, you may not be able to make a claim at a later time. Even if the damage seems slight, the repair bill may turn out to be higher than you first thought.
How do I decide whether to make a claim on my insurance?
Whether you claim for damage to your vehicle often depends on what type of insurance you have, as well as what you can find out about the driver of the other car.
If your insurance policy has an ‘excess’ provision your insurance company will not pay a claim below the ‘excess’ amount. If the claim is above the excess, your insurer will pay the amount of the claim, less the excess. For example, if the claim is $1200, and the excess is $400, the insurer will pay $800.
If both cars are fully insured, and the damage is serious, insurance is usually worth using. But if the damage is only slight, and can be fixed for the same amount of money that the insurance excess will cost, it may not be worth claiming.
If you are fully insured but the other driver isn’t and has no money, and your damage is going to cost more than the excess to fix, you’re better off using your own insurance. Your insurer will then decide whether to try to recover the cost of repairs from the other driver.
There are often complications, especially where both drivers helped cause the accident. This is called ‘contributory negligence’, and usually the cost of repairs to both cars is shared, according to the degree of fault.
Will insurance cover me if I was over the limit when I had the accident?
If you were affected by drugs or alcohol at the time of your accident, and you are convicted of an offence in relation to this, your insurance company is unlikely to pay either your claim or the other driver’s. You will be in the same legal position as if you were uninsured.
What if a driver isn’t insured?
People may decide not to insure their cars because they’re not worth much money, or because they don’t want to pay a lot of money for insurance they may never need.
If you are not insured and you are involved in an accident, the other driver or their insurance company may take you to court to try to recover the money. The court may allow you to repay the debt by instalments.
If your vehicle has been damaged by an uninsured driver and the accident was not your fault, it might be possible to make a (limited) claim through your own third party insurance. This is called 'uninsured motorist extension'. You need to be able to identify the driver.
It may be a good idea to have third party property insurance. This is insurance to pay for damage done to another car or property.
To drive an uninsured car when you do have money or a job is risky. If you cause an accident, you may have to go to court and pay a sum of money as well as losing your car.
Get advice from a community legal centre (CLC) or financial counsellor if an insurance company is trying to recover money from you after an accident when you were not insured.
Related websites
Community Law – find a local CLC
Financial and Consumer Rights Council – financial counsellor directory
Can I get help with my medical expenses if I’m injured in a motor accident?
If you have been injured in a transport accident, your medical costs relating to the accident will be paid for by the Transport Accident Commission (TAC).
The TAC is a government organisation set up to pay medical costs and other services for people injured on Victorian roads. Car owners pay a TAC Charge as part of their annual registration renewal fees.
The TAC can pay for medical treatment that you receive at a public or private hospital because of an accident. It can also pay for other medical treatment that you need because of your accident injuries, such as physiotherapy or pharmacy items.
See the TAC website for more information.
There is also a system where you can sue the person who causes you an injury through the courts. This is restricted to serious cases of serious and permanent injury. Get legal advice.