1. Find out if the driver is insured

You should find out if the driver is insured and which insurance company provides the cover. You will then be able to check the list of UK Correspondents of Foreign Insurers to see if there is an agent in the UK acting on behalf of the foreign insurer. If so, details of your claim can be sent to the UK agent. If there is no agent or the insurer cannot be identified you should complete an MIB claim form.

Obtaining the other driver’s insurance details is usually done at the roadside at the time of the accident but if that wasn’t possible, provide as many details as possible about the driver and the vehicle.

2. Foreign registered lorries

If the accident involved a foreign-registered lorry it is particularly important that you make every effort to find out the registration numbers from both the front and back of the lorry. This is because in some countries trailers are registered separately and have their own registration numbers and insurers.

3. Green Card

You may have been given details of the other driver’s Green Card. A Green Card is an international proof of insurance. If the other driver has given you this information, please record it on the claim form.

Under the Green Card System, if the insurer of the foreign-registered vehicle has an agent in this country that agent will deal with your claim. The agent remains answerable to us, so you are able to come to us if you are having problems with the claim or wish to make a complaint.

4. Get two estimates for repairs

If your vehicle has been damaged try to get two estimates, but if the vehicle is not drivable one will be enough. 

One of the reasons we ask you to get two estimates is because the law requires innocent victims of accidents to mitigate their loss. This means that victims should do what they reasonably can to minimise the loss that they incur.