If you have suffered an accident that was not your fault and you think you have a claim, it is important that you gather as much evidence as you can to support your claim. As the claimant, it is your responsibility to bring evidence to show the circumstances of the accident and who was at fault.
Though it can be a stressful time, getting as much information as possible will help your claim. If you have suffered an accident or injury you should:
- Report it to the person responsible for the location where your accident occurred and ensure they put it in the accident report book, if they have one
- Inform the police if the accident involved criminal injuries, animal attacks or was a road traffic accident
- Write your own account in as much detail as you can remember, as soon as possible after the accident
- Take photographs of the scene of the accident. You can use a camera on a mobile phone to do this. If you can’t do this at the time you can always return at a later date
- Gather contact details of any witnesses to the accident and ask them to provide you with a note of what they saw happen
- Get medical treatment for your injuries so there is a record of what happened and what treatment you had to receive
- Take photographs of your injuries as this, along with a medical report, will provide evidence of the extent of your injuries
- Keep or make a note of any property that was damaged in the accident, such as clothing
- Try to find out if there have been similar accidents before
- Find out if there is CCTV covering the area where the accident occurred and see if your accident was recorded