The first 24 hours checklist after a not-at-fault crash

The first ten minutes: safety and the scene

Your car is replaceable. You are not. Work through this in order, even if the other driver is already shouting.

1. Stop. Under NSW law you must stop and give your details if anyone is injured or property is damaged. Driving on is a criminal offence, not a paperwork problem.
2. Check yourself, then your passengers. Adrenaline hides injuries. If anyone has neck pain, numbness, a headache that gets worse, or was thrown around, call 000 and say so.
3. Make the scene safe. Hazards on if the battery still works, triangle out if you have one, and get everyone behind the barrier or well up onto the footpath. On the M4 near the M7 interchange, the Princes Highway at Arncliffe, or Military Road at Neutral Bay in the evening peak, standing between two cars is the single most dangerous thing you can do.
4. Do not discuss fault. Be polite, swap what you must, and say nothing about who caused it. "Let the insurers sort it out" is a complete sentence.
5. Do not move the cars unless police or traffic emergency response tell you to, or the position is genuinely dangerous. Photos of the resting positions are worth more than a tidy lane.

If the other driver is aggressive, unlicensed, uninsured, or leaves, note the plate and get clear of them. You can reconstruct everything else later.

The next hour: details, photos and witnesses

This is the hour that decides how smooth the next month is. Collect it properly while everyone is still there.

Details to record

• Other driver: full name, address, phone, email, date of birth if offered, and their licence number and expiry.
• Other vehicle: make, model, colour, plate, VIN if visible through the windscreen, and the state of registration.
• Insurance: insurer name, policy number, and the claims phone number from their certificate or app.
• Any tow truck or repairer who turns up: company, driver name, plate, and where the car is being taken.

Photos that actually help

Shoot wide first: all four corners of the scene with the road, lane markings, traffic lights and street signs in frame. Then close: every panel with damage, the other car's damage, both plates, both odometers, the other driver's licence, and the position of the cars relative to give-way lines. If the light was amber or red, photograph the signal head. Take a short video walking around both cars narrating the time and location. Our guide to evidence to collect at the scene goes deeper.

Witnesses

Get names and mobile numbers from at least two people who saw it, even if they only saw the impact. Witnesses vanish within a day. If a bus or truck was nearby, note the operator and fleet number.

Reporting to police: when and how

In NSW you must report a crash to police if anyone was injured, killed, or if a vehicle was towed away. You also report if the other driver failed to stop, failed to exchange details, or you suspect they were drunk, drug-affected or unlicensed. For a minor bingle in a car park with details exchanged and no injuries, you generally do not need a police report, but you do need to notify your insurer.

For a reportable crash, call the Police Assistance Line on 131 444 as soon as practical. They will take the report over the phone and give you an event number, which is the number your insurer and any solicitor will ask for. If someone is hurt or the scene is unsafe, call 000 instead. You can also report online through the NSW Police community portal for some non-urgent matters.

There is no strict 24-hour deadline for the Police Assistance Line, but report within 24 hours if you can and never leave it beyond a few days. Late reports invite questions about why. Write the event number on the same note as the other driver's details, and keep a screenshot of the confirmation. More detail sits in our guide to the police report for an NSW car accident.

The first call to your insurer

Call your own insurer once you are somewhere quiet with a charger, not from the median strip. Have your policy number, the other driver's details, the police event number if you have one, and your photos ready.

What to say: that you were not at fault, where and when it happened, that you have the other driver's details, and that you want to lodge a claim. Ask two questions directly. First, will they pursue the at-fault driver's insurer and recover your costs, including a hire car? Second, what is their process for a not-at-fault claim and how long will approval take?

Some policies include a free hire car after a not-at-fault crash; many do not, or cap it to a small car for a short period. If you drive something worth replacing properly, that cap is the problem. You are not obliged to accept your insurer's nominated repairer or their cheapest hire car. You can use your own choice of repairer and, in a not-at-fault claim, arrange a like-for-like replacement through credit hire that is recovered from the at-fault side. Our pages on notifying your insurer when you are not at fault and credit hire versus an insurer hire car explain the difference in plain terms.

Note the time, the person's name and the reference number of every call. If you are booking a replacement car while you wait, the rate, the bond and every fee are shown on the car's page before payment, and bookings are fulfilled by Drive Tribe (drivetribe.com.au), the trading name of Australian Business Holdings Pty Ltd; this site is part of that group.

The first call to the at-fault insurer

You can call the at-fault insurer, but you are not obliged to, and you should not feel rushed into it. The purpose of the call is to open a claim and get a claim number, not to give a statement.

Give them: your name and contact details, your vehicle and plate, the date, time and location, the other driver's name and policy number, and the police event number. Then stop. Do not give a recorded statement, do not speculate about speed or fault, do not accept a repairer they nominate, and do not agree to a cash settlement on the phone. If they push, say you will deal with it in writing.

Expect to be offered their preferred hire car, which is usually a small hatchback from a large fleet. For a prestige or performance car, that is not like-for-like, and accepting it can weaken your position on the difference. Ask instead for written confirmation that they accept liability, and tell them you will arrange your own replacement and seek recovery. The wording that works is set out in what to say to the at-fault insurer.

If they refuse to accept liability, or go quiet, that is normal in the first week. Keep everything in writing, keep the claim number, and let the recovery process run. Our guide to dealing with insurers covers the escalation path.

Arranging a tow and storage

If the car cannot be driven, it needs to go somewhere safe today. Two things matter: who takes it, and where it ends up.

You have the right to nominate the tow and the destination. Police or emergency services may arrange a tow for safety, and that is fine, but the car should then go to a repairer you choose or to secure storage you know about. Do not let a tow truck driver talk you into an unknown yard in Western Sydney with a daily storage charge and no paperwork. Ask for the company name, the driver's name, the plate of the truck, and the address the car is going to. Photograph the car on the truck.

If you have a preferred smash repairer, call them before the tow leaves and get them to confirm they can receive the car. Prestige and performance repairs in Sydney often queue, so confirm the booking. Our guide to towing after an accident in Sydney lists what to check.

Storage adds up quickly and someone will eventually pay for it. Keep the car out of a paid yard for longer than it needs to be there, and get a written quote for repairs before authorising anything.

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Arranging a replacement car

In a not-at-fault crash in NSW, the at-fault driver is liable for your reasonable losses, including a replacement vehicle while yours is repaired. The leading case is Arsalan v Rixon, which confirmed that a not-at-fault driver can recover the cost of a like-for-like replacement even when a cheaper car would have done the job. Like-for-like means comparable make, model, age, condition and prestige, not the smallest thing on the lot.

Credit hire is how this usually works in practice. A provider supplies the replacement, you sign an agreement to pay if recovery fails, and the cost is recovered from the at-fault insurer. You do not pay upfront. Read how credit hire works and what like-for-like means before you sign anything.

Same-day replacement is realistic in Sydney if you call early and the car is available. Have your licence, the police event number, the other driver's details and photos ready. If your car was a Range Rover Sport, a comparable SUV is the sensible ask:

If it was an AMG or an M car, a performance sedan is the like-for-like answer:

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Minimum driver age is 20 on most cars and 25 or 30 on some, and the rate, bond and fees are shown on the car's page before payment. Start with accident replacement car Sydney or read same-day replacement in Sydney.

What to do before you go to bed

Do these nine things tonight, while the details are fresh. It takes twenty minutes and saves weeks.

1. Write a one-page timeline: time of crash, location, what happened, who arrived, what was said. Sign and date it.
2. Back up your photos and video to the cloud, not just the phone.
3. Save the police event number, your insurer's reference and the at-fault claim number in one note.
4. Email yourself the other driver's details and your witness numbers.
5. Check your own policy for hire car entitlements and any excess that applies to a not-at-fault claim.
6. Confirm where your car is and who has it, in writing.
7. Book the replacement car now rather than after the assessor calls. Availability tightens at short notice.
8. If you felt unwell at any point, book a GP or telehealth appointment. Soft-tissue injuries often present the next morning.
9. Tell your broker or fleet manager if the car is on a business policy, and tell your solicitor if liability looks contested.

If you were injured, even mildly, read injuries after a not-at-fault accident before you speak to any insurer again. For the wider picture, see what to do in the first 24 hours after a not-at-fault accident in Sydney and compare it with the first 24 hours versus the first week. Fleet drivers should look at business and fleet.

The printable checklist

Print this, fold it into the glovebox, and stop reading the rest of the internet at the roadside.

For the legal frame around all of this, start at not at fault explained and what not at fault means in NSW. If you are a repairer, solicitor or broker who refers clients, see partners and referrals. To arrange a car now, use accident replacement vehicles or not at fault accident replacement.