What to Do After a Traffic Accident? The Checklist
The first minutes and days after a traffic accident often determine whether you can fully enforce your claims. This checklist guides you through every step.
At the Scene: The First Minutes
First secure the scene: switch on your hazard lights, put on a high-visibility vest and set up a warning triangle at a sufficient distance. If anyone is injured, call the emergency number 112 immediately and give first aid. You should call the police (110) in particular for personal injuries, significant property damage, unclear liability, or accidents involving foreign vehicles.
Secure Evidence
Photograph both vehicles from several angles, the final resting position, brake marks, debris fields and the surrounding area. Note the name, address, registration number and insurer of the other driver, as well as witnesses' contact details. A brief written account made on the day of the accident is worth its weight in gold later on.
The Most Common Mistake: Hasty Statements
Do not make any admission of fault at the scene – not even "well-meant" remarks such as "that was my fault". Do not sign anything the other party's insurer presents to you before your claims have been reviewed. Experience shows that quick-settlement offers primarily serve to keep the insurer's costs down.
The same applies to the call from the other party's insurer, which often comes after just one or two days. The offer to "sort everything out for you, no problem" sounds accommodating – but the caller represents the other side, whose interest is to keep the damages as low as possible. You do not have to have this conversation. It is enough to say that you will be in touch once your claims have been reviewed.
Do not confuse the two: you have an obligation to notify your own insurer. Reporting the accident to them on time is something entirely different from negotiating your claims with the other party's insurer – and failing to do so can cost you your insurance cover.
Instruct an Expert You Trust
After a no-fault accident, you have the right to an independent vehicle expert of your own choosing – the other party's liability insurer bears the cost. Only for minor damage (guideline value around €700–1,000) is a cost estimate sufficient. Since you usually cannot assess the extent of the damage in advance, you may bring in an expert if in doubt.
Instructing an Attorney – Who Pays?
After a no-fault accident, the other party's insurer must also reimburse the necessary legal fees. So as a rule you pay nothing – and you make sure that every item (repair, diminished value, loss of use, compensation for pain and suffering, loss of earnings) is claimed in full.
Key Court Decisions
- BGH, judgment of 30 November 2004 – VI ZR 365/03
On the minor-damage threshold for expert's fees: whether an expert appraisal is necessary must not depend solely on a rigid damage amount – the injured party does not yet know the extent of the damage when instructing the expert. A guideline threshold of around €700 has become established; many courts now apply up to €1,000.
Had an accident? We will review your claims.
We review your claims and handle the entire settlement process with the insurer – after a no-fault accident, the other party's liability insurer as a rule bears the legal fees.
This article is for general information only and does not replace individual legal advice. As of: July 2026. All decisions cited are publicly accessible (including at bundesgerichtshof.de).