The first 48 hours after a car accident in LebanonThe first 48 hours after a car accident in Lebanon

Almost everything that decides whether a motor claim is paid happens in the first two days, and most of it happens in the first twenty minutes, while you are still standing in the road and not thinking clearly.

This is the order to do it in. Keep it somewhere you can find it, because the moment you need it is the moment you will not be reading an article.

At the scene

1. People before vehicles. Injuries first, always. Nothing below matters by comparison.

2. Do not move the cars until the scene is recorded, unless they are causing danger or you are told to. Once vehicles have moved, the argument about who was where has no evidence left in it.

3. Photograph before anything changes. More than you think you need:

• Wide shots showing both vehicles and their position on the road
• The damage on every vehicle, close, from several angles
• Both number plates
• Any skid marks, debris, missing signage or road defect
• The wider scene, including traffic direction and any signals
• The other driver's documents: licence, registration, insurance certificate

Photographs cost nothing and settle disputes that words never will.

4. Take the other driver's details even if the exchange is friendly. Name, phone, plate, insurer, policy number. Friendly at the roadside frequently becomes uncooperative once a repair estimate arrives.

5. Witnesses. A phone number from someone who saw it is worth a great deal and evaporates within minutes. Ask before people drift away.

6. Report to the authorities where required, and get the reference. For anything involving injury, a serious dispute, or a vehicle that cannot be driven, an official record is what everything else is built on.

Before the end of the day

Tell your insurer or your broker. Do this even if you are not sure you will claim, even if you think you are at fault, and even if the damage looks minor.

Two reasons. Policies impose notification deadlines, and missing one gives an insurer a clean reason to refuse regardless of the merits. And damage that looks cosmetic often is not: bumpers hide sensors, and a knock that seems trivial can turn into a bill once a garage opens it up.

If we placed the policy, this is the call to make. It is the part of the job that matters.

Do not agree anything about fault. Not at the scene, not in a message to the other driver, not in a friendly phone call afterwards. Fault is determined from evidence and the policy, and an apology sent by text has a habit of resurfacing.

Do not start repairs. Most policies require the insurer to inspect the damage, or to approve the garage, before work begins. Repairing first and claiming after is one of the most common ways a legitimate claim gets reduced or refused outright.

Within 48 hours

Get the claim formally filed. Verbal notice is not a claim. What is usually needed:

• The completed claim form
• Your policy details
• The official report reference, where one exists
• Photographs from the scene
• The other driver's and vehicle's details
• Driving licence and vehicle registration
• A repair estimate, once the insurer has told you where to get one

Keep a copy of everything you send, and note when you sent it. Claims that go wrong usually go wrong in the record, not in the facts.

Write down what happened while you still remember it. Direction of travel, speed, signals, weather, light, what was said. Memory of the first ten minutes decays faster than anyone expects, and a note made on the day carries weight a recollection made six weeks later does not.

What tends to go wrong

Late notification. The most common avoidable refusal, and entirely within your control.

Repairs before inspection. The second most common.

No official report where one was needed. Difficult to fix afterwards.

Assuming the other driver's insurer will handle it. If they are at fault and insured, it may. If they are uninsured, unfindable, or dispute fault, you fall back on your own policy, and only all risk covers your own vehicle. Compulsory cover does not.

Not knowing whether the payout is market value or agreed value. This is the argument that produces the most anger, and the answer was decided when the policy was bought, not after the accident.

What we do at this point

If we placed the policy: we file on your behalf, deal with the insurer directly, chase the inspection, and stay with the case until it settles. You should not be learning claims procedure in the week you had an accident.

If we did not place it, call anyway. Telling someone what to photograph before they leave the scene takes two minutes and is worth more than anything written here.

This article is general information about the motor claims process in Lebanon, not advice about your particular circumstances. Requirements differ between insurers, and your policy wording decides what you are actually covered for and by when you must report.