How Do You Prove A Car Accident Wasn’t Your Fault?

By Cat Grayson. Last Updated 13th September 2023. Whether you sustain injuries in a rear-end shunt, an overtaking accident or a head-on collision, if the accident wasn’t your fault, you could claim compensation. But how do you prove a car accident wasn’t your fault if there aren’t any witnesses, or the other driver won’t admit fault? Can you still claim compensation in a car accident where no one admits fault and, if so, what evidence would you need?

  • We have created this guide to answer some frequently asked questions such as:
  • What are the car accident fault determination rules in the UK?
  • Do I have to declare an accident if it wasn’t my fault?
  • How do you prove someone backed into your car?
  • Do I have to pay the excess if it is not my fault?
How do you prove a car accident wasnt your fault guide

How do you prove a car accident wasn’t your fault guide

We also provide insight into how to calculate compensation payouts for personal injury claims, as well as the benefits of using a personal injury lawyer to help you claim. If you have any questions while reading this guide or would like to benefit from the free legal advice of our expert advisors, please call 0161 696 9685 to speak to our team. They could even help you begin your claim by connecting you with a personal injury lawyer who could help you.

Select A Section

  1. How Do I Show A Car Accident Is Not My Fault?
  2. Calculate Car Accident Compensation Settlements
  3. Can You Claim Special Damages For An Accident That Wasn’t Your Fault?
  4. How Evidence Can Help You Prove Fault In A Car Accident
  5. What Happens If I Don’t Have Proof Of My Injuries?
  6. Who Is At Fault If The Driver Was Working At The Time Of The Accident?
  7. Could You Claim For A Car Accident You Caused?
  8. Proving Split Liability For A Car Accident
  9. Claiming For A Car Accident – No Win No Fee Solicitors
  10. More Information On Proving Fault For A Car Accident

How Do I Show A Car Accident Is Not My Fault?

If you have been injured in a road traffic accident and the other driver is at fault, you could make a claim. For all road traffic accident claims, you need to prove that you were injured due to another road user breaching their duty of care.

All road users owe a duty of care. As part of their duty of care, road users must ensure that they are using the roads safely and responsibly and follow the rules that are set out for them in the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Highway Code. If another driver were to breach their duty of care, this could cause an accident where you are injured. For example, you could suffer from a broken leg following a car crash.

Evidence is crucial for proving liability in car accident claims, especially if the other driver is not admitting their fault for the accident. Later in this guide, we will provide some of the evidence you could collect to prove liability and help support your claim. Additionally, we will share the potential compensation you could receive following a successful personal injury claim.

If you’ve had a car accident that wasn’t your fault, call us today. Our team of advisors could offer you free legal advice regarding your specific claim and answer any of the questions you may have. If our advisors believe that you may be eligible for compensation, they could connect you with our panel of solicitors.

Time Limit For Claiming For A Car Accident That Wasn’t Your Fault

Under the Limitation Act 1980, there is a time limit for starting a personal injury claim for incidents such as car accidents. The standard time limit is three years. This starts from the date of the incident that caused the injuries you wish to claim for.

If the victim of a car accident is a child, then the three-year time limit for starting a claim does not start for them until the day of their 18th birthday. A representative close to the child (such as a parent) could potentially claim on their behalf while they cannot do so by serving as their litigation friend.

A time limit for starting a claim is indefinitely suspended for as long as the victim of a car accident lacks sufficient mental capacity to make their own claim. A claim could potentially be started on their behalf by a litigation friend.

Calculate Car Accident Compensation Settlements

If you would like to know how courts and solicitors calculate compensation payouts, you might be surprised to learn that they don’t use a personal injury claims calculator to do so. Instead, they carefully assess all the circumstances, facts and evidence of the case, including the medical report. You would have to obtain a medical report by visiting an independent doctor. They would review any appropriate medical records and examine you.

Following your examination, they would write a medical report detailing your injuries and your prognosis. The report should also conclude whether your injuries were at least worsened—if not caused—by the accident. (If the report doesn’t link your injuries to the accident at all, it may affect your claim.) If you choose to use the services of a solicitor, they may use that report to help them value your injuries.

Pain And Suffering Settlement Examples In The UK

Various factors will affect how much you could receive for your pain and suffering, which is compensated for under general damages. For example, the medical report you acquire can play an important role.

There are personal injury compensation guidelines in UK claims that can be referred to when valuing an injury. For claims made in England and Wales, legal professionals use the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG).

We have used the JCG to create a table that shows you bracketed pain and suffering settlement examples for UK claims. However, these figures are not guaranteed. Your final award would be shaped by any supporting evidence you could provide of how your injuries affected your life.

InjurySeverityNotesAmount
BackSevere (i)The spinal cord and nerve roots have been damaged which will lead to severe consequences with serious pain.£91,090 to £160,980
BackModerate (i)A crush or compression fracture of the lumbar vertebrae that causes constant pain and discomfort with a risk of osteoarthritis. £27,760 to £38,780
ArmSevereAn arm injury that has fallen short of requiring amputation but has left the person little better off than if it had been amputated.£96,160 to £130,930
Pelvis/HipsSevere (i)An extensive pelvis fracture with the lower back joint being dislocated and the bladder ruptured.£78,400 to £130,930
LegVery Serious (ii)The person will suffer with permanent mobility issues and will depend on crutches/mobility aids for the rest of their life.£54,830 to £87,890
LegModerate (iv)Multiple or complicated fractures or a severe crush injury to one leg.£27,760 to £39,200
NeckSevere (iii)Ruptured tendons, severe soft-tissue damage, fractures or dislocations that lead to a permanent disability.£45,470 to £55,990
NeckMinor (i)A soft tissue injury that fully recovers within 1-2 years.£4,350 to £7,890
ShoulderSevereUsually associated with neck injuries. The brachial plexus will be damaged and could cause significant arm/neck symptoms.£19,200 to £48,030
ShoulderModerateDiscomfort and limited movement due to a frozen shoulder. Symptoms should last for around 2 years.£7,890 to £12,770
Whiplash Involving one or multiple whiplash injuries.Injuries last between 18 to 24 months.£4,215
Whiplash Where one or more whiplash injuries have occurred with minor mental health harm.Injuries are felt for 15 to 18 months.£3,100

We go into more detail about the other forms of compensation you could seek in the following section. However, you can reach out to one of our advisers for a direct and free compensation estimate and consultation at any time.

Can You Claim Special Damages For An Accident That Wasn’t Your Fault?

You might also be eligible for special damages if your claim for car accident compensation succeeds. Special damages are aimed at the financial losses you suffer as a direct result of your injuries. For example, this heading could potentially cover the cost of:

  • Housekeeping
  • Home adjustments
  • Mobility aids
  • Childcare
  • Travel
  • Prescriptions 
  • Lost earnings

However, similarly to proving who was at fault in the car accident, you will have to provide evidence of your monetary losses. Because of this, keeping any relevant bills or receipts could be helpful.

For more information on what you could claim if you were injured in an accident that wasn’t your fault, contact our team today.

The Car Accident Was Not My Fault – What Is The Whiplash Reform Programme

Are you wondering, ‘the car accident was not my fault – what is the Whiplash Reform Programme (WRP) and does it apply to me?’ In this section, we’ll discuss everything you need to know about the WRP and the eligibility requirements.

The WRP was introduced after the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021 was implemented and deals with whiplash claims that are valued under £,5000 or when a claim’s total value is £10,000 or less.

To claim through the WRP, the following criteria apply:

  • Your car accident happened on 31st May 2021 or afterwards
  • Any injuries you sustained were minor
  • You were the driver or a passenger in the vehicle
  • You were 18 years-old or above when the accident happened

You can check the table in our compensation section above for examples of whiplash injury settlements.

We hope this answers the question, ‘I had a road traffic accident that was not my fault – what is the Whiplash Reform Programme?’ Continue reading to find out what details to take in a car accident.

How Evidence Can Help You Prove Fault In A Car Accident

The evidence you provide as part of your claim could go a long way towards proving liability in a car accident. There are certain actions you could take at the scene of a car accident to gather important evidence.

What evidence do you need to collect?

You could collect evidence by:

  • Taking down the other motorist’s details – such as name, address, contact details and details of their insurance.
  • Recording witness details – if there are witnesses to your accident, their statements could be useful in proving your claim.
  • Drawing a diagram of the scene – recording the position of vehicles could be useful in explaining how the accident occurred.
  • Taking photographs of the scene/your injuries – these could also help to prove what has happened.
  • Taking details of the position of any CCTV cameras you’ve spotted.
  • Writing down the details of any police officers that attend the scene.

How To Prove You Are Not At Fault In A Car Accident If You Can’t Gather Evidence

There are many instances in which you might not be able to gather evidence following a car accident. You could, for example, have been involved in a hit and run or been seriously injured.

Your claim does not become invalid if you are unable to collect evidence. There are still other ways you could be able to prove that the accident was not your fault, and actions you could take to help you. For example.

  • Fault determinators: There are indicators that can be used to argue the probability of fault in a car accident. The location of the damage (such as damage to the back of a car in rear-ending), or the area in which the accident had taken place (damage to the side of a car in a junction) can help indicate likelihood of fault for an accident.
  • Calling the police: If you’ve been injured a serious accident or been involved in a hit and run you should contact the police. Not only is a police report useful evidence, but the police could help you with tracking down witnesses or finding other evidence of the accident, including finding the perpetrator. If you were injured in a car accident that wasn’t your fault, you could call or contact the police today.
  • Contacting a solicitor: You can also reach out to a solicitor to see if they could help you. An experienced road traffic solicitor will have knowledge of the car accident fault determination rules in the UK and could guide you through finding other evidence of fault in road traffic accident claim.

Please reach out to an adviser to see if you could speak with a solicitor today, for help with making your claim. You could ask questions such as ‘what happens when a car accident is my fault in the UK?’.

What Happens If I Don’t Have Proof Of My Injuries?

While you might not feel you should seek medical care after an accident, you may experience symptoms of injury some time afterwards. Some injuries do not present symptoms straight away, such as whiplash.

If you haven’t sought medical attention for this, you may worry that you can’t make a claim. However, if you do not have proof of your injuries, you could attend a medical appointment with an independent expert as part of your claim.

They could take a look at any past medical notes, examine you and put together a report evidencing your injuries. This could be useful in proving your claim.

What to do after a car accident that was not your fault

What to do after a car accident that was not your fault

Who Is At Fault If The Driver Was Working At The Time Of The Accident?

You may be wondering what happens if you have a car accident and it’s not your fault, but the other driver was working at the time of the accident. If so, you may be reassured to know you could still make a claim if you could prove the other driver was at fault.

One example would be if your car accident was caused by a delivery driver that was an employee of a delivery company. If they caused an accident while they were working, their employer could be held responsible for the actions of their employee. This is because employers are vicariously liable for the actions of their employees, which can include delivery drivers.

Could You Claim For A Car Accident You Caused?

One frequent question that injured parties sometimes have is ‘A car accident was my fault; what happens when it comes to claiming for injuries?’ If you cause a car accident, and no one else was at fault, you would not be able to claim for your injuries. However, if you have a fully comprehensive motor vehicle insurance policy, you could make a claim to your insurer to pay for vehicle repairs.

We should mention that in some cases you may mistakenly believe a car accident is all your fault. If you are partly to blame, but another road user also contributes to the car accident, you could still make an injury claim. For free legal advice on ascertaining proof of liability in such cases, please call our team.

Proving Split Liability For A Car Accident

You may be wondering what happens if you are partly to blame for an accident but you believe someone else was also at fault. If this happens, you could still claim compensation for your injuries, but compensation amounts could be lower, to reflect your portion of the blame. An example of this could be seen in Froom v Butcher 1976 where a judge ruled that the claimant was partially at fault for their own injuries in a car accident because they weren’t wearing a seatbelt. The claimant’s compensation was reduced by 25% to reflect their contributory negligence.

How Complicated Are Split Liability Claims?

If both drivers admit fault in a split liability claim the process could be quite straightforward. However, if a driver disputes the amount of blame the other party puts on them, the case could require further investigation. Solicitors and insurers would need to investigate and negotiate an appropriate settlement. If they cannot agree, then the case may need to go to court, where the court could make a decision on how much liability exists on both sides.

If you’re considering pursuing a car accident claim where the other driver is not admitting fault in the UK, we would urge you to get in touch with our team. We could provide free legal advice to you and connect you with a solicitor to fight for the compensation you deserve.

Claiming For A Car Accident – No Win No Fee Solicitors

Working with a solicitor on your claim can be helpful if the other driver won’t admit fault. A solicitor can help you gather evidence to prove that the other driver is liable for the accident, for example, by talking to witnesses and taking their statements.

Our panel of solicitors offer their representation on a No Win No Fee basis through a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). Under this kind of contract, your solicitor won’t ask for an upfront fee to begin working on your claim, nor will they take a fee for their continued services. Alongside this, if your claim fails, no fee will be taken for your solicitor’s work.

You are only required to pay a success fee to your solicitor if your claim succeeds. In this case, a small percentage will be deducted directly from your compensation. This percentage has a legal cap, ensuring that you keep the majority of your settlement award.

To find out if a solicitor from our panel could help you claim for a car accident that was not your fault, get in touch with our team of advisors today:

More Information On Proving Fault For A Car Accident

What Happens If Your Whiplash Claim Is Refused?: This guide explains situations in which a liable party could dispute or refuse a whiplash claim. It offers guidance on what to do if this happens to you.

Claiming As An Injured Passenger: If you sustain injuries while you are a passenger in someone else’s vehicle, this guide could offer useful guidance.

General Car Accident Claims Advice: While the above guide focussed on answer the question of ‘How do you prove a car accident wasn’t your fault?’, this guide offers general guidance on claiming.

Statistics For Car Accidents In The UK: The UK Government provides statistics relating to road traffic accidents. You can find the latest statistics here.

Road Safety Reports: If you’re interested in learning more about road safety and common causes of accidents, this guide could be useful.

Vehicle Insurance: This Government guide offers information on vehicle insurance and what to do if you’re involved in a road accident.

Other Car Accident Claim Guides