9 Things you should do after a Road Accident

After a road accident, you should contact an attorney as soon as you are able, so you can get started on your claim against the Road Accident Fund (RAF).

Your claim against the RAF is only valid for 3 years.  Where the accident was a “hit-and-run” your claim is valid for 2 years.

A lot of information needs to be gathered to make your claim as strong as possible and the sooner you have an attorney working on your claim the better.

Without the right support, you can walk away from your claim with much less than you deserve.

We can help you to get the most out of your claim.

Successful claims against the RAF are highly dependent on the experience and supporting evidence (in particular, Expert Reports), which we can offer our clients.

Please contact us at support@raf-claims.co.za for assistance with your claim against the RAF; you can also send your number to us using the “PLEASE CALL ME” option at the top of this page or you can call us directly on 0861 88 88 35.

Straight after a road accident, you will not necessarily have all the information at hand or understand the full extent of what actually happened.

In these situations, it is better to say as little as possible.

Ideally, focus on providing your name, contact details and the details of your insurance company (if you have one), and try to get the same information from the other person or people involved in the accident.

Do not admit liability.

Police are not always at the scene of a road accident.

You must always report the accident to the Police.

Failing to report an accident to the Police will negatively affect your claim against the Road Accident Fund (RAF) and any insurance claim.

In addition to getting the details of the other driver, you should also get the Names and contact details of any people who saw the accident happen.

This is an often overlooked step after an accident so try not to forget.

Witnesses can be an important part of claiming from the Road Accident Fund (RAF) for Injuries and Damage suffered from the accident.

Keep your account of the accident as accurate as possible.

Your attorney needs to know exactly what happened, and if you provide information that is not accurate it could seriously affect your attorney’s ability to effectively handle your claim against the Road Accident Fund (RAF).

Photos and/or videos can be very helpful when dealing with claims for Injury and Damage.

Try to take photos and videos that are clear and give as complete a picture of the accident as possible.

Focus on anything that helps illustrate how and why the accident happened, such as:

• Positions of the cars
• The light at the time of the accident
• Road signs
• Any skid marks
• Traffic lights 

This may seem like the job of the Police but the Police are not always at the scene of an accident and more evidence is better for any claim against the Road Accident Fund (RAF).

Conditions at the time of the accident can be very important to a claim for injury and damages.

You should take note of the weather conditions and the conditions of the Road.

Note if it was a clear day; or if there was mist, rain, fog, wind, etc.  Note the visibility.  Note if the road is wet and slippery.

This point goes hand-in-hand with “Visual Evidence” above.

Your online posts and discussions can be used against you and they are usually permanent.

It is good advice not to engage in posting about your accident online as you may inadvertently diminish your claim against the Road Accident Fund (RAF).