Short answer: once you've had an incident, we look at whether we can work out who caused it. That decides whether your claim is settled as non-fault, fault, or split between insurers. It matters because it affects your excess, your No Claims Discount and your renewal price. It isn't a judgment on your driving, and while your claim is open, it's treated as fault until we know the outcome.



How we work out who caused it

We decide who was most likely at fault using the evidence we have. That includes what you and the other driver tell us happened, photos, where the damage is on each car, the road layout, and any dashcam, CCTV, witness or police report. If you have new evidence, send it to us and we'll review it. This can sometimes change a decision. If anything changes, we'll tell you the outcome and why.



The three possible outcomes

Once we know who caused the incident, your claim is settled in one of three ways:

  1. Non-fault. Someone else caused it, and we get our costs back from the other driver's insurer.
  2. Fault. This doesn't always mean you caused the accident. It can happen when nobody else was involved, for example you hit a parked object or a barrier. It can also happen when someone else was involved but we couldn't recover the cost, for example we couldn't get their details, they didn't accept responsibility and there's no clear evidence such as dashcam footage or an independent witness, or they're uninsured or can't be traced. In each case, we couldn't get our costs back from anyone else.
  3. Split. Both you and the other driver are deemed partly responsible, or the evidence doesn't show clearly who caused it. The cost is shared between the insurers. We pay it upfront, and it may be recorded as fault.

    This is why getting the other driver's details and evidence at the scene matters.

What it means for you

Your outcome affects your excess, your No Claims Discount (NCD) and your renewal price. Your NCD is the discount you build up for each year you drive without a claim.

If your claim is non-fault

  • The other driver's insurer pays.
  • You may pay your excess first. It's often refunded once we've got the money back.
  • Your NCD usually stays the same if we recover all the costs.
  • Your renewal price shouldn't be affected by the claim itself, though it stays on your record.

If your claim is fault

  • We pay, and we can't get the money back from anyone else.
  • You pay your excess.
  • Your NCD usually goes down, normally by 2 years for each fault claim. If you only have 1 or 2 years, you lose it all.
  • Your renewal price may go up.

If responsibility is shared

It may be recorded as a fault.

If you disagree with the decision

Tell us. Here's how to give us the best chance of changing it:

  1. Send any new evidence. For example dashcam footage, photos, witness details, CCTV or police reference numbers. If you can't send the files, send the details so we can ask for them.
  2. Say what you think we got wrong. For example who had priority, or what happened before the collision.