Your insurer, the other insurer, and what to say

Two insurers, two different relationships

After a collision there are usually two insurers in the picture, and it helps to be clear which is which.

Your own insurer holds your policy. You owe it a duty to tell it what happened, and it owes you the cover you bought. The other driver's insurer holds the other driver's policy. It owes you nothing under that policy; it is the company that will pay your claim if the claim succeeds, and it deals with you as a claimant, not a customer. Both are bound by the Central Bank's Consumer Protection Code when they deal with you, which is a floor for conduct, not a source of advice.

What to say to each is different, and this guide takes them in turn.

Your own insurer: the duty to notify

Nearly every motor policy has a condition that you notify the insurer of any accident or collision promptly, whether or not you intend to claim, and whether or not you think it was your fault. The wording varies by policy; "as soon as possible" and "within a set number of days" are both common. A late notification can be treated as a breach of the policy and can affect your cover, including for the very collision you did not report.

Telling your insurer is not the same as claiming on your policy. You can notify "for information only" and say so, and most insurers will record it that way. Your no-claims record is a matter for the policy wording and the outcome, not for the fact of telling them.

What your insurer needs is the facts: the date, time and place, the other driver's name, address, registration and insurer, the Garda station and reference, whether anyone was injured, and the damage. Say what happened as you saw it. If you were injured, say so, and say that you have seen or will see a doctor. Your insurer may offer to pursue your uninsured losses and vehicle damage against the other driver's insurer, and may put you in touch with its own panel of solicitors for the injury. You can take that up or not; a solicitor is not required to apply to the Board, and the guide to claiming without a solicitor explains what the Board does and does not do for you.

The other driver's insurer: the call

Within days of a collision the other driver's insurer may ring you. The person calling is usually courteous, and may say the company accepts that its driver caused the collision. The call has three purposes from the insurer's side: to take your account early, to settle the vehicle damage, and often to open the question of the injury.

You are not obliged to speak to the other driver's insurer at all, and nothing in the Board's process requires it. If you do, these are the lines most people keep to.

• Say what happened in plain terms, as you told the Gardaí, and no more.
• Say you do not know where you do not know. Speed, distance and timing are the things people guess at under a friendly question, and a guess becomes an account.
• Do not describe your injuries beyond the fact of them and that you are under a doctor. "Minor" said on day three is quoted on day ninety.
• Do not agree that you were partly to blame, and do not say that you were not; fault is for the evidence, and the Board assesses on the assumption that the respondent is fully liable without deciding it.
• Do not give a recorded statement on the spot. Ask for the questions in writing and answer them in writing, with time to check the facts.

None of this is about hiding anything. The claim will be assessed on the medical evidence and the vouched losses, and an exact account helps it. It is about not making an account by accident, over the phone, to the party that will answer the claim.

Recorded statements and signed forms

An insurer may ask you to sign a form of authority to obtain your medical records, a statement of the collision, or a form of discharge. A medical authority is normal once a claim is under way, and the Board will ask for a medical report in any case; read what it covers and for how long. A statement is yours to give or not, and if you give one, give it in writing. A discharge, release or "full and final settlement" is the document that ends the claim, and it is the one to read twice.

Direct offers

The other driver's insurer may make an offer before any application to the Board, sometimes on the first call, sometimes after a medical report. An insurer is allowed to do this, and the Consumer Protection Code requires it to act honestly, fairly and professionally when it does. Three things about a direct offer are settled.

A direct settlement ends the claim. Once you accept and the money is paid, there is no later claim for the same injury if it turns out to be worse than it seemed. That is why most people wait until a doctor can say the injury has settled, or can say what the recovery will be, before agreeing a figure. For a soft-tissue neck injury that can mean several months; the whiplash guide shows how much the Guidelines' bracket depends on the recovery period.

Vehicle damage can be settled on its own. The Board's FAQ for claimants says the vehicle damage can be settled separately without affecting the injury claim. Keep the two in separate writing and make sure the vehicle settlement does not describe itself as a settlement of all claims arising from the collision.

The figures show a gap and do not explain it. The Central Bank's National Claims Information Database puts a motor injury claim settled directly at €14,233 on average in the first half of 2025, through the Board at €22,658, and litigated at €66,100, of which €26,752 was legal costs. These are the Central Bank's figures, dated, on the figures register. They are averages of different groups of claims, and a claim settled early is often a smaller injury; they do not say what any one claim should settle for. The direct settlement guide reads them in full.

The letter you send, not the call you take

Section 8 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 asks for a written notice stating the nature of the wrong, served on the wrongdoer within one month of the cause of action. It is the one communication to the other side that the law asks of you, and it is written, dated and short. Served late without reasonable cause, it lets a court draw inferences and refuse or reduce your costs. The one-month letter guide explains it and the letter builder drafts it. A copy to the other driver's insurer is usual.

After that, the claim goes to the Injuries Resolution Board under section 12 of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003, on the Board's own form with the medical report from your treating doctor. From the application on, the other driver's insurer deals with the Board as the respondent's representative, and the Board's periods, not the insurer's calls, set the pace. The Board, start to finish sets them out.

Where this leaves you

Your insurer needs the facts this week; the other insurer can wait for them in writing. The first-week checklist puts the notification, the Garda reference, the doctor's visit and the one-month letter in order, so that what you say to either insurer is what the record already shows.