An accident or breakdown with the family car: what to have ready and what to do after
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A minor accident or a motorway breakdown is among the most stressful moments for any driver, especially with children on board. In those minutes it's hard to remember where the roadside assistance number is, whether your policy includes it, what to write on the form. The answer is to prepare the information beforehand, with a clear head.
This article gives general organisational guidance. If anyone is hurt or in danger, call your emergency number immediately (112 across the EU). For exact procedures, follow your policy, your insurer's guidance and local traffic law.
The emergency sheet, today
Prepare a shared note for each car, available to all the adults in the family:
- registration and model
- insurer, policy number, claims number
- roadside assistance: number, whether it's included in the policy or a separate service
- trusted body shop or garage, with phone number
- what the policy covers: glass, weather events, theft, courtesy car
Five minutes today are worth a great deal on the day of an accident.
Documents to hand
Registration document, insurance certificate and driving licence should be in the car or with the driver, as local rules require. A photographed copy in the family documents, linked to the vehicle record, also helps when a document is missing or details need sending to the insurer. In KidBox the Vehicles record also holds the insurance expiry date: after an accident it's the first thing you'll be asked.
If there's an accident
- Safety first: hazard lights, high-visibility vest, warning triangle. Get children out on the safe side, away from traffic, if you need to leave the car.
- Injuries: if anyone is hurt, call the emergency number.
- Accident report: in Italy and much of Europe, if nobody's hurt and both agree, drivers fill in a joint accident report form signed by both. Fill it in calmly, checking registrations, insurance details and the sketch.
- Photos: of the damage, number plates, the vehicles' positions, the road.
- Witnesses: names and numbers, if there are any.
- Report to your insurer: within the time limits in your policy and the law, which are short. Set a reminder straight away.
Photos and the completed form go in the documents linked to the car: you'll need them throughout the claim.
If the car breaks down
- stop safely, hazard lights and vest
- call roadside assistance from the emergency sheet
- with children, stay somewhere safe and sheltered, away from the carriageway
- note what happened: warning lights, noises, mileage
Afterwards: the claim and the repair
- every contact with the insurer and body shop noted with date and reference
- quotes and invoices in documents
- the repair recorded on the vehicle record as a job, with cost and receipt: it automatically becomes a family expense and stays in the car's history — useful when you sell
In short
An emergency sheet for each car with policy, assistance and garage, documents in the car and copied into family documents, safety and the emergency number first, the accident report filled in calmly, photos and the insurer notified in time, and every step of the claim noted. The accident will still be a bad day. But not a day of not knowing what to do.
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