In deciding which person's negligence caused the collision, evidence can be given by the two drivers. In addition, any passengers who saw or heard anything relevant can give evidence. The best evidence, however, is that of independent witnesses who were not involved in the accident. There may be people in other cars or pedestrians who saw the accident or something relevant to it. Remember, if you are making a claim, you must prove that the other person was negligent.

It is necessary to distinguish between a complaint/summons claiming damages and a summons to answer a charge of committing an offence. If the police charge a person with, say, failing to give way to the right, and that person is convicted it does not necessarily mean that the collision occurred solely because of the driver's negligence. If you wish to sue that person for damages, it is possible that the court may still find you to be partly at fault, e.g. by travelling too fast, not keeping a proper lookout, etc.

The fact that a person complied with all traffic regulations need not mean they are in no way to blame for a collision, since it is often necessary to take more care than just obeying the laws.

You must mitigate your damages, i.e. keep your loss as small as possible, and you must prove that the damages claimed were caused by the collision.

First obtain a detailed quote for repairs to your car. It is best to get two or more quotes. If you don't you must show that the one quote was reasonable and the repairs could not have been done more cheaply elsewhere.

When a car is so badly damaged that it will cost more to repair than the car was worth before the collision, the car is considered to be a write-off. Since you must minimise your damages you cannot claim more than the car was worth in the first place. Evidence must then be obtained of what the market value of that car was at the time of the collision. You cannot claim the replacement value, which may well be higher. Your claim will be for the pre-accident market value less the value of the wreck (often called "salvage").

Some vehicles, e.g. a taxi or commercial traveller's car, may be essential for earning income. If the owner cannot work while the vehicle is being repaired, they can claim loss of wages or profits. In some cases another vehicle may be hired and the cost of hiring claimed. You must, however, show that the hiring was essential and that there was not a cheaper method, e.g. the occasional taxi or public transport. Recovery of these items can be difficult, so be careful to keep hire charges moderate.

If you are selling your vehicle, or about to sell it at the time of the accident, make sure you obtain quotes for the damage before disposing of the vehicle. If the vehicle is a total loss, obtain a loss assessor's report before disposing of the vehicle. You may need to deduct any salvage value.

In either case, it is desirable to have the vehicle assessed by a loss assessor so that if necessary you can prove the amount by which the value of your vehicle depreciated as a result of the accident. See the Yellow Pages under "Insurance Assessors and Loss Adjusters" for a list.