While you do not require a police report to file a claim with your insurer or start a personal injury claim, a police report is usually very useful and provides vital information that can assist you pursue remedies for your injuries. For instance, it will likely provide the name and address of the other driver and owner of the vehicle that collided with you or your vehicle in an accident, their insurance particulars and the name of the investigating police officer.

Your insurer will not require a police report but will ask for one if one has been prepared. Our recommendation is to always contact the police for any accident and always obtain a police report. If someone is hurt in the accident, if the accident is serious, if there is any damage to any vehicle or if there is suspicion of wrongdoing such as drunk driving, racing or criminal act of any kind (i.e. dangerous driving), you should call the police. If you do not call the police, you should report the incident to a local police accident centre and obtain a case number. Even if you do not report the accident to police, you should report it to your insurer. Your insurer may want you to report it to the police for technical and legal reasons. Always obtain the name of the other driver and obtain his/her insurance information regardless of police involvement. Your insurer will ask for this information.