1. Get to safety and seek medical assessment for
Get to safety and seek medical assessment for symptoms or significant impact. Road-traffic procedures, police-reporting duties and liability systems vary substantially between countries. Preserve evidence without putting yourself in danger and avoid making assumptions about fault at the scene.
Keep names, reference numbers, screenshots and receipts together in one folder. A simple chronology is much easier to use later than trying to reconstruct the trip from memory after you are home.
If the situation is still developing, avoid irreversible decisions until you understand the available options. A short written note of who said what, and when, can prevent confusion once several providers become involved.
2. Save the vehicle registration
Save the vehicle registration, driver identity and app trip record. Road-traffic procedures, police-reporting duties and liability systems vary substantially between countries. Preserve evidence without putting yourself in danger and avoid making assumptions about fault at the scene.
Ask for important instructions in writing whenever possible. A verbal promise made at a desk, hospital counter or call center can be difficult to prove if another employee later gives a different answer.
Where money is involved, ask what can be refunded or authorized before paying for an alternative yourself. Necessary emergency spending is different from voluntarily choosing a more expensive solution.
3. Photograph the scene and obtain witness contacts when
Photograph the scene and obtain witness contacts when safe and lawful. Road-traffic procedures, police-reporting duties and liability systems vary substantially between countries. Preserve evidence without putting yourself in danger and avoid making assumptions about fault at the scene.
Do not assume the rules from your home country apply automatically. Local law, the transport contract and the insurance policy can overlap, so identify which system governs each part of the problem.
Use official airline, insurer, health-authority or government sources for deadlines and entitlement rules. Search snippets and old forum posts can be useful clues but should not be treated as the controlling rule.
4. Ask whether local law requires a police report
Ask whether local law requires a police report and keep the incident number. Road-traffic procedures, police-reporting duties and liability systems vary substantially between countries. Preserve evidence without putting yourself in danger and avoid making assumptions about fault at the scene.
Keep original documents until the matter is closed and store digital copies separately. Claims often become difficult because evidence disappears, not because the underlying event was impossible to explain.
5. Notify the rideshare platform
Notify the rideshare platform, taxi company and relevant insurer as appropriate. Road-traffic procedures, police-reporting duties and liability systems vary substantially between countries. Preserve evidence without putting yourself in danger and avoid making assumptions about fault at the scene.
For large medical costs, serious injury or disputed liability, professional advice may be appropriate. A general travel guide can organize the response but cannot determine an individual legal or medical outcome.
6. Do not sign a release or admission you
Do not sign a release or admission you do not understand. Road-traffic procedures, police-reporting duties and liability systems vary substantially between countries. Preserve evidence without putting yourself in danger and avoid making assumptions about fault at the scene.
Before departure, save insurer assistance numbers, booking records and key emergency contacts offline. Preparation matters most when connectivity is poor or the person who normally manages the trip is the one affected.
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