Why is a correctly completed accident report important?
The accident report is the primary document your insurance company uses to assess liability and process your claim. It is the jointly agreed factual record of the accident, signed by both parties. An incomplete or inaccurate report creates ambiguity, which slows down claims processing and can lead to disputes.
Common consequences of a poorly completed accident report include claims processing delays of several weeks while the insurer requests additional information, disputes about liability when key circumstances are not documented, claim rejections when required fields like insurance policy numbers or vehicle details are missing, and difficulty proving your version of events if the other party later changes their account.
A complete, accurate accident report typically reduces claims processing time from several weeks to a matter of days. The digital accident report on unfallbericht.at guides you through every required field with validation checks, making it significantly harder to submit an incomplete report.
Step 1: Record accident details — date, time, location
The first section of the accident report captures the basic facts: when and where the accident occurred. Record the exact date and time of the collision, the precise location including street name, house number or nearest landmark, city, and country, whether any person was injured, whether objects other than vehicles were damaged (such as guardrails, traffic signs, or buildings), and whether there are witnesses.
Precision matters here. An accident location described as "on the main road" is far less useful than "B17, intersection with Industriestrasse, 50 meters south of the traffic light, Graz." If there are witnesses, record their full names, phone numbers, and addresses. Witnesses can be passengers in either vehicle, pedestrians, or occupants of other vehicles.
In the digital accident report on unfallbericht.at, your GPS location is detected automatically, providing exact coordinates and a reverse-geocoded address. You can adjust the pin manually if the GPS position is slightly off. The date and time are pre-filled from your device.
Step 2: Vehicle and insurance data
The second section captures detailed information about both vehicles and their insurance coverage. For each vehicle, you need to record the license plate number, the make, model, and year of the vehicle, the name and address of the registered vehicle owner, the name, address, date of birth, and driver's license number of the person driving at the time of the accident, the insurance company name, the policy number, and the validity period of the insurance, and whether the insurance covers third-party liability only or includes comprehensive coverage.
This section is where paper forms most frequently fail. Drivers at a stressful accident scene struggle to read unfamiliar insurance documents, write down long policy numbers without errors, or even find the relevant information on the other party's insurance card.
The digital accident report on unfallbericht.at solves this with OCR scanning. You photograph your driver's license, and the app extracts your name, date of birth, and license number. You photograph your insurance card or green card, and the app reads your insurance company and policy number. This eliminates transcription errors and saves significant time.
Step 3: Accident circumstances and description
The circumstances section is the core of the accident report and the part that has the greatest influence on the liability decision. It consists of two elements: the standardized checklist and a free-text description.
The checklist contains 17 numbered circumstances. Each driver independently marks the items that describe what their vehicle was doing at the moment of impact. The 17 items are: 1) was parked, 2) was pulling out of a parking space, 3) was entering a parking space, 4) was emerging from a private property, driveway, or track, 5) was entering a roundabout, 6) was driving in a roundabout, 7) was striking the rear of another vehicle going in the same direction, 8) was going in the same direction in a different lane, 9) was changing lanes, 10) was overtaking, 11) was turning right, 12) was turning left, 13) was reversing, 14) was encroaching on the opposite side of the road, 15) was coming from the right at an intersection, 16) had not observed a priority sign or red light, and 17) was stationary after a collision.
Below the checklist, each driver counts their total ticked boxes and can add a brief free-text description. Keep this description factual and concise. State what you observed, not what you believe the other driver should have done.
Step 4: Draw the accident sketch
The accident sketch is a visual representation of the collision that complements the checklist. Insurance adjusters rely on the sketch to understand the road layout, the positions and directions of travel of the vehicles, and the exact point of impact.
An effective accident sketch should show the road or intersection with lane markings and traffic signs, the direction of travel for each vehicle using arrows, the position of both vehicles at the moment of impact, the point of collision marked clearly, and any relevant features such as traffic lights, crosswalks, parked vehicles, or obstacles.
On a paper form, the sketch is drawn freehand in a small box, and the results are often unclear. The digital accident report on unfallbericht.at includes an location-based sketch tool. The app detects your GPS location and loads a map snippet of the nearby streets. You then position vehicle icons, add directional arrows, and mark the collision point by tapping on the screen. The result is a clear, accurate sketch that claims adjusters can immediately understand.
Step 5: Document damage and add photos
The damage documentation section asks both drivers to mark the initial point of impact and the extent of visible damage on standardized vehicle diagrams. These diagrams show a car from the front, rear, left side, and right side. You shade or mark the areas where damage occurred.
In the digital accident report, you can additionally attach photographs of the damage. Best practices for damage photography include taking a wide shot showing the entire damaged area in context, taking close-up shots of each damaged component, photographing the damage from multiple angles to show depth and extent, including a photo showing the transition between damaged and undamaged areas, and photographing both vehicles, not just your own.
Also photograph the overall accident scene, including road conditions, weather, traffic signs, and the final positions of the vehicles. These contextual photos can be critical for liability assessment. The digital accident report embeds all photos directly in the PDF document, ensuring they are preserved with the report rather than lost in a camera roll.
Step 6: Sign digitally and generate the PDF
The final step is the signature. Both drivers must sign the accident report to confirm that the recorded information is accurate and jointly agreed. On a paper form, this is a handwritten signature. In the digital accident report on unfallbericht.at, both parties sign by drawing their signature on their smartphone touchscreen.
The digital signature has the same legal standing as a handwritten signature for the purpose of accident documentation. Once both parties have signed, the report is finalized and a standardized PDF is generated automatically. Both parties can download the PDF immediately to their phone. The PDF can be forwarded to insurance companies via email, WhatsApp, or any other messaging or file-sharing service.
After signing, the report is locked and cannot be modified. This protects both parties against after-the-fact alterations. If you discover an error after signing, you should note the correction in writing and communicate it separately to your insurance company.
How do you correctly fill out an accident report?
To correctly fill out an accident report, work through these sections in order: record the accident date, time, and exact location. Enter vehicle details and insurance information for both parties. Use the standardized 17-point checklist to mark the circumstances that apply to each vehicle. Draw a sketch showing the road layout, vehicle positions, and collision point. Mark the damage on the vehicle diagrams and attach photos. Have both drivers sign the report.
The most important principles are completeness and accuracy. Fill in every field, even if you think it is not relevant. Use the checklist rather than relying only on free text. Keep descriptions factual, not emotional. And use the digital version on unfallbericht.at to ensure that no required field is left blank.
Frequently asked questions about filling out the accident report
The most common mistakes are imprecise accident locations, missing or incorrect insurance policy numbers, no photographs of the damage, emotional or accusatory language in the description, and forgetting to record witness information. The digital accident report helps prevent all of these through guided input and validation.
If the other driver refuses to sign, fill out the report on your own as a single-party report. Document all of the other party's visible details including their license plate. Inform your insurance company about the refusal and consider calling the police.
No. Once both parties have signed, the report is finalized and cannot be modified. This protects both parties from after-the-fact alterations. If you discover an error, note the correction separately and communicate it to your insurance company.
Filling it out at the scene is strongly recommended because details are fresh and both parties are present. However, it can legally be completed later if both parties agree. The digital version on your smartphone makes it practical to complete everything at the scene in under ten minutes.
The standard accident report covers two vehicles. For multi-vehicle accidents, fill out a separate report for each pair of vehicles involved. Document which vehicles were part of the same incident and share this information with your insurance company.
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