There's one piece of paper that belongs in every vehicle in your fleet, and every driver needs to know how to fill in: the blue-and-yellow European Accident Statement. A simple form – yet a large share of claims stand or fall on it. A driver-friendly guide to using it correctly.
- The European Accident Statement is a tool for recording the facts at the scene: who, with what, where, how – signed by both parties.
- It isn't an admission of liability and it isn't a claim notification: it records the facts, and the insurer decides.
- The fields are standardised internationally – so it can be filled in for a claim abroad even without a shared language.
- Every fleet vehicle should carry a blank form plus a one-page crib sheet – the glovebox minimum.
What is it for – and what isn't it for?
The statement is for jointly recording the facts at the scene: the parties' and vehicles' details, the location, a sketch of the event, the visible damage, the circumstances. Two things it is NOT: it is not a claim notification (that has to go through the insurer's channel – here's how), and it is not a verdict: the insurer decides the question of liability based on the facts. Field 14 (“remarks”) is the driver's friend in a disputed situation: a differing view can go there.
How to fill it in
The process is simple once it's rehearsed: fill in one form together with the other party (a copy-through form – each party keeps a copy), legibly, covering every field. Key points: the sketch (the vehicles' positions, directions, lanes), the signatures (both parties!), and the witness field. What a driver shouldn't do: sign a statement they disagree with, or get into a dispute about liability at the scene – recording the facts is the job, not deciding the case. This is one of the most important 10 minutes in driver training – part of driver discipline.
Abroad: the language-independent friend
The statement's field structure is standardised internationally: the Hungarian driver and the foreign party each fill in the same form in their own language – yet based on the field numbers, the content is still clear. It's well worth carrying a statement form on a foreign trip, together with the Green Card. If the other party won't cooperate, photo documentation and, if needed, involving the local authorities, is the way forward.
Good fleet practice
Three things keep it alive: a blank form in every vehicle (available from your insurer or broker – you can request one from me too), a one-page crib sheet alongside it (on-the-scene checklist), and a short annual refresher for drivers – a filled-in example, typical mistakes. The completed statement's onward path should be fixed too: a photo straight to the fleet manager, the original into the claims file. That way, five minutes at the scene becomes the best investment in the whole claim.
Getting and replacing forms: who keeps the blank ones?
Keeping the accident-statement kit stocked is a small but real task: a completed form needs a new one in its place, and a copy that's been creased in the glovebox for years isn't ideal either. The proven system: a central stock with the fleet manager (forms sourced from the insurer, or from me), replacement after every claim, and one glovebox check a year – typically alongside the winter-preparation round. The same check is a good moment to refresh the crib sheet and the contact list too. Even in the digital age, paper is your friend: at the scene, you don't always have signal, battery, or the composure to go hunting for an app.
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