Reviewed By: Kevin Wong, Director and Personal Injury Lawyer
Last Reviewed: 1 June 2026
If someone refuses to give insurance details after a car accident, write down their number plate, the car’s make, model and colour, and a description of the driver before anyone leaves. Report the crash to police and the Insurance Commission of Western Australia as soon as you can. In Western Australia you can still claim for injuries, even after a hit and run.
Nobody tells you this part. A driver who refuses is rarely uninsured. They’re usually panicking about a premium rise or a fine, betting you’re too rattled to write anything down. This guide isn’t about fault arguments or panel-beating quotes. It’s about protecting your injury claim when the other side won’t play fair.
What should you do first after a hit and run?
Stop if it’s safe, check whether anyone is hurt, and call 000 if they are. Then capture everything you can about the other vehicle before it fades from memory or leaves the scene.
The first two minutes decide most claims. Move out of traffic, switch on your hazard lights, and start photographing: the other car, its plate, the damage, the road, and the direction it went.
I’ve sat with clients who could describe the colour of the other car perfectly but couldn’t recall a single letter of the plate. Adrenaline does that. Your phone doesn’t forget.
Crashes aren’t rare here either. Road deaths across Australia rose from 1,097 in 2020 to 1,291 in 2024 (BITRE), and WA’s share has climbed with them.
The details worth collecting at the scene
Collect the full picture if you can. If you only manage a few things, make them the ones that let police and your insurer trace the other driver.
- The crash itself: date, time and exact location.
- Everyone involved: the other driver, plus any passengers, riders or pedestrians.
- The other vehicle: registration plate, make, model and colour, and the driver’s insurer if they’ll share it.
- Witnesses: a name and phone number, and a quick note on what a witness saw.
A bystander who stops for thirty seconds can be the difference between a clean claim and a drawn-out fight over what happened.
What to do when a driver refuses to hand over insurance details
If the other driver won’t cooperate or simply drives off, you don’t need their insurer’s name to protect yourself. Three details do most of the work.
- The number plate.
- The make, model and colour. Even a rough description helps.
- A description of the driver and anyone with them.
Photograph the scene and the damage from a few angles, and note which way the other car was heading. A nearby shop’s CCTV or a dashcam can fill the gaps, and a lawyer can request footage from businesses, transport authorities and the police.
Don’t let anyone talk you into sorting it privately. A promise to “just pay for the damage” is worth nothing once they’ve driven away, and crash injuries like whiplash can show up days later. Take the cash, shake hands, and you’ve quietly made your own claim much harder.
Is it a legal requirement to exchange insurance details in WA?
Yes. WA law requires drivers to stop and exchange details after a crash, and to report it to police in set situations.
Under the Road Traffic Act 1974, a driver who damages property in a crash must stop and give their name, address and vehicle details. Where someone is injured, your legal duty to stop is stricter: the driver must stop, help the injured, and provide information, and failing to stop after hurting someone is treated as a crime, not a slap on the wrist. You must also report the crash to police and ICWA where a person is killed or injured, a vehicle is towed, or details weren’t exchanged. In practice, do it as soon as you can and lodge a report through the State’s online crash reporting facility.
The numbers are sobering. The WA Road Safety Commission recorded 188 deaths on WA roads in 2024, with 1,381 reported crashes causing death or serious injury, the worst result in nearly a decade. Reporting puts your version on the record while it’s still fresh.
Types of car insurance in WA, and where injury cover fits
WA drivers deal with four kinds of cover. Only one is compulsory, and it’s the one that pays for injuries.
That compulsory cover is called motor injury insurance, paid with your vehicle licence and run by the Insurance Commission of Western Australia. It covers people injured anywhere in Australia when a WA-registered vehicle is at fault. What it does not touch is vehicle or property damage. The other three are optional.
| Type of cover | What it pays for | What it won’t cover |
| Motor injury insurance (CTP) | Injury to other road users. Compulsory, paid through your vehicle licence. | Damage to any vehicle or property. |
| Comprehensive | Your car plus other people’s property, theft and more. | Personal injury. That sits with the compulsory scheme. |
| Third party property | Damage to other people’s property. | Your own car, and injuries. |
| Third party fire and theft | Other people’s property, plus fire or theft of your car. | Crash damage to your own car, and injuries. |
People assume their comprehensive policy covers a hit-and-run injury. It doesn’t. Comprehensive is for panels and paint. Your body sits under the compulsory scheme, and that’s a separate claim with its own rules.
Can you still claim compensation if no details were exchanged?
Yes. In WA you can claim for injuries even when the at-fault driver is never identified, as long as you made a real effort to find out who they were.
ICWA acts as the nominal defendant for unidentified and unlicensed vehicles under the Motor Vehicle (Third Party Insurance) Act 1943. Take reasonable steps, like the plate, a description, a police report and asking witnesses, and you may still lodge a claim.
How a hit and run claim runs is a little different from a standard one. The motor vehicle accident claim process also has notice requirements you can’t ignore.
Watch the clock. Personal injury claims in WA generally run on a three-year limit under the Limitation Act 2005, so report your injury to ICWA as soon as you can. Leave it too long and you may have to start court proceedings just to keep the claim alive.
Getting help with a WA motor vehicle injury claim
A hit and run claim has more moving parts than a standard one, and the deadlines bite.
Soul Legal’s personal injury team handles motor vehicle injury claims across WA, including the messy ones where the other driver fled or refused to cooperate. Most of this work runs on a no win no fee basis, which generally means no legal fees unless your claim succeeds (conditions apply). Soul Legal also shares plain-English guides like this one as part of its online resources, developed with a digital marketing partner that works with WA law firms.
If someone refuses to give insurance details after a car accident, the refusal isn’t the end of your claim. A clear photo of the plate and a level head are what keep it alive.
FAQs
What should I do if someone refuses to give insurance details after a car accident?
Record the number plate, the car’s make, model and colour, and a description of the driver, then photograph the scene. Report the crash to WA Police and the Insurance Commission of Western Australia as soon as you can. You don’t need the other driver’s cooperation to start an injury claim in WA.
Is it illegal to refuse to give insurance details after a crash in WA?
Refusing to stop and give your details after a crash is an offence under the Road Traffic Act 1974. If someone is injured and the driver fails to stop, that is treated as a crime, not a minor breach. Drivers must also report serious crashes to police.
Can I claim compensation after a hit and run in WA?
Yes. The Insurance Commission of Western Australia acts as a nominal defendant for unidentified vehicles under the Motor Vehicle (Third Party Insurance) Act 1943, so you can still claim for injuries if you took reasonable steps to identify the driver. With 1,381 reported crashes causing death or serious injury on WA roads in 2024, these claims are more common than people expect.
Does a driver refusing insurance details mean they are uninsured?
Usually not. Compulsory injury cover is attached to every WA vehicle licence, so most refusing drivers are insured but worried about a premium rise or a fine. Treat the refusal as a reason to gather evidence, not as proof they have no cover.
How long do I have to make a car accident injury claim in WA?
Personal injury claims in WA generally run on a three-year limit under the Limitation Act 2005. You should report your injury to the Insurance Commission of Western Australia as soon as possible, because waiting can force you into court proceedings to protect the claim.
Should I take photos of the other driver’s licence if they refuse?
Yes. You are allowed to photograph a number plate, the vehicles and the scene from a public place, and a clear plate photo is often enough for police and your insurer to trace the driver. A dashcam or nearby CCTV can add to it.
Rebecca Sorgiovanni is the Director of Soul Legal, a trusted Perth-based injury compensation lawyer with over two decades of experience representing injured clients in complex litigation and tribunals across Western Australia.
