Accident with a Lease Vehicle

What Do I Do if I Get Into an Accident in a Leased Vehicle?

Around one in five vehicles in the U.S. are leased. Millennials are particularly likely to lease a car instead of outright buying one, with some areas of the U.S. seeing over 50% of millennials choosing to lease their vehicles.

When you lease a vehicle, it remains the property of the car dealership or leasing agency. So, what should you do if you're in an accident in a leased vehicle?

While On the Accident Scene

Safety and Health Comes First

Before worrying about anything else, your immediate concern should be the safety and health of everyone involved. Take a moment to calm yourself. 

• Check if it's safe to leave your vehicle. If not, keep your seatbelt fastened, turn on your hazard lights, and contact 911 if you can access a cell phone.
• If you can exit the vehicle safely, do so. If anyone needs assistance, immediately call for an ambulance or the fire department. If you have an emergency kit, set up orange cones or warning triangles around the crash site.
• If your vehicle is still drivable and there are no injuries, you should typically make a reasonable effort to move your car so it's not blocking traffic. However, some states have laws forbidding the movement of your vehicle from the scene of a crash.

Contact the Police

Law enforcement will properly document the accident scene, interview witnesses, and write a police report. This report is crucial later if there's a dispute over the cause of the accident.

Document the scene

If safe to do so, take photographs of the accident scene, paying attention to include the positions of the vehicles and any damage caused. Try to draw an exact diagram of the crash site with details of where each car was coming from and what lane it was in.

Take down the driver's license details of everyone involved in the crash, or ask to take photos of their driver's licenses. Write down details of all the vehicles involved, including their make, model, color, and registration.

Attempt to get the contact details of any witnesses who would back up your recollection of the accident.

After the Accident

• Inform the car dealership
• In almost all cases, leasing a vehicle requires you to take out insurance on it. In the case of an accident, contact the car dealership or leasing agency to let them know.
• Contact the insurance company
• You will also need to contact the insurance company. The insurance company will typically send a claims adjuster to inspect the damage to the vehicle. The company may instead ask you to bring the car to a specific local body shop or field office for inspection.
• Follow the correct repair instructions

The car dealership or leasing company may have precise requirements for how the repairs are performed. Many dealerships require you to use original manufacturer parts, for example.

Summary

Most lease contracts require you to take out collision coverage insurance, so the aftermath of an accident plays out essentially the same as if you owned the vehicle outright.