The other driver gave me a policy number that turns out to be invalid. What now?

Keep everything you photographed at the scene, including the document as it was shown to you, and do not discard it because it turned out to be wrong. An invalid document is itself part of the record. The route the claim then takes is a legal question and belongs to a lawyer.

Can an assessment still be made if the other party cannot be found?

Yes. The assessment describes your vehicle, the extent of the damage and the mechanism, and none of that depends on the other party being identified. What it cannot do is establish who they were — that is a matter for the police record and for the authorities.

Should I repair the car while the matter is unresolved?

Not before it has been documented, and here that is more important than usual, because the vehicle is the main evidence and there is no second file to fall back on. Once it is recorded in full, repairing it does not weaken the case.

Is it worth pursuing at all for a small amount?

Sometimes not, and we say so rather than leaving it open. The route is longer and the standard of proof higher, so the cost of building the file has to be weighed against what is realistically recoverable. We give the figure for our work in advance so the comparison can be made.

The police did not attend. Does that end it?

It does not end it, but it removes the neutral record of who was involved, which in this situation carries more weight than in any other. Everything then rests on what you photographed and on witnesses. If the vehicles are still in place, calling them is still the better decision.

When the other driver turns out to have no valid insurance in Croatia

Most claims abroad run against an insurer. A small number do not, because the other vehicle turns out to be uninsured, the cover had lapsed, or the driver disappeared before anyone checked. The technical work does not become optional in that situation — it becomes the only part of the file that is fully within your control.

The moment it becomes clear, and what it changes

It rarely becomes clear at the scene. More often it surfaces days later, when a policy number turns out not to match, when a letter comes back, or when the details taken down by hand turn out to be incomplete.

What changes is not the assessment but the route the file travels. Instead of one insurer with a claim number and a deadline, there is a body that handles cases of this kind, a longer path and a stricter standard of proof. The file is read by someone who was not there and who has no counterpart to ask.

That has one practical consequence worth stating plainly: everything that would normally be sorted out in a phone call between two insurers now has to exist as a document. A file that would pass in an ordinary claim can be too thin for this one.

What to collect while you are still at the scene

This list matters more here than in any other situation described in this series, because the usual second source — the other insurer file — does not exist.

The other vehicle: number plate, make, model and colour, photographed rather than written down
The driver: identity document and driving licence, photographed, and the name of the registered keeper if it is a different person
Any insurance document produced, including one that looks out of date — photograph it as it is
The police record: the number, the unit and the officer, because with no insurer this becomes the central document
Witnesses with a telephone number, taken on the spot; here they are worth more than anywhere else
The scene itself: both vehicles in position, the marks on the road, the wider view showing the layout

If the police were not called, that is the one decision worth revisiting. In an ordinary claim their absence is inconvenient; in this one it removes the only neutral record of who was involved.

Why the technical file has to be stronger than usual

In an ordinary claim the extent of damage is negotiated between two parties who both understand vehicles. Here it is examined by a body applying its own standard, often months later, with the vehicle long repaired.

That pushes three things to the front. Completeness: every damaged area photographed separately, including what seems minor, because nothing can be added afterwards. Mechanism: a description of how the damage arose that matches the marks, since the other side is not there to confirm or deny anything. Separation from earlier damage: any pre-existing marks identified and stated, because a file that quietly includes them is weaker than one that names them.

The vehicle itself is the evidence, and it stays the evidence only until it is repaired. Where a claim of this kind is likely, the inspection belongs before the repair rather than after it — the gap between those two options is wider here than in any ordinary case.

What we do and what we expressly do not

We record the damage where the vehicle stands, relate the marks to the described sequence of events, separate this event from earlier damage where the evidence allows it, and calculate the repair in a standard industry system.

We do not establish whether the other vehicle was insured, we do not identify the driver or the keeper, and we do not correspond with any body on your behalf. Which route a claim of this kind takes, and against whom, is a legal question and it belongs to a recommended lawyer under a separate agreement with you. We do not provide legal representation.

We do not deal with personal injury. Where the file involves it, that part belongs to a doctor and to a lawyer and is handled separately from the vehicle.

One thing we do say plainly, because it saves people money: where the damage is small and the route is long, the cost of a full report can exceed what it recovers. The price is stated before any work starts, so that decision can be made in advance.

Frequently asked questions

The other driver gave me a policy number that turns out to be invalid. What now?: Keep everything you photographed at the scene, including the document as it was shown to you, and do not discard it because it turned out to be wrong. An invalid document is itself part of the record. The route the claim then takes is a legal question and belongs to a lawyer.
Can an assessment still be made if the other party cannot be found?: Yes. The assessment describes your vehicle, the extent of the damage and the mechanism, and none of that depends on the other party being identified. What it cannot do is establish who they were — that is a matter for the police record and for the authorities.
Should I repair the car while the matter is unresolved?: Not before it has been documented, and here that is more important than usual, because the vehicle is the main evidence and there is no second file to fall back on. Once it is recorded in full, repairing it does not weaken the case.
Is it worth pursuing at all for a small amount?: Sometimes not, and we say so rather than leaving it open. The route is longer and the standard of proof higher, so the cost of building the file has to be weighed against what is realistically recoverable. We give the figure for our work in advance so the comparison can be made.
The police did not attend. Does that end it?: It does not end it, but it removes the neutral record of who was involved, which in this situation carries more weight than in any other. Everything then rests on what you photographed and on witnesses. If the vehicles are still in place, calling them is still the better decision.