Reporting late, especially without the other driver's details, can turn a minor claim into one costing more than four times as much. In Aviva's published examples the same minor collision costs £3,169 when it's reported within 24 hours with the other driver's details. Reported five days later without them, it costs £13,800. Most of the difference is the other driver's hire car, along with a dearer repair, once your insurer has lost control of who handles their claim.
Aviva's four versions of the same collision
Aviva set out one minor collision four ways, as "Examples based on average claims costs using real-world road traffic accident scenarios" rather than a single real claim (Aviva Risk Solutions, September 2025).
| How the claim was reported | Hire | Repair | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Within 24 hours, with the other driver's details taken at the scene | £745 | £2,424 | £3,169 |
| After five days, with the other driver's details, handled through an accident management firm working to the industry's agreed hire rates | £1,980 | £4,717 | £6,697 |
| After more than five days, with the other driver's details, handled through a firm outside those agreed rates | £5,873 | £4,117 | £9,990 |
| Five days later, with no details of the other driver | £7,350 | £5,200 | £13,800, including £1,250 of other costs |
Each row down the table is a step further from your insurer controlling the other side of the claim.
Where the extra money goes
Third-party costs make up 72 per cent of all claims costs on average (Marsh), which is why the other driver's side of a claim is where delay costs most. Once a credit hire firm provides their replacement car, the daily rate can be between 50 and 120 per cent more than hiring a car on the open market. It runs until their own car is back.
The insurer's reserve tells the same story. Marsh reports that the average third-party reserve for a motor claim reported on the day of the incident is 25 per cent lower than for one reported after a week (2022 to 2025). Where the insurer does reach the other driver first and handles the repair and replacement vehicle itself, Aviva's data, published by Marsh, puts the average saving at £3,067 a claim.
A second set of figures
A haulage broker's illustration in Motor Transport, "based on real life scenarios", shows the same pattern. Reported the same day with immediate contact with the other driver, the claim came to £2,850. Reported after 15 days, it came to £8,350, or £15,686 where no accident form was given to the other driver (PIB Insurance Brokers, in Motor Transport, December 2023).
What the office can do while the other driver is still reachable
The cost is decided in the first day or two, which is when the office has most control. The things that make the difference are details of the other driver taken at the scene, a report to your insurer the same day and any camera footage saved before it's overwritten. A report that arrives complete also saves a second call to the driver once they've moved on to their next job.
Where SHIELD fits
SHIELD gets the incident from the roadside to your insurer within minutes, after a quick check in the office, with photos and the other driver's details attached. That gives your insurer its best chance to act while the other driver can still be reached. Since Orkin started using SHIELD, its average claim has fallen from roughly £3,600 to £2,100, about 42 per cent lower. The time from an incident to its insurer having everything it needs to start on the claim has dropped from around 11 days to 2.5.
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Sources: Aviva Risk Solutions, claims scenarios and "Commercial motor collision? Why prompt reporting still matters", September 2025; Marsh, "Benefits of Reporting Motor Claims Quickly", October 2025, using Aviva data; PIB Insurance Brokers, "How escalating claims costs can fuel a rise in your insurance premium", Motor Transport, 1 December 2023.