What "not at fault" means
The other driver caused the accident and you are the victim party, so their insurance is in principle responsible for your damage. That principle is clean; the practice is where the choices live.
Two routes follow from it: claim on your own cover, which then recovers from theirs, or claim directly against their insurer. Each trades speed against cost and bonus protection, and the right one depends on your circumstances rather than a single correct answer.
Route one: through your own insurer
Your insurer pays your damage under your comprehensive cover on standard timelines, typically 21 to 60 days, and you pay the basic excess upfront. This is the fast, low-friction route when you need the car back quickly.
Your insurer then recovers from the at-fault party's insurer by subrogation, and refunds your excess when recovery completes. The catch is timing: recovery can run 3 to 12 months, so you carry the excess in the meantime even though you were not at fault.
Route two: direct against their insurer
Here you claim straight from the at-fault party's insurer, who investigates, confirms fault and pays your damage. It is slower, often 3 to 9 months for clean cases and longer if fault is disputed, and more of the proof-gathering falls on you.
The reward is that you pay no excess, your no-claims bonus is untouched and your own insurer is not involved. The trade-off is that you negotiate with an insurer whose incentive is to minimise the payout, so strong evidence matters even more on this route.
When the direct route makes sense
It suits cases where the damage is not urgent and you can wait, because the bonus-preservation advantage compounds over years, and where fault is clear-cut and unlikely to be disputed. Clear liability plus no time pressure is the ideal combination.
It is most valuable when you hold a large accumulated bonus worth protecting, since a multi-year bonus reset raises your premium for one to three years. Where fault is murky, the case usually ends up routed through your own insurer anyway, so the direct route is best kept for clean liability.
If their insurer disputes fault
Disputed liability is where evidence decides everything: the SAPS report, independent witness statements and your scene photographs carry the case. A rear-end collision is usually clear, but many intersection and lane-change disputes turn on exactly this material.
When fault is genuinely contested, the practical move is to claim through your own insurer and let them handle the fight by subrogation, rather than negotiating alone against an insurer motivated to deny. You get your car fixed while the liability argument plays out behind the scenes.
If the at-fault driver is uninsured or fled
The whole no-fault framework assumes the other driver is insured and identified. If they are uninsured, there is no insurer to recover from, and your own comprehensive cover becomes the only route to repair, with the excess effectively unrecoverable unless you sue the individual directly, which is rarely worth it.
If they fled and left no details, it is a hit-and-run: again your own comprehensive carries the repair, and a SAPS case number plus any witness or camera evidence is essential. Both situations are exactly why comprehensive cover, rather than reliance on the other party, is the real protection.
Step-by-step process
How to claim when the other driver was at fault in SA
- 1
Report to SAPS and document the scene
File a SAPS accident report and photograph the scene thoroughly: your damage, their damage, the vehicle positions, road conditions and any signals or signs that establish who had right of way.
- 2
Get the other driver's details and insurer
Record their name, contact, vehicle registration, insurer and policy number, and confirm their cover is current if you can. These details decide whether recovery is even possible.
- 3
Choose your route
Through your own insurer is faster but you pay the excess upfront; a direct claim against their insurer carries no excess and no bonus impact but is slower and needs more proof from you.
- 4
Notify your insurer either way
Tell your insurer about the incident regardless of route. They can advise the optimal path given the specifics and the strength of the evidence.
- 5
Own-insurer route: they pay, then recover
On the own-insurer route they settle your damage on standard timelines and then pursue the at-fault party's insurer for recovery by subrogation.
- 6
Excess refunded once recovery succeeds
When the at-fault insurer pays, your insurer refunds your excess. Recovery can take 3 to 12 months by complexity, during which you are out of pocket for the excess.
The OneCompare view
The direct route against the other insurer preserves your bonus but takes longer; the own-insurer route is faster but you pay the excess upfront and wait for the refund. The choice turns on urgency and how much accumulated bonus you are protecting, and it all assumes the other driver was insured, which is why comprehensive cover is the real backstop.