After a company van accident in Singapore, the claim is won or lost in the first 24 hours. Take the vehicle to your insurer's reporting centre inside 24 hours (or on the next working day), even when nothing looks damaged. Lodge a police report only in the cases SPF lists. Your company, not the driver, is the policyholder.
Updated 23 September 2026 · By SingRank Singapore
You usually hear about it second-hand: a call from the roadside, or a photo of a dented tailgate an hour later. By then the clock has started. What the driver says, who tows the van and whether anyone reports it are being decided without you.
For the declaration gaps that can sink a claim before any accident, see what can void a van or lorry insurance claim.
Key takeaways
- Every accident goes to your insurer, with the vehicle, inside the 24-hour window, however minor (source: GIA Motor Claims Framework).
- A police report is needed only for fatalities, certain injuries, government property damage, foreign vehicles, pedestrians or cyclists, and hit-and-run (source: Singapore Police Force).
- Published commercial wordings forbid any admission, offer, promise or payment without the insurer's written consent.
- Goods in the van and your own injured employees sit outside the third-party motor cover. An employee hurt while travelling for work triggers a report to MOM within 10 days.
- FIDReC hears disputes from sole proprietors and Small Businesses with group turnover of SGD1 million or less, not from larger companies.
What should a company driver do at the scene of a van or lorry accident?
At the scene, the driver keeps people safe, gathers proof and leaves the rest to the insurer. The General Insurance Association of Singapore (GIA) sets out the steps in its Motor Claims Framework brochure, which GIA says all motor insurers in Singapore support. Print the steps and keep them in every vehicle.
- Make it safe. Hazard lights on, people away from traffic. If anyone is hurt, call for help first.
- Call your insurer's hotline, not a stranger. Every insurer keeps a round-the-clock hotline under the framework, so advice is available at the roadside. Use it for the tow truck too.
- Exchange particulars. Name, NRIC or FIN, phone number, address and insurer of every party, plus vehicle numbers.
- Photograph three things. Your damage with your plate in shot, every other vehicle's damage with its plate, and the whole scene. In a multi-vehicle collision, GIA says to photograph those in direct contact, such as the vehicles just in front and behind.
- Refuse roadside offers. GIA's brochure puts it in capitals: "AVOID ALL UNAUTHORISED TOW-TRUCK OPERATORS OR REPAIR WORKSHOPS."
- Say nothing about fault and pay nothing. Drivers get this wrong most. More below.
- Call the office before leaving. Your company owns the 24-hour deadline, so it needs to know now, not at the end of the shift.
Why should the driver refuse roadside tow and claim offers?
Anyone who turns up unasked offering to "handle the claim" is not your insurer's hotline. One reader comment quoted by Mothership in 2021 summed up the risk: "I was involved in one too. Claim amount by third party ballooned."
A workshop veteran in the same piece explained why it works: "During an accident, we all panic right, so we don't know what to do, who to trust." Your driver will panic too. A laminated card beats good intentions.
Does a lorry accident in Singapore need a police report?
Usually not. Per the Singapore Police Force (SPF), you only need one if the accident includes at least one of these:
- a fatality;
- at least one person taken to hospital from the scene by ambulance;
- any party injured and given outpatient medical leave of 3 days or more;
- damage to government property;
- a foreign vehicle;
- a pedestrian or cyclist; or
- a hit-and-run.
For everything else, SPF says the parties exchange particulars and tell their own insurers under the Motor Claims Framework (SPF, Reporting Traffic Accidents and Offences).
The case fleet owners forget: a lorry that clips a road divider or lamp post counts as "damage to government property". A van that touches a cyclist at low speed needs one too, even if nobody seems hurt.
Anyone involved, or any witness, can lodge the report. The SPF online traffic accident report needs Singpass and an email address, and SPF estimates about 15 minutes. Any police station also takes reports. A police report never replaces the insurer report; you need both.
How do you report the accident to your insurer within 24 hours?
The GIA Motor Claims Framework is blunt. Every accident goes to your insurer, with the vehicle, within 24 hours or by the next working day. That holds "no matter how trivial", with no visible damage, and whether or not you plan to claim.
- Bring the vehicle in. Take it, damaged or not, to your insurer's approved reporting centre or authorised workshop. Not sure which? Ask the hotline.
- Tow, don't drive, if it's unsafe. Published wordings exclude further damage caused by driving before repairs. Sompo's commercial wording says towing is arranged through the insurer, its authorised workshops or reporting centres.
- Bring the photos and particulars. GIA asks you to submit all pictures at the reporting centre.
- Bring the driver if you can. Your driver saw the accident; the manager did not. An account the driver never checked is easy to pick apart later.
- Keep the reference number and every document in one shared folder.
Reporting is free: GIA states "there are no fees or charges involved in the reporting process." Missing the window is not. According to GIA, three things can follow: your insurer may repudiate liability, your No Claims Discount will be docked at renewal, and your insurer may cancel or decline to renew the policy.
Who reports the accident when the driver is an employee?
Your business is the insured, so the duty is yours. Sompo's published commercial vehicle wording puts it on "the Insured": bring the vehicle to the insurer's Approved Reporting Centre within 24 hours or by the next working day, whether or not you intend to claim (Sompo commercial vehicle wording).
In practice, a manager and the driver go together. Your company signs as policyholder; the driver gives the account. If the driver can't attend, the FAQ in the GIA Motor Claims Framework brochure allows someone else to go "under special circumstances" with supporting justification, after checking with the insurer.
Name one person who owns accident reporting, and put their number in every vehicle. When everyone assumes someone else will do it, the deadline passes on a Sunday and nobody notices until renewal.
What happens to letters and summons after the accident?
Sompo's reporting clause also says every letter, claim, writ or summons about the accident goes to the insurer unanswered, straight away. That includes a letter from the other driver's lawyer that lands on the driver's desk, not yours.
Why can a claim fail even when the other driver was at fault?
Fault decides who pays; procedure decides whether your policy responds at all. Sompo's wording calls the reporting clause "a condition precedent to liability". Breach it, and you lose cover under both Section I and Section II for that accident. Section I is your own vehicle; Section II is your liability to others.
Picture a common trap. Your driver is rear-ended, the other driver apologises, and everyone settles privately without telling the insurer. Three weeks later the other side claims with a different story. The GIA Motor Claims Framework says to report even after a private settlement, because you can't be sure the other party won't claim later.
Missing the reporting window is one of six ways a commercial claim can fail. Five others, such as undeclared modifications and non-disclosure, are decided at renewal, not at the roadside. See our commercial vehicle insurance guide.
Was the driver an authorised driver on the right licence?
Expect the insurer to ask whether your driver was allowed to drive that vehicle. Etiqa's commercial vehicle wording treats someone as an Authorised Driver only if you gave permission and they hold the correct, valid licence class. Sompo's wording excludes accidents while anyone other than an Authorised Driver named in the Certificate of Insurance is driving.
Which licence class covers a company van or 10ft lorry?
For vans and small lorries, the right licence class comes down to unladen weight. The Traffic Police list Class 3 as covering non-electric goods vehicles up to 2,500kg unladen and electric light goods vehicles up to 3,000kg unladen (SPF, Singapore Driving Licence). A 10ft diesel lorry over 2,500kg unladen needs a Class 4 driver (or 4P for vehicles without a clutch pedal).
Check each log card's unladen weight against each driver's licence before you hand over the keys. New to the rules? Read Class 3 or Class 4 licence for your lorry, and for electric vans, the 3,000kg Class 3 rule for electric vans.
Is the cargo in the van covered by the motor claim?
Usually not. In both Sompo's and Etiqa's published commercial vehicle wordings, third-party property cover excludes property belonging to the insured or "being conveyed by the Motor Vehicle". Both also exclude injury or damage beyond the carriageway while loading or unloading.
So if a crash ruins chilled stock or a customer's furniture, the motor policy won't pay. Check for separate goods-in-transit cover, and notify that insurer on its own timeline. Photograph the load at the scene too. A cargo claim needs its own evidence.
What if your driver or a worker was hurt?
An injured employee sits outside the motor claim. Sompo's wording excludes the "death of or bodily injury to any person arising out of and in the course of such person's employment" from its third-party section.
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) treats a traffic accident as a work accident when an employee is travelling "during work or for work (e.g. to a meeting), regardless of the mode of transport". If the injury leads to medical leave, light duty or worse, the employer must notify MOM within 10 days of first notice, according to MOM's work accident reporting rules.
So one company van accident can need three separate notices: the insurer within 24 hours, the police when the criteria are met, and MOM within 10 days if an employee is hurt. Each runs on its own clock.
What should the driver not say, sign or pay after the accident?
Your driver should not admit fault, promise to pay, or pay anything. Sompo's wording bars any "admission offer promise or payment" by the insured, or anyone claiming under the policy, without the insurer's written consent. Etiqa's wording carries the same clause.
Your driver counts as a person claiming to be indemnified. A friendly "sorry, my fault, I'll pay for your bumper" can give the insurer a reason to step back if the claim grows. Being polite is fine. Deciding liability is the insurers' job.
Can you settle privately after a company van accident?
A private settlement is your call, but only after the insurer knows. Notify first, settle second, and keep the signed settlement with the claim file.
How does the claim work after the report?
After the first 24 hours, the claim runs on the policy's timetable. Etiqa's published commercial wording is one example:
- Decide whether to claim on your own policy. Etiqa's wording says the insured "shall submit such a claim to the Company within fourteen days of occurrence or discovery of damage". Yours may differ, so check the certificate.
- Let the insurer see the damage first. The insurer keeps the right to examine all damage before repair. Don't approve repairs before that.
- Use the workshop your policy allows. GIA notes that "certain types of policies allow policyholders to use any workshop"; most commercial policies send you to authorised ones. Ask first.
- Forward everything unanswered. Letters, demands and summons go to the insurer the day they arrive.
- Plan for the downtime. Deliveries don't stop while the van is in the workshop. A short-term replacement, such as monthly van rental while your van is off the road, keeps routes running.
Own damage or third-party claim: which route applies?
You can claim on your own policy, claim against the other driver's insurer, or face a claim from the other side. Use the table as a guide to the questions to ask, not a statement of what your policy pays.
| Route | Who you claim from | When it fits | What to confirm first |
|---|---|---|---|
| Own-damage claim | Your insurer, own-vehicle section | You have own-damage cover and want repairs to start now | Claim deadline, excess and workshop rules |
| Third-party claim | The other driver's insurer | The other driver was clearly at fault, and you have photos, particulars and a report | That the other driver reported too, and whether your workshop will handle it |
| Claim against you | Someone claims from your insurer | Your driver was at fault, or the other side says so | That you reported within 24 hours and made no admission or payment |
| Injured employee | Not the motor claim; employer's work injury process | A worker was hurt while travelling for work | The MOM report within 10 days of first notice |
| Damaged cargo | Not the motor claim; goods-in-transit cover if held | Goods in the van were damaged or lost | Photos of the load and the cargo policy's notice terms |
Our pick: notify every accident on time, then choose the route with your insurer or agent, not at the roadside. What evidence you kept matters more than the route.
The company van accident timeline at a glance
| When | What | Source |
|---|---|---|
| At the scene | Safety, hotline, particulars, photos, no admission | GIA Motor Claims Framework; policy wordings |
| When criteria are met | Police traffic accident report | SPF |
| Within 24 hours or next working day | Report to insurer with the vehicle | GIA; Sompo wording |
| Within 10 days of first notice | MOM report for an injured employee | MOM |
| Within 14 days (example) | Own-damage claim in Etiqa's wording | Etiqa wording |
| Four weeks after complaining to the insurer | Earliest point to go to FIDReC | FIDReC Terms of Reference |
| Six months after the final reply | Latest point to file with FIDReC | FIDReC Terms of Reference |
What if the insurer rejects or underpays the claim?
Start with the insurer's own complaints process, in writing, with your photos, reference number and repair documents. If that fails, the Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre (FIDReC) mediates and adjudicates disputes between consumers and financial institutions. Filing is free of charge (FIDReC).
Here's the catch for companies: FIDReC's Terms of Reference (v2.2, 1 July 2025) accept individuals, sole proprietors, charities and a "Small Business". In plain terms: a Singapore-registered firm whose group sales stayed at or under SGD1 million a year in both of its last two financial years. Larger companies fall outside FIDReC. Their route is negotiation, mediation elsewhere or court.
You can apply once the insurer's internal process has failed, or at least four weeks after referring the matter to the insurer, whichever is earlier. Your deadline is six months after the insurer's final reply. FIDReC adjudication has a limit of S$150k per claim.
If you bought cover through an agent, bring them in at the complaint stage. An agent who arranged the policy knows its wording and the insurer's claims team.
A glovebox checklist for every company van and lorry
- The insurer's 24-hour hotline and the policy number
- The approved reporting centre list, or where to find it
- The name and number of your company's accident contact
- A particulars sheet: name, NRIC or FIN, phone, address, insurer, vehicle number
- The three photos: own vehicle with plate, other vehicles with plates, the scene
- One line in bold: no admission, no promise, no payment
- The police criteria, per SPF
- Injured staff mean notifying MOM within 10 days
Brief every new driver on the card before their first route, just as you check their licence class. Regular upkeep helps too; see preventive maintenance that keeps lorries on the road. If you're starting out, read setting up a delivery business in Singapore.
How ABLINK's motor insurance desk fits in
ABLINK is an authorised agent for LONPAC Insurance and Tokio Marine Insurance, with cover for "cars, vans, lorries, and commercial fleets". The motor insurance page describes "fast claims support" and says its in-house team "manages the full process — from renewal reminders to claim submissions".
If your van or lorry is insured through ABLINK, call the desk on the day of a company van accident, not the day after. The desk can guide you to the right reporting centre while the 24-hour window is still open, then help with the claim submission. The call does not replace the report itself: your company still has to bring the vehicle in.
If it isn't, use your next renewal to put every vehicle, driver and certificate under one plan. Start at ABLINK motor insurance for vans, lorries and fleets, or contact ABLINK directly.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to report a company van accident if there's no damage?
Yes. According to GIA's Motor Claims Framework, every accident goes to your insurer with the vehicle inside the 24-hour window, "no matter how trivial or even if there is no visible damage". Reporting is not claiming, and it costs nothing.
Can my driver report the accident without me?
Your company is the insured, so someone from it normally goes with the driver and the vehicle. According to GIA, another person may go only "under special circumstances" with supporting justification. Check with your insurer first.
When is a police report needed for a lorry accident in Singapore?
According to SPF, a traffic accident report is required for a fatality, anyone taken to hospital by ambulance, anyone given 3 or more days of outpatient medical leave, damage to government property, a foreign vehicle, a pedestrian or cyclist, or a hit-and-run. Otherwise, exchange particulars and report to your insurer under the Motor Claims Framework.
What happens if we report the accident late?
According to GIA, three things can follow: the insurer may repudiate liability, your No Claims Discount will be docked at renewal, and the insurer may cancel or decline to renew the policy. Sompo's wording makes the reporting clause a condition precedent, so a late report can mean no cover.
Does the motor policy pay for goods damaged inside the van?
Not under third-party property cover in the Sompo and Etiqa commercial wordings, which exclude property "being conveyed by the Motor Vehicle". Damaged cargo needs separate goods-in-transit cover, if you hold it. Photograph the load at the scene.
Can a company take a rejected motor claim to FIDReC?
Only if it counts as a Small Business: under FIDReC's Terms of Reference, group sales must have stayed at or under SGD1 million a year in both of the last two financial years. Sole proprietors also qualify. Larger companies need another route, such as negotiation, mediation elsewhere or the courts.
Disclaimer
This article is general information for Singapore businesses handling a company van accident, not legal or insurance advice. Policy terms differ between insurers and policies; the Sompo and Etiqa wordings quoted are published examples, not your contract. Always follow your own certificate of insurance and your insurer's instructions. Figures and rules are as stated by the named sources on 23 September 2026.
