Car Accident in Dubai: How to Get a Police Report

A scraped bumper in a car park is not a big event, but in the UAE it is still a police matter. There is no version of a road accident here that you settle between yourselves with a handshake. Without a police report no insurer will pay and no garage will repair the car, so the report is not paperwork for afterwards - it is the first thing you organise.

The good news is that a small knock no longer means standing on the hard shoulder waiting for a patrol car. Dubai Police issue minor accident reports through their app, their 901 contact centre and petrol stations across the city. We run a rental fleet in Dubai as an RTA-authorised dealer and agency, and a police report is a condition of every insurance claim on our cars too. Here is what to do, in order, and what changes when the car is rented.

The short version

• Every accident in the UAE needs a police report, including a minor scratch - insurers and garages will not act without one.

• Call 999 if anyone is hurt or a car cannot be driven; otherwise move the cars out of the traffic lane and file a minor accident report yourself.

• Dubai Police take minor reports through their app, their website, the 901 contact centre and at petrol stations across the city.

• The report allocates fault, and the colour of the form is the short version of that decision - a green report means you were not at fault.

• In a rental, call 999, then message the rental company before anything is repaired or paid for.

Why a scratch still needs a police report

UAE law treats any road accident as something to be reported, and the practical consequences are what make the rule stick. Insurers will not settle a claim without the report, and workshops will not take the car in without one either - as The National puts it, you cannot get your car fixed without a police report.

There is a deadline as well. Gulf News, summarising Federal Decree-Law 14 of 2024 - the traffic law that came into force on 29 March 2025 - says a driver must notify the police or the traffic authority within no more than three hours of an accident, unless there is an acceptable excuse. Treat that as the same day rather than the next one, and treat the law itself, not a news summary, as the authority.

The penalties at the serious end explain why. Failing to stop, with no valid reason, where an accident has caused injury carries a fine of AED 50,000 to AED 100,000 plus a jail term. The same applies to a driver who withheld the information that would explain an accident. Khaleej Times and Gulf News agree on the fine and differ on the maximum prison term.

At the scene: the first few minutes

Switch the hazard lights on and check whether anyone is hurt. Call 999 if there are injuries, if a car cannot be driven, or if the damage is heavy enough that you would not want to move anything.

If nobody is injured and both cars still drive, move them out of the running lane - onto the shoulder, into a service road or into the nearest car park. Leaving a driveable car blocking a lane after a small knock is an offence in its own right, separate from the accident, and police across the emirates campaign about it because the secondary crash into a stationary car is often the worse one. The exception is when moving the cars would destroy the evidence of who was at fault: photograph the positions from several angles first, then move.

Before anyone leaves, photograph both cars, both plates, the damage close up and the wider scene, and take the other driver's name, mobile number, licence and vehicle registration. Do not agree a cash settlement at the roadside, and do not let the other driver go without exchanging details.

Four ways to file a minor accident report in Dubai

The Dubai Police app is the usual route. Log in, choose the traffic accident report service, fill in the fields, photograph the damaged vehicles and submit; the report is then sent to the parties by email or SMS. The conditions are that the accident is minor, nobody is injured and the vehicles have been moved to the roadside.

901 is the Dubai Police contact centre for anything that is not an emergency, and a minor accident report with no injuries is one of its 33 services. Gulf News reported that it took 274,251 calls in the first ten weeks of 2026.

On the Go puts the counter at the petrol station. Bring your licence, vehicle registration and insurance certificate to a participating ENOC, ADNOC or Emarat station and the staff photograph the damage and issue the official report. Gulf News put the network at 158 petrol stations and other locations in May 2026, with 3,981 minor accident reports filed that way and a further 1,375 against unknown parties.

The fourth case has no other driver to exchange details with: fresh damage and nobody around. That is an unknown accident report, filed on the app or at a petrol station with the plate number, licence number, mobile number and photographs. Gulf News and Emirates 24|7 both put the fee at AED 420 at the time of writing. Outside Dubai the equivalents are SAEED in Abu Dhabi, Rafid in Sharjah and the Ministry of Interior app in the northern emirates, each with its own fee.

What the report decides, and why the colour matters

An accident report does not just record that something happened - it allocates fault, and that decides who pays. The colour of the form is the shorthand. A green report means you were not held at fault, and both The National and Khaleej Times describe it that way. The at-fault report comes in a different colour, described as red by Khaleej Times and as pink by The National, so read the wording on the paper rather than trusting the colour alone.

Check the report before you walk away. The plate numbers, the date, the description of the damage and the fault allocation should all match what happened, because the insurer and the workshop both run off this document.

Then keep it: the garage needs a copy to open the repair and the insurer needs it to settle. If fines arise from the same incident, our UAE traffic fines guide covers how those are issued and checked.

If the car is a rental

The law does not change because the car is rented: a police report is required for every accident, including minor scratches. Call Dubai Police on 999, then message us on WhatsApp. Do not arrange a repair or accept a cash settlement from the other driver - the police report and the insurer decide the outcome.

Standard comprehensive insurance is included in every Urban Go rental at no extra cost, with an excess of AED 3,000 on most cars. The Smart Cover upgrade reduces that excess to AED 1,500. Full Cover reduces it to zero and covers all accident damage regardless of fault, provided there is a police report, including glass and tyres but not keys. Both upgrades are priced per day and the amount differs by car and by rental length, so the figure that applies is the one in the quote on that vehicle's page in our fleet.

A green report - not at fault - means full coverage with no excess at all. And insurance covers only the drivers registered on the rental agreement, so an unregistered driver at the wheel is the one situation where a clean police report will not protect you. Any traffic fines from the incident are billed to you, itemised, and our FAQ covers deposits and returns.

Renting a car in Dubai?

Monthly rentals with us start from AED 1,700. The price includes VAT, comprehensive insurance, registration, routine maintenance, 24/7 roadside assistance and 4,000 km a month on most cars, with delivery and collection around Downtown Dubai. You can pay a refundable deposit of AED 1,500 on most cars, or rent with no deposit for about AED 245 a month more. Fuel is same-to-same, Salik is charged at cost plus AED 1 per crossing, and traffic fines are billed to you, itemised.

We are an RTA-authorised dealer and agency in Port Saeed, and every rental is made on a signed Urban Go rental contract. Browse the fleet and build a quote on any car, look at the monthly plans or the no-deposit option, or message us on WhatsApp on +971 50 500 3965. WhatsApp is monitored almost around the clock.

Sources

• Khaleej Times - the new UAE traffic law and its penalties

• Gulf News - fleeing an accident scene and the duty to report

• Gulf News - Dubai Police On the Go services

• Gulf News - reporting an unknown traffic accident

• Emirates 24|7 - reporting a minor car accident

• The National - how to report traffic accidents in the UAE

Last reviewed: 25 September 2026.