How to photograph a pothole or road damage to claim for car damage

Do not stand in traffic. Pull over somewhere safe, switch on your hazard lights, and photograph from the pavement or the verge. If the hole is in a busy lane and you cannot reach it safely, photograph it from a distance and come back when traffic allows, or report it and let others know where it is. No photo is worth an accident.

1. A wide shot from a few metres away that shows the hole, the lane and the road around it.

2. The place: a street sign, a house number, a lamppost number, a junction or a landmark in the same frame as the hole, or in a photo taken right next to it.

3. A close-up from above with something for scale next to the hole. Photograph a tape measure laid across it if you have one.

4. The depth: lay a straight object such as a ruler or a stick across the hole and measure down to the bottom, then photograph the measurement.

5. Signs that the hole has been there for a while: crumbling edges, patches of old repairs, other drivers' debris such as plastic from bumpers or hubcaps. A photo of a freshly broken edge looks different from one that has been there for months.

6. If there are warning cones, paint marks or signs, photograph those too. If there are none, a photo of the same view without them is also useful.

• The damaged part from several angles: the tyre sidewall bulge or cut, the bent wheel rim, the scraped underside, the cracked suspension part. Take a wide shot of the whole wheel, then a close-up of the damage.
• The whole car, so the make, colour and number plate are in one shot. Photograph the plate on its own too.
• Anything that shows the car was fine before: a recent service record, an earlier photo of the wheel, or a photo of the tyre from the last time you checked it.
• The warning lights or the display, if the impact set one off, and the odometer reading.

Do not move or repair anything until you have photographed it. Keep the damaged tyre or part if you can; the person assessing the claim may want to see it.

• The date, the time and the place: the street name, the nearest junction and, if you can, the direction you were driving.
• Repair estimates and receipts, in writing, with the garage's name. A mechanic's note saying the damage is consistent with a pothole is worth asking for.
• The names and contact details of anyone who saw it, and your own short written account written while you remember it clearly.
• A copy of your report to the road authority, with its reference number. Many claims depend on whether the authority knew about the hole before you hit it, and on whether it was reported by anyone else.
• Your insurance details and a note of what your excess or deductible is. Ask the insurer before you decide to claim against the authority or through your own policy.

The iPhone Camera saves the date and time in each photo's hidden data, together with the coordinates if Location Services is on for the Camera. That data is often removed when a photo is sent through a chat app, uploaded to a web form or printed, so the person who reads your claim may only see the picture, with no place or time at all.

Check that the phone's date and time are set automatically, keep the originals on your phone as well as any copies, and do not edit or crop the photos in a way that hides the surroundings. A date and a place printed on the picture itself stay visible wherever the file ends up. If the hole has been repaired by the time you file the claim, the dated photos are what you will have left.