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| Insurance Matters #1: Motor Accidents |
“In April I had a car accident……!”
Sam Brown sat in front of me, a look of concern on his face. He had come to report a traffic accident that had occurred six months previous. A typical ‘fender bender’, he had stopped in a line of traffic and another driver had collided with the rear of his truck.
“Can you help me? The guy promised to fix my truck, but I’ve heard nothing from him. I would have come to see you sooner, but I was waiting on the Police Report”.
I reached into my desk for an Accident Report Form. “Well”, I replied. “I will do what I can, but you really should have come to see me sooner, and I have to tell you that this claim is technically time barred under the conditions of your Third Party Policy. For a start, tell me who was driving the other car, who owned it and where it was insured”.
“I didn’t have time to get that information”, he replied, “It should be in the police report, when we get it”.
I thought for a second; “How can I help you, when you don’t know who hit you? We need to locate this person if we are to have any chance of getting him or his insurance company to fix your truck. Until we know who he is, we have nowhere to go.”
This incident is entirely fictional, but I’m often faced with similar situations, so I thought I would devote my first column on Insurance, to:
What to Do When You Have a Motor Accident.
The rules are actually quite simple.
- Most drivers know that in any accident occurring on a road or in a public place you are required to call the Police, and you must leave the vehicles where they are until the Police arrive.
- Do not make any Admission of Liability to the other driver(s). By doing so, you could compromise your case and your Insurance Company has the right to turn down your claim.
- While you are waiting for the police to arrive, write down:
- The name and telephone number of the driver.
- The name and telephone number of the owner of the other vehicle.
- The make, model, color and plate number of the vehicle.
- Most vehicle owners carry their Insurance Certificate with them in their vehicle. Write down the name of their Insurance Company and their Policy Number.
- Write down your similar particulars on a piece of paper and give it to the other driver. This makes it easier for your respective Insurance Companies to deal with the matter.
- When the police arrive, co-operate fully, and write down the names of the investigating officers. Find out whether any of the parties involved have been warned for prosecution.
- Make a mental note of where the vehicles were situated in the road at the time of the collision; this may be important in determining fault.
- As soon as possible, certainly within 7 days, go to your Insurance Company or Agent and complete a claim form. Take the information you wrote down at the accident scene, your Drivers License and the Certificate of Roadworthiness for your vehicle. If your vehicle was being driven by someone else, that person should go with you to make a report. This is very important, as most policies give a time constraint for claims to be reported. If you delay too long, your claim may be turned down.
Your Insurance Professional will guide you on what to do from there. Not all Insurance Companies require you to obtain a Police Report. I am of the opinion that a Police Report is only useful, if it will assist Insurers to determine fault; but you will need to follow the instructions of your own insurance company.
Last but by no means least……. Carry a cheap pen and a few sheets of notepaper with you in your vehicle at all times. You never know when you may need them!
Tony Lancaster |
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