A Practical Approach To Insurance
Page 69
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By JOHN C. VANN, FCH
SOMF insurance companies are pessimistic in their outlook. They send a claim form with each new motor policy they issue! But you cannot really blame them, as over two million motor insurance claims were dealt with by insurers last year.
Perhaps you or some of your drivers have never been involved in an accident, so the business of claiming may be foreign. But you never know if that first bump will be around the next corner, so it may be helpful to highlight some of the points tied up with insurance claims.
Assuming you have not lost' or mislaid your policy, if you look at Condition No. 1 (this is normally on the back in print none too large) you will find there what is supposed to be done "after the occurrence of any accident, loss or damage-. The insurers must be advised as soon as possible following a knock and if an estimate for repairs can also be sent to them speedily, so much the better. This, of course, is on the assumption that there is comprehensive cover.
You will be sent a claim form, although some insurers call this a notification of accident form. You are supposed to report any accident, but if no other vehicle is involved and your own damage is so minor that you do not propose to claim for it, there is little point in troubling the insurance company with trivialities. However, you may report the minor bump merely as a notification of an accident to comply strictly with the rules, as opposed to making a claim. Hence the differentiation regarding the name of the form. But if you are merely notifying an accident and not claiming, make this perfectly clear when you _submit the form.
No delay
Do not dilly daily with the form, whatever you care to call it. Complete it—or get the driver to do this if necessary—as quickly as you can. Then return it to the insurers, because some of them will not move or act until the form is in their possession.
If the claim is not more than, say, L25, the insurers will probably not wish to inspect. They will no doubt authorize the repairs with the garage either by telephone or by letter—or both. With most companies minor damage repairs may be commenced at once by your own repairer provided a detailed estimate is sent to the company immediately, together with particulars of the accident.
But for claims over £25 they will doubtless arrange for an inspection. Some insurers have their own staff engineers who can normally get out to see a damaged vehicle within 24 or 48 hours. Other companies appoint an independent assessor who does just the same job, but it may take him a little longer to have the work authorized. . If your insurance is third party only or third party, fire and theft, any accidental damage to the vehicle will not be met by the insurers. It will be necessary to claim against the third party or his insurance company, assuming another vehicle is involved, but to be successful it will be necessary to establish quite conclusively that the other party was to blame for the accident.
Very often it is one driver's word against that of another. If both versions agree, then this makes it easier for a decision to be reached regarding liability. But human nature being what it is, rarely do the two descriptions of the accident tally, as most drivers consider that it is always the other fellow who is at fault. In fact, sometimes it is difficult to realize that the same accident is being described. It is even more difficult when two "stationary" vehicles collide!
Which side is to be believed in cases where the evidence clashes? The one ray of hope lies in the independent witness. That is why it is so vitally important to impress upon all drivers the necessity to get at least one witness if possible at the scene of the accident and to get the name and address. The driver's mate could give a statement, but because he is not an independent witness, his word is not likely to carry any weight. If you can get a witness to support your driver's story, then the scales may readily come down in your favour regarding your claim for repairs.
If a driver is involved in an accident, it is vital that he does not admit liability in any way, even though he considers himself to blame. There is a policy condition to this effect. Thus if liability is admitted by a driver, your insurers could refuse to deal with any ensuing third party claim. I have, in fact, experienced a case where an insurance company did turn down a claim from a third party purely because a note was signed admitting liability in full by the driver concerned.
The claim then had to be dealt with by the vehicle owner. The reason for this attitude by insurance companies is that their position might easily be prejudiced if a driver says he is to blame. For instance, it might conceivably transpire that he is not legally at fault when an investigation is made.
From side road
For example, suppose a driver in his lorry emerges from a side road with what seems reasonable alertness on to a major road and hits a fast-moving car. On the face of it, this does look a fairly clear-cut case that the lorry driver is at fault. However, several cases have come before the Courts where it has been held that the main road driver must guard against the reasonable possibility of danger arising from the carelessness of other drivers and he has been found partially to blame, even though on the main road. In this event, your insurance company's payment to the third party (if a claim arises) would be on a reduced scale according to the exact apportionment of blame.
Following an accident you or your driver may be prosecuted. If a conviction results, this might well lead to a successful claim from any third party involved in the accident. This would have to be met by your insurers. In view of this possibility, your insurers will arrange for a solicitor to defend the prosecuted driver without charge at any coroner's inquest or fatal inquiry or in any Magistrate's Court.