Re: ARTICLE: No Claim Bonus - How to save on your insurance premiums! Quote:
Originally Posted by aghosht Hi All Was wondering if anyone has been successful in having a claim processed and paid by the insurance company of the vehicle that was involved in the accident (other than your own vehicle's insurance company. For example - say car X bangs into your car Y and causes extensive damage to your car Y can you claim repair costs from X's insurer rather than using Y's insurer. Benefits of using X's insurer would be that Y's NCB status is preserved and also possibly there is no hike in Y's insurance premium. Moreover since it was X's fault it's but natural that he should be responsible. Any experieces that BHP-ans want to share? | Quote:
Originally Posted by alpha1 In order to determine who was at fault - won't it be necessary to form a police case and wait for the judgement to come in from the court? That means waiting for 2-3 years at least. | Quote:
Originally Posted by aghosht What about cases where person himself admits that he is at fault? Say for instance in rear ending cases. I remember reading somewhere that the cops are very clear in rear ending cases that the fault is of the driver who rear ends.
Perhaps in such cases it will be simpler to examine if both the insurers are same i.e. in the previous example both X and Y's insurer is the same company - this takes out the argument that the driver may agree but the insurance company will not. In the above example the driver of X agrees that he is at fault and he has caused the damage. |
This is a topic which would form a part of motor insurance reform, if it were ever to happen.
Today, when a car gets banged, you generally get the fix paid for by your insurance company. We do not have rules to ask the police to give a report. Abroad the police is called, they write a report and issue this AGAINST PAYMENT, and there they put the facts as the cops see them including whose fault it was. Here in India you can go to a cop station and tell your version, that gets recorded. Normally it is neutral, giving the blame to none. Accident happened, date, time reported, damage done and you have a report.
About past experience, a friend had a car crash into his parked car. He runs a workshop and fixed his car, and filed a case in a court. He won, and was awarded repair costs plus some extra which the insurance of the other party had to pay. If required I can ask for details.
Confesion of fault is not an acceptable argument for the insurance company to pay.
Best way to keep your NCB is to pay for minor repairs yourself.
Rear ending is not such a clear thing. The insurance company is not going to pay the others damage just because their customer rear-ended someone. You still have to file a case. I also believe that even if the insurance company is common, each insured is treated as a separate account.
My aunt in Germany met with an accident where the city was at fault because of improper police manual traffic directing. The result was that someone banged into her car. The claim could not be settled because the city and the other motorist were fighting over who was at fault, to whose account would the accident go. My aunt could argue when by chance the same insurance company was involved for both parties and they settled her claim after a while, later the fault liability was settled. And if we were to have reformed insurance rules, this will become important because premium is calculated according to ones record.
One line answer would have been, if you want the opposite party's insurance company to pay, you go to court.
Cheers harit
Last edited by harit : 4th August 2011 at 19:47.
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