Re: Fiat Punto Accident: B-pillar damage I won't suggest filing an FIR and trying to get the claim settled thru the Xylo's insurance provider. The procedure for that in INDIA is just too complicated.
1. Since there is no human damage, police will not and would not have registered FIR for this accident. Such acccidents are usually categorized as minor road accidents and the max police would have done for you is register your compliant (a narrated description that due to the fault of this Xylo driver, the accident happened and your car was damaged) and provide you copy of the same.
2. You can use the same complaint copy to settle the claim thru your insurance provider. Alternatively, you can approach court and file a case (after appointing the lawyer) against the driver and request the driver and/or his insurance company to settle your damages.
3. Whenever your case comes up for hearing in court (knowing the number of pending cases in India, you can't be sure when your case would come for hearing, unless you pay a good sum or have good contacts) your lawyer has to prove to the Judge that fault was from the Xylo driver.
4. Once the judge is convinced and server his written order to the Xylo person's insurance company, only then they will settle your claim.
I think you did the right thing. Luckily the police did the job for you and you got 8K and I think you should be happy for it.
The damage is repairable and the quote for 45-50K seems fine to me. Please get it repaired from the workshop and move on. Things happen. Don't worry too much.
Caution:-
1. Tell the workshop guys now itself to perform through checks during repair to ensure there are no water leakages.
2. While taking delivery of your vehicle from workshop, please make sure there is no leakage of water from anywhere. Ask them to roll up windows and spray the car from various angles onto panels/joints/gaps etc and make sure there is no water coming inside from anywhere. Tell them this was a basic test. The real test would come when the monsoon begins and if you spot any leakages they would repair FOC. Quote:
Originally Posted by Samartha Thanks for bringing in this very important angle. OK, so here is how things went. After the collision, I made a few important calls (called Fiat Helpline and had them send in a crane, called the police, called my folks) and headed to the nearest hospital for a quick chest X-ray and vital stats check. When I returned to the spot, the police was there and so was the owner of the cab. The driver of the cab had meanwhile "went missing".
The police pressed hard to negotiate. When I finally said I was going to file an FIR, they said that both the vehicles would have to be towed to the police station, where a technical inspection was to be held. The cars would be released the next day. Since the towing crane was already there (at my expense of Rs 2k) and after I realized that the cab owner seemed like a seasoned player, I went with what seemed to be the best option available at that time -- the police handed me over 8k from the owner. Since I was still under shock, one of my friends wrote the "agreement letter", which I later signed. I was shocked when the friend told me later that the amount in the agreement letter was 11.5k and that the police had pocketed Rs 3.5k for their "efforts".
I do have the contact of the cab owner and also a copy of the insurance certificate of the cab. The cab owner had also said he would supply the driving license of the cab driver whenever I wanted it. Is it still possible to use their third-party insurance to carry out the repairs? Would I need to file an FIR for it? If yes, would the car need to towed all over again to the police station before things can be finalized?
I know I might have acted like so many of us who are afraid of legal procedures (this despite the fact that I come from a family of lawyers, but not based in UP), but I wanted the altercation to end as soon as possible. I was gasping for breath after the seat-belt impact and not really in peak form. Also, the least I would have lost at that moment (in addition to accidental damage) was 2k for the crane.
Practical advice is welcome. | |