Girlfriend Had A Bike Accident.

[Jim's_a_Thai_Fox]

Hi,

My girlfriend recently had an accident on her Honda Dream caused by a pick up driver.

The car driver admitted liability - he turned right onto the main road on which my GF was riding along, simply a case of not seeing her - their speeds were slow and she suffered abrasions and a slight concussion. Up to now (3 weeks since the accident) the driver has been good natured about paying for medical treatment that wasn't covered by her government plan (such as 1000b bike repairs, medication and hospital visit).

Total cost he has paid is 3000b.

There were no Police involved at the time of the accident. She was concussed and he took her to a nearby clinic to get her injuries cleaned.

The fact is that now, 3 weeks after the accident, the right side of her face remains scarred. She also is suffering from sightly blurred vision in her right eye.

Personally, i think that he should be liable to pay a small amount of 'accident compensation'. He has car insurance (or so he has told my GF), so I do not see that it would be much of an issue. After all, the ong term effects of the accident are unknown...

TiT - she is afraid of asking this guy for any more money as he made it clear to her that the 3000b payment would be the final payment he'd give her as she longer needs to go to hospital for dressing the wounds. he told her that he has no more money to pay her.

My GF is a very good natured girl who does not want to come across as a 'rip off merchant', or as someone trying to get money out of this guy for nothing. Of course, being a female and younger than the person who caused the accident doesn't help matters. they both work at a large university, but in different faculties.

I have made my opinion clear to my GF (personally I also detest western 'compensation culture') but I do not want to give her a hard time about her inability to demand a small amount of compensation - i've told her that i'll support whatever decision she makes, but at the end of the day, asking this guy for compensation isn't wrong.

Do you ave any advice on this one? Would it help if she went to she the BiB's or even contacted a solicitor to find out about compensation rights before going to this guy with a compensation request?

Cheers for any insights or past experience that you've had that could be useful.

James

[Phil Conners]

Suggest you contact a good lawyer for this. The cops will surely be a waste of time!

[ProThaiExpat]

Even in a western "compensation culture" unless the scar on her face is "cosmetically disfiguring' most compensation attorneys would not take on such a case unless there was an insurance company waiting to pay "nuisance" money, you term was "compensation request".

What few people realize when seeing news about compensation cases in the west is the long term negative effect they have on the claimant. I can imagine all the turmoil the girl would go through in her academic work setting if such a claim was made against an older person of stature who has been acting responsibly, Thai style, for her perceived injuries.

There are many "facts" missing in your scenario that could make a claim nothing more than "he said, she said", ie. documented third party witnesses, accident scene investigation etc.

My advice would be to treat the injuries as nothing, continue to love and care for her, and try to help her forget it, which will be easier for her than for you.

Edited February 8, 2007 by ProThaiExpat

[Tywais]

The problem I see is that no police report was filed which the insurance companies will pretty much require. Now it's her word against his word if attorneys get involved.

[Ausladyinpatong]

I got hit by a car while riding my motorcycle. Not my fault.

Their insurance company fixed the bike.

I suffered a broken hand and was given by the insurance company THB 5,000 which covered my medical expenses and THB 5,000 as compensation.

THB 10,000 in total.

I didn't make any claim at all until it was clear to me that my hand was sufficiently healed and would recover fully as I figured I'd only get one shot and I wanted to present every single receipt to the insurance company.

I think if she requires further treatment the insurance company should pay up. But be clear on how much. Find out the exact cost of any treatment as the "compensation" money I was given was coughed up pretty reluctantly and they told me "we don't do like this in Thailand"

They couldn't argue with my medical bills though!

[Jim's_a_Thai_Fox]

Cheers for the help.

I am concerned more for long term effects that aren't obvious right now. the scar, well, that'll heal OK and she'll always be a cutie in my eyes... but a year down the line, she could suffer from trapped nerves etc. and it'd difficult/impossible to prove a link...

[warwick7735]

Hi

Should of contacted your insurance company as soon as it happened. Once you have started to receive payments from this guy direct, and he has given you a final payment which you have basically accepted there is little more for you to do.

He could now deny all knowledge of the accident as it wasn't reported.

Warwick

[chingching]

Back in the states, I cut my finger at a construction site. I put a band-aid on it, but the boss wanted me to go to the hospital. Probably good that I did because the tendon had been pushed over and it might have healed crooked. About 2 years later I was called by an insurance company about my accident. It took me a few minutes to even figure out what he was talking about. He asked me if I had a scar. I told him yes. (The wound was right on the knuckle and although I can see it, with all the other wrinkled skin no one else would have a clue. He asked me how long the scar was. I said about an inch.

Then without another moments hesitation, he asked me if $4,000 would be o.k. I thought about that for a short while, and said that would be fine. A week later I got a check in the mail

[flifsh1]

Your girlfriend sounds very similar to mine. I think you are dealing with a Buddhist thing here - I see it in my girl everyday - they live with the cards they are dealt and accept it completely. Our values are so different, especially on issues of compensation. My girlfriend would never even think to get compensation above her medical payments, it just wouldn't register in her mind.

Having said that - I do believe that this is taken advantage of in Thailand by those Buddhist that are not quite on the same path, and so this is where you come in - the falong protector of sorts. You should be concerned about the blurred vision in her right eye - this is neurological and should be dealt with by a neurologist at a good hospital. As well have a plastic surgeon look at the scar to determine if there will be any permanent scarring (I have always asked my girl to wear a full faced helmet), and if so what can be done to heal this.

Good luck!