Auto Accident Medical Claims

[dddave]

On Friday, 25/11, my friend Mike was hit by a car as he crossed in a pedestrian crossing, traffic light controlled.  The driver remained at the scene.  The police report states that the drivers dashcam clearly shows him accelerating as the light counted down and that it was red when he passed through it.  The drivers vehicle actually had a dashcam that confirmed he ran the red light. The driver signed a document at the scene admitting fault.  He is an elderly UK expat.  We have the name of his insurance company.

Mike remains in an ICU drifting in & out of consciousness.  He has severe head and bodily injuries.  Clearly, he has a long road ahead of him.

One problem is Mike did not specify any other beneficiary of his insurance other than himself.  Thus, they will only compensate him directly, no family members who lay out money for his treatment.

He was only in Thailand 2 months.  All his family is in the USA.  Friends in Thailand are helping as much as they can but what we can do is limited.

Mike had a travel insurance policy but the more we learn about it, the more it becomes clear that compensation is going to be a mess.  Among a lot of other conditions, his travel policy will only pay out after the drivers insurance benefits have been exhausted.  

His brother spoke with a local legal office recommended to him.  Basically, they told him they needed B50K just to start looking into it.  They are not rich people.

We know the name of the at fault drivers insurance company: "Sri Mung Kong" or something close to that.  The law firm told the brother that the only way to get the insurance company to pay for Mikes care is to sue them.  I'm skeptical.

 

Has anybody reading this had first hand experience claiming payment from a Thai insurance company for treatment for injuries received in a crash where the insured is clearly at fault.  What is the process for the claimant?  Are they usually co-operative or is it true that they usually must be sued to claim coverage?

 

We, Mike's friends and his family would greatly appreciate any knowledgeable information we can get.   Please, please, please: no speculation, no guessing, no blather.  Informed responses only.  This is a really difficult situation for my friend and his family. 

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

It isn't always necessary to sue a Thai insurer to get them to pay third party liability claims under their auto policies and there is a way of dealing with recalcitrant insurers short of suing them: file a complaint with the Office of the Insurance Commissioner.

 

Syn Mun Kong is one of the insurers that ran into difficulties as a result of their issuing Covid-19 policies:  https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Coronavirus/Thai-insurers-sink-into-bankruptcy-due-to-COVID-claims. but I don't know if this is affecting their willingness or ability to pay auto third party liability claims. Do you know whether the driver or owner of the car has notified Syn Mun Kong of the accident and do you know of SMK's response? 

 

Regardless of whether a lawsuit against Syn Mun Kong becomes necessary, I think Mike and his family would probably benefit from some kind of expert help in navigating this.  Travel insurers often engage assistance companies to help sort some of these issues. Has Mike's travel insurer gotten their assistance company involved?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubascuba3]

Lawyer here are much cheaper than the US, 50k mentioned will get them to do a fair bit of work, not just initially looking into it. Go with a lawyer recommendation if you have one already.

 

The brother needs to discuss with the US insurance company, they should pay up as it's an emergency and claim back from drivers insurance