Claiming For More Than Just Vehicle Or Personal Damage

[quiksilva]

A month ago this idiot smashed into the back of my car, he accepts that he was in the wrong and the insurance companies and police have verified this.

My vehicle has been in the garage for a over a month and I need a car for my work. The insurer's recommended garage did not provide a replacement car so I have had to rent a car, for what looks like it will be a month and a half, costing me, the innocent party, almost 45,000 Baht.

Furthermore, after the accident the resale value of my car will almost certainly diminish.

I fully intend to claim for these items from the other party's insurance, which someone has told me is possible, but they asked us not to use their name or their position as it might affect their career [ ] however they have been quite helpful and apparently there is a poorly publicized official channel for doing this.

I am still looking for further information on this, but am steadily making ground, I will post my findings and experience here as I go through this process.

If anyone else has any useful experience or insights to share it would be truly appreciated and most valuable.

[ThaivisaInsurance]

We would suggest in cases where you feel you have been 'wronged', to contact the Dept. of Insurance and explain to them your problems.

[soundman]

A month ago this idiot smashed into the back of my car, he accepts that he was in the wrong and the insurance companies and police have verified this.

My vehicle has been in the garage for a over a month and I need a car for my work. The insurer's recommended garage did not provide a replacement car so I have had to rent a car, for what looks like it will be a month and a half, costing me, the innocent party, almost 45,000 Baht.

Furthermore, after the accident the resale value of my car will almost certainly diminish.

I fully intend to claim for these items from the other party's insurance, which someone has told me is possible, but they asked us not to use their name or their position as it might affect their career [ ] however they have been quite helpful and apparently there is a poorly publicized official channel for doing this.

I am still looking for further information on this, but am steadily making ground, I will post my findings and experience here as I go through this process.

If anyone else has any useful experience or insights to share it would be truly appreciated and most valuable.

I, for one, will be very interested in what you find out.

One of my staff smashed a company vehicle (1st level insurance) and killed a pedestrian late last year.

Not including diminished value of a "repaired" vehicle, I was still out of pocket nearly 100K Baht after all was said and done.

Soundman.

[quiksilva]

It turns out that the other party's insurer is Sampanh insurance, who said that they can not afford to finance claims, even if I pursue a case with the DOI. Can this be true?

They had the nerve to suggest that I take the guilty party himself to court if I want to recover this claim! Is this even feasible, or indeed financially viable for a 100,000 Baht claim here? (presumably losers pay legal fees too, but surely this is what his insurance is for?)

Any insights would be appreciated.

Edited October 16, 2007 by quiksilva

[ThaivisaInsurance]

Unfortunately Sampanh Insurance has problems at present and the companies business is being handled by the governing body which has just changed it’s name to the Office of the Insurance Commission (OIC) from the DOI.

[astral]

My own insurance company took ages to get my car repaired

and I did squeeze a car out of them for the last week, but they

were very reluctant.

[quiksilva]

Just to update, it looks like the only way I can get some kind of compensation for the car rental will be to take the actual 3rd party to court. I dont want that sort of expense and hassle, so thats it.

[ballbreaker]

Look at your insurance policy closely. Is it possible they should be responsible for covering your cost and its their responsibility to recover from other insurance company or 3rd party.

[ProThaiExpat]

Quicksilva: Exhaust your options with your own insurance company first. In most insurance policies, your insurance company has a subrogation clause that states that they have the right to seek reinbursement from the insurance company of the other driver or the other driver himself if his insurance is inadequate for any expense they incur on your behalf.

Most insurance company associations have methods on how to perfect claims among themselves without the cost of litigation.

Read you policy carefully, generally all of your damages that you suffer that flow from the accident should be covered unless specifically excluded. You are the first party insured under your insurance policy and thereby enjoy a much greater equitable position to make claims compared to claiming against another insurance company or driver.

Your insurance company owes you a duty under your policy and you will get much further with less difficulty proceeding first against your own insurance company. I am sure there is a Thai government office that deals with first party insured complaints, if your insurance carrier stonewalls you.

Short of proving you made a unexpected and dangerous sudden stop for no rational reason, the other driver is clearly at fault when he rear ends.

[Dissolution]

My insurance company, AXA, said I'd have to take the guilty party to court. All I wanted was a rental vehicle to bide the time whilst my car was in the garage.

[torrenova]

IN a similar situation in the Uk quite a few years ago when someone wrote off my girlfriend's car we threatened to put our insurance company in court if they did not pay as we really didn't have the cost to run a hire car for what turned out to be 13 weeks.

[PattayaParent]

Quicksilva: Exhaust your options with your own insurance company first. In most insurance policies, your insurance company has a subrogation clause that states that they have the right to seek reinbursement from the insurance company of the other driver or the other driver himself if his insurance is inadequate for any expense they incur on your behalf.

Most insurance company associations have methods on how to perfect claims among themselves without the cost of litigation.

Read you policy carefully, generally all of your damages that you suffer that flow from the accident should be covered unless specifically excluded. You are the first party insured under your insurance policy and thereby enjoy a much greater equitable position to make claims compared to claiming against another insurance company or driver.

Your insurance company owes you a duty under your policy and you will get much further with less difficulty proceeding first against your own insurance company. I am sure there is a Thai government office that deals with first party insured complaints, if your insurance carrier stonewalls you.

Short of proving you made a unexpected and dangerous sudden stop for no rational reason, the other driver is clearly at fault when he rear ends.

Two friends on separate occasions have had accidents which were caused by the third party.

The police put the blame on my friends as they had insurance but the third parties didn't (underage Thais on motorbikes).

In both cases the insurance company said they agree that my friends were not in the wrong and therefore they would not pay any costs and that my friends would have to challenge the police findings in court.

Seems the insurance companies don't work the same way here as in UK?

[soundman]

Well, its happened again two days ago. Another staff crashed a work vehicle & it will be a month of extra expenses to be born by our company.

Insurance never fully covers you.

Soundman.

[torrenova]

In general western insurance law there is a "betterment" clause which means that you should not be in a better position prior to that which you were before the claim. Examples would simply be new tyres when those on the vehicle were half worn out, new bumpers when the old ones were rusted etc. They actually have the right to reduce your claim for betterment.

Now here in Disneyland, they won't replace write offs or stolen unrecovered new in the first 12 months, you have to push to get above 80% coverage, hire cars are few and far between, everything takes far longer than it should etc/ This could all be easily fixed by a moderate increase in premium.

I once did some work for an insurance company, Folgate in Poole in Dorset, many years ago when a student and they offered hire cars on all their policies. The reason why was that it was a great marketing tool which actually cost next to nothing and could itself be reinsured and thus the liability could be taken off the books.

I mean, who would not pay say 20k per annum for insurance with western bells and whistles rather than 16k for some junk policy like most seem to be here ?

[quiksilva]

Absolutely, I am definitely in the market for an insurance policy that includes :-

1) a rental vehicle whilst the car is being repaired and

2) all works to be done by the dealership (where they know what they are doing and it takes half the time)

Furthermore given that the average number of claims per year in this market (1.0 pa) I don't mind paying extra for it, because I'm fairly sure that I will make good use of it.

Insurance brokers feel free to PM if you have something that fits the bill.

[torrenova]

Perhaps the broker on here could sort something out even as a stand alone policy for hire car ? insurance the gap in the car insurance ?

I'm sure it would be a winner but the biggest winner would just be a proper policy in the first place.