Why do we pay car insurance if we still have to pay anything even when not guilty ?

[soalbundy]

Never happened to me, i've had two accidents both not my fault. The police were polite and professional and prosecuted both drivers i never paid a thing with only 3rd party insurance

[1FinickyOne]

I was hit 2x.. neither my fault - both times the police found in my favor, once even getting annoyed at the other driver for trying to blame me when he was so obviously wrong. The second time it was a government official who hit me and he had to pay… I too have first class insurance so it is never an issue, never cost me a dime…

[oneday]

Thank you for reply, but this sentence is funny :-) "he didn't realize he should have looked behind him before opening the passenger door", REALLY YOU NEED TO DRIVE TO KNOW THAT, IT'S NOT JUST COMMON SENSE, EVEN IN US ? 555+

I disagree completely with you on this point. Passengers opening car doors on the "curb" side would not expect motorbikes to pass by on that side of the car, unless they had lived in Thailand long enough to be use to Thai traffic flow. I saw this very accident occur right in front of me a few years ago and immediately felt sorry for the falang passenger opening the door because he wasn't aware of how traffic flows in Thailand, yet I knew the Thai would think how stupid he was to do that...that he should have known to look.

Motorbikes DO NOT pass by cars in the US on the curb side of a car...EVER!

Furthermore, whenever I pass by a car that is slowed or stopped in Thailand I always leave enough room in case the door is opened and I'm ALWAYS looking for doors to open...so stupid on the Falang tourist for just barreling through without a care in the world.

[myluckythai]

Like said... Evey amount that is asked to pay on the spot is extortion. You don't have to pay anything on the spot. If you don't speak Thai, just always have the telphone number of your insurance at hand and call them.

I also have the telephone nuber of a Thai, English speaking lawyer at hand at all times. so when i get in a situation like this, police can explain to him what is happening and who they are.

Most times when it is a small accident they won;t bother wanting to argue with your insurance and or lawyer there at the spot.

In case of a larger accident a lawyer is well wanted to explain your rights and how the situation should proceed.

I also always carry the number of my consulat in case of the situation that they want to confiscate my pasport.....ah well i guess it's all common sense,

Edited October 2, 2014 by myluckythai

[AjarnMartin]

Fit a dashcam:)

Absolutely! Although within months of fitting my dashcam for only 'forward' activity, they've now brought out a DUAL dashcam system which records both 'forward and rear' activity... :-) Got to visit Australia again... 555 Perhaps a 'camera dome' on TOP of the car is the only answer for 360 degree coverage?

[lust]

Actually our only experience with A1 first class auto insurance has been very positive. Hubby was returning from a long weekend trip, as a passenger in a vehicle driven by a Thai Rotary club friend -- a brand new, very expensive SUV. The friend pulled up to our townhouse in our narrow soi and since Hubby doesn't drive, he didn't realize he should have looked behind him before opening the passenger door. Oops, he opened just in time for a young tourist on a rental motorcycle to smash into the door, nearly taking it off its hinges.

Fortunately, tourist was wearing a helmet and was more concerned about whether he'd damaged the motorbike (he hadn't) and the fact that he didn't want us to call the police because he wasn't licensed to drive a motorbike. He scurried off before we had a chance to really apologize.

Then there was the problem of the car door. The Thai neighbors had started to gather. Hubby's friend didn't speak much English and our Thai wasn't good. We were insisting we would pay for the door and all the Thai's kept saying "mai pen rai. A1 insurance" Someone produced a crowbar and bent the door enough to were it could be closed and the Rotary buddy drove away.

Next week at the Rotary club meeting, Hubby saw that the guy's vehicle was repaired. He asked about cost and again it was "mai pen rai A1 insurance" Hubby tried to say he's pay the deductible. Finally he found a club member who spoke enough English to explain the concept of A1 insurance. There is no deductible! The repair bill was covered 100%. What a concept! I wish we had that in the U.S.

show your husband this video and i bet he will never forget to check again

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=8ae_1412079004

[loumaripol]

In the one car accident I have had I just called my insurer and kept quiet. The insurance claims man handled the entire affair. I did not pay anything.

[ericthai]

Where did the OP go?? Seems the majority of the stories here is that the insurance company handles things with no problems. I have had two accidents in the last 20 years and each time the police were helpful and insurance took care of everything. Also my rates have never gone up. If I don't have any claims then the next year I was offered a discount.

[berriev]

Usually the bigger vehicle pays in Thailand, motorbike can claim damages, regardless of who is at fault.

I know this from personal experience, not "hearsay"

[curtklay]

HOWEVER....you do need to pay attention to what you are being charged when it comes time to renew your insurance. I have been hit twice in parking lots while inside shopping. Both times, the drivers took off without even leaving a note. My insurance covered all the repair costs, but when I renewed they would not give me the "no claims discount". When I protested that neither claim was my fault; that these were "hit and run", they said if there is no other party for them to recover the costs from, I lose the renewal discount.

[Johnnie99]

Let's not forget that if you make a claim, your premium will probably go up.

[pedro01]

I've never had a bad experience. Been in a couple of scrapes, one of them my fault - all got sorted according to fault.

One time I got hit by a motorbike crossing the road - there was a big van and I stepped out. Not really my fault or the bikes as I should have looked and he should have been stopped. The rider was Thai.

He wanted something like 200 Baht off me to stick his fairing back on but a crowd gathered and told him to disappear. Funny thing was as the guy was asking for money and the crowd were arguing with him (with me just standing off to one side bemused), I asked a girl how much it was he wanted. She said "you shouldn't pay him a thing" and went on arguing with the bike guy. I just looked at the guy on the bike and gave my best TiT shrug.

In the end we wai'd each other and he left. No payment made....

[BarnicaleBob]

I have had four accidents in the past five years here. Two were my fault and two were not. In all cases I contacted my first class insurance company and a rep. responded to the scene is short order and sorted everything out for me. Lucky for me we called the insurance company and not the police for the two accidents I was at fault and everything was taken care of. In one of those cases the insurance rep asked that I pay the hospital about 2,000 baht for the lady I injured treatment so she could be treated right away and promised it would be refunded to me within a week and it was.

In one case where I was not at fault and the police investigated, I was informed that I would have to appear at a police hearing the following Friday for the judgement as to who was at fault. I was concerned about this because I have major damage to my car and the two men on the motorcycle that hit me had both been hospitalized for a few days. The insurance rep. showed up for the hearing to represent me and I was found not at fault while the driver of the motorcycle was fined.

On years I've had accidents that were not my fault my insurance rates did not go up but on years I had accidents that were my fault my rates did increase a couple of thousand baht.

I have found that by always carrying photocopies of my passport, insurance, vehicle registration and drivers license in my car, I only have to hand that to the policeman and insurance rep. and everything is handled without any problems. Never hand over the originals, let them see them but give them signed copies, that will also save you a trip to the police station for copying.

I now also have a dash cam and found it has improved my driving because I am aware that someone may be looking at it someday. No accidents since getting the camera, I guess it has sorted out my bad driving habits 555.

[stevenl]

HOWEVER....you do need to pay attention to what you are being charged when it comes time to renew your insurance. I have been hit twice in parking lots while inside shopping. Both times, the drivers took off without even leaving a note. My insurance covered all the repair costs, but when I renewed they would not give me the "no claims discount". When I protested that neither claim was my fault; that these were "hit and run", they said if there is no other party for them to recover the costs from, I lose the renewal discount.

You did claim so you lost your no claim discount. If they could have recouped it would be a different story.

[Kabula]

You carry auto insurance to protect you, your passengers and others for catastrophic bodily injury and property claims.

[prakhonchai nick]

All the above nonsense about the insurance paid for everything - and it didn't cost me at all!. RUBBISH.

1) You will almost certainly have lost your No Claims Bonus.....Could be a loss of as much as 50%

2) Insurers regularly increase premiums after an accident.....although to get round this many people obtain a quote from an alternative Insurer. Strangely in Thailand Insurers do not ask about claims history, unless you want to transfer the No Claim Bonus too.

When considering making a claim, it is worth weighing up the cost of the damage against the probable increase in premiums. Sometimes cheaper to pay for repairs yourself.

In a recent fatal accident in which I was asked to advise, despite having 1 million baht cover for death, the Insurer only paid out 500,000baht, and the Insured was expected to pay more by the deceased's family. I believe reponsibility for the accident was 50/50.

[JungleBiker]

Thank you for reply, but this sentence is funny :-) "he didn't realize he should have looked behind him before opening the passenger door", REALLY YOU NEED TO DRIVE TO KNOW THAT, IT'S NOT JUST COMMON SENSE, EVEN IN US ? 555+

I disagree completely with you on this point. Passengers opening car doors on the "curb" side would not expect motorbikes to pass by on that side of the car, unless they had lived in Thailand long enough to be use to Thai traffic flow. I saw this very accident occur right in front of me a few years ago and immediately felt sorry for the falang passenger opening the door because he wasn't aware of how traffic flows in Thailand, yet I knew the Thai would think how stupid he was to do that...that he should have known to look.

Motorbikes DO NOT pass by cars in the US on the curb side of a car...EVER!

Furthermore, whenever I pass by a car that is slowed or stopped in Thailand I always leave enough room in case the door is opened and I'm ALWAYS looking for doors to open...so stupid on the Falang tourist for just barreling through without a care in the world.

I did not read that the door was opened on the curb side. I assumed the driver parked on the "wrong" side of the road and that the passenger door was opened towards the middle of the road.

[ATF]

No one has any reason to pay any additional money if they have 1st Class insurance unless the aggrieved party isn't happy with the payout he gets from your insurance. In which case he is entitled to file a civil suit against you.

In practical terms the Police usually want these matters sorted out amicably and they will usually sit both parties in a room to make an agreement. If an agreement cannot be reached the Police will decide who is right or wrong and advise accordingly.

These problems usually arise mainly from Thais and also Falungs renting vehicles not having any insurance or just Por Ror Bor insurance which only covers 3rd party physical injury up to 50k Baht.

Thais mostly believe they are fully covered with this insurance which provides zero cover against property damage.

I have known many cases of serious accidents where the aggrieved party was completely wrong. Three people on a bike no helmets etc. and the person who hit them was forced to pay medical expenses in addition to the PRB insurance they carried.

Get quality 1st Class insurance and read the conditions. They are not all equal.

Regarding Thai Insurance Companies not making money, they do make money, it just goes to show how much you are getting ripped off in Europe for insurance.

[iamariva1957]

Okay I have to ask... given the weight of an SUV's door and the oncoming weight of a scooter... how was it that the latter did not have its front forks bent out of shape and was not damaged in some way? So I think that the "Hubby" was responsible for the said damage that must have been to the scooter as he did not show the required caution when opening the door on a road (small Soi or not. USA or not)). Also the guy on it was a tourist? So what need for a bike licence? Just had to ask.

[Doc46]

We have somebody asking a question: accident, wife says not guilty, insurance company says won't pay 3rd party because not guilty, lawyer says no reason to pay.

So why the question here: why do we have to pay? This thread really does not make sense.

Now in the original thread, if it later becomes clear she was at fault the insurance company will pay, if not they will not and neither should that OP or his wife.

It all really is not that difficult.

We are so lucky to have you and your dreams here, now everything is clear thanks to you <3

Whish you that things goes how you dream when accident happens..

Unfortunately I have been in a few accidents. Always had the insurance guy sort things out, and never experienced any problems.

Take into account though that in Thailand certain things in general are not covered on insurance, so if you're liable for an accident you'll have to pay for that. E.g. rental of a vehicle while the 3rd party's vehicle is being repaired.

That sounds like a load of crap to me,,,Faqme,, if you have full insurance they pay,

[Peterphuket]

I understand the question. A few years back, some idiot make a right turn and smashed in to je side of my wife's van. He was lying on the ground and street vendors came runnig over to be "witness" for the motorcyclist.

The police and motorcyclist demanded cash for his accident.

The cyclist and vendor insist rich must pay poor. My wife refused and started scolding them as it was obvious, you can't turn right from a left lane. It was clearly the motorcyclist fault and my wife demanded the police arrest the vendors for being false witness.

In a eye blink, they all disappeared and the police and cyclist was begging for us not to press charge against them.

So moral is, stand your ground and take the offensive.

And that is for me the reason to have a dashcam in my car. They can say what they like, but if the camera don't lie, is speaks the truth.

[oneday]

Thank you for reply, but this sentence is funny :-) "he didn't realize he should have looked behind him before opening the passenger door", REALLY YOU NEED TO DRIVE TO KNOW THAT, IT'S NOT JUST COMMON SENSE, EVEN IN US ? 555+

I disagree completely with you on this point. Passengers opening car doors on the "curb" side would not expect motorbikes to pass by on that side of the car, unless they had lived in Thailand long enough to be use to Thai traffic flow. I saw this very accident occur right in front of me a few years ago and immediately felt sorry for the falang passenger opening the door because he wasn't aware of how traffic flows in Thailand, yet I knew the Thai would think how stupid he was to do that...that he should have known to look.

Motorbikes DO NOT pass by cars in the US on the curb side of a car...EVER!

Furthermore, whenever I pass by a car that is slowed or stopped in Thailand I always leave enough room in case the door is opened and I'm ALWAYS looking for doors to open...so stupid on the Falang tourist for just barreling through without a care in the world.

I did not read that the door was opened on the curb side. I assumed the driver parked on the "wrong" side of the road and that the passenger door was opened towards the middle of the road.

We both made assumptions. If the car was on a reasonably wide street and parked on the wrong side then you were correct...the passenger was definitely in the wrong in not looking before he opened the door. I believe the OP said it was a small Soi so the car could have stopped and left more room on the passenger side to allow the passenger to get out. In this case the motorbike rider should have been cautious going around that side of the car and the passenger should have looked also, but you just aren't use to it on the passenger side if you are new to this country.