Road traffic collision claims

[cwrtcoed]

The law forum is not open for adding topics so I thought I'd try on here for some answers or advice.

My daughter had an accident in Thailand where she was knocked off her bike by a local who had fallen asleep at the wheel of his car, she suffered quite severe injuries but is now back in the uk.

The police took a report and the driver has admitted it was his fault, and my daughter gave the police a statement and the driver is now going to court.

A friend of mine is living out in Thailand with his Thai wife, who have helped us greatly in sorting things out with the Police. He is now acting on our behalf for us because we are back in the uk, the police have got a lawyer for us and they have asked for 70,000bhat for the lawyer to fly up to meet my friend and for the accommodation, but I'm not sure if this fee is for sorting everything out and going to court to represent us.

The hospital bill and loss of earnings are up to around 1.6million bhats, my friend said that the courts have a fund which they pay out to victims and the other driver will have to pay the courts back. He said that the police are fully supportive towards us and we will get all our money back which we have paid out.

Is this the way it works out in Thailand,?

[stubuzz]

Maybe cheaper to send your friend to meet the lawyer. I would not pay it sounds wrong.

[cumgranosalum]

My experience has been that as things progress - various parties put in claims for "expenses", the police, lawyers and medical, once there is seen to be money floating about, everyone tries for a piece of the pie. problem is, if you simply kick up a fuss or tell them to F/O then the whole process grinds to a halt. sometimes a direct line to a "hight-ranking" official can ease the process ...... but the more people you involve the more expenses they need.

[stevenl]

Get your own lawyer, either direct or via your friend.

[cumgranosalum]

Get your own lawyer, either direct or via your friend.

Trouble with any lawyer in Thailand is that they don't see their job as defending their clients interests in term of the law so much as negotiating a (face-saving) settlement with the police.....e.g. money and fees.

[JaseTheBass]

There's only one way to deal with an RTA here and that it to let your insurance company deal with everything. If you don't have proper insurance, bend over and open wide...

Sent from my R2D2 using my C3P0 manservant

[stevenl]

There's only one way to deal with an RTA here and that it to let your insurance company deal with everything. If you don't have proper insurance, bend over and open wide...

Sent from my R2D2 using my C3P0 manservant

How many motorbike riders have insurance?

[stevenl]

Get your own lawyer, either direct or via your friend.

Trouble with any lawyer in Thailand is that they don't see their job as defending their clients interests in term of the law so much as negotiating a (face-saving) settlement with the police.....e.g. money and fees.

So get a good lawyer.

[cumgranosalum]

Get your own lawyer, either direct or via your friend.

Trouble with any lawyer in Thailand is that they don't see their job as defending their clients interests in term of the law so much as negotiating a (face-saving) settlement with the police.....e.g. money and fees.

So get a good lawyer.

a "good" lawyer? firstly you need to identify one - a process that in Thailand is rather opaque.....secondly a "good" lawyer may still cling to the way Thai people believe the law should work....i.e. everyone concerned gets a bit out if it. If they kick over the traces they are likely to incur the wrath and obstinacy of the police and others involved.

[stevenl]

Get your own lawyer, either direct or via your friend.

Trouble with any lawyer in Thailand is that they don't see their job as defending their clients interests in term of the law so much as negotiating a (face-saving) settlement with the police.....e.g. money and fees.

So get a good lawyer.

a "good" lawyer? firstly you need to identify one - a process that in Thailand is rather opaque.....secondly a "good" lawyer may still cling to the way Thai people believe the law should work....i.e. everyone concerned gets a bit out if it. If they kick over the traces they are likely to incur the wrath and obstinacy of the police and others involved.

DELETED Thailand really is not that different from other places.

[seedy]

Bickering posts removed and edited. Discuss the Topic. Keep the personal attacks off this Forum

[JaseTheBass]

There's only one way to deal with an RTA here and that it to let your insurance company deal with everything. If you don't have proper insurance, bend over and open wide...

Sent from my R2D2 using my C3P0 manservant

How many motorbike riders have insurance?

All, seeing as Thailand is really not that different from other places.

[stevenl]

There's only one way to deal with an RTA here and that it to let your insurance company deal with everything. If you don't have proper insurance, bend over and open wide...

Sent from my R2D2 using my C3P0 manservant

How many motorbike riders have insurance?

All, seeing as Thailand is really not that different from other places.

Exactly. As in many other countries there is a limited compulsory insurance, but the additionals, like judicial help, are hardly ever insured for motorbike riders.

So the OP has to find his own lawyer, and not trust the lawyer the BIB came up with.

[Dagnabbit]

I presume the lawyer is in Thailand and simply needs to fly to another Thai city for a meeting. This could be done in a day for most cities and if not, accommodation should not be more than 3k.

70k is very high. If you take a corporate law firm like CTLO, you can expect to pay partners there 14K Baht per hour. Such a lawyer would be excessive for a case like this. A local litigation lawyer will probably take on the whole case for 100-200k. 70k for a single days meeting is pretty high. Is this a top law firm you are hiring here? Or is this just some local Somchai?

It's the insurance company you will have to sue, unless the driver was not insured in which case, I think you are better off forgetting about it.

You may get awarded costs but loss of earnings is tricky but the fact is, even if you win in court, that is just the start of it. They can appeal, which means a new round of cases (and you paying court fees again). If they do not appeal or you win the appeal, they still don't have to pay. You'd then need another court case (admittedly shorter) to recover the money by seizing assets. In addition to this, when you do that final recovery court case, you may be surprised by the fact your lawyer will expect 10-30% of the monies recovered even though you paid them for everything you did.

This could all take 3 years, be expensive and stressful. At the end you may find you didn't do much more than cover your costs.

The lawyers will like you though.

[Tywais]

There's only one way to deal with an RTA here and that it to let your insurance company deal with everything. If you don't have proper insurance, bend over and open wide...

Sent from my R2D2 using my C3P0 manservant

How many motorbike riders have insurance?

Everyone that has a current tax sticker. Can't get it without at least compulsory insurance. Though in this case the payout is a pittance compared to the quoted real expenses above.

[stevenl]

There's only one way to deal with an RTA here and that it to let your insurance company deal with everything. If you don't have proper insurance, bend over and open wide...

Sent from my R2D2 using my C3P0 manservant

How many motorbike riders have insurance?

Everyone that has a current tax sticker. Can't get it without at least compulsory insurance. Though in this case the payout is a pittance compared to the quoted real expenses above.

Those insurances are not much good in cases like this. See also post #13 BTW.

[cwrtcoed]

The driver had insurance, but a limit of £10,000, they have paid around £7500 towards the hosp bill but I'm still waiting for the rest.

My friend is very friendly with the Police Colonel and I was hoping that this would help

Me towards our claim being successful. They have already jailed the driver and his family paid his bail after 10 days.

My friend said that I would definately get all

My money back, plus loss of earnings And hosp fees returned.

Once I get the compensation he would pay the money out to Me when he returns to the UK in 2 months time, sounds good or dodgy?

[Dagnabbit]

The driver had insurance, but a limit of £10,000, they have paid around £7500 towards the hosp bill but I'm still waiting for the rest.

My friend is very friendly with the Police Colonel and I was hoping that this would help

Me towards our claim being successful. They have already jailed the driver and his family paid his bail after 10 days.

My friend said that I would definately get all

My money back, plus loss of earnings And hosp fees returned.

Once I get the compensation he would pay the money out to Me when he returns to the UK in 2 months time, sounds good or dodgy?

That makes no sense.

Once you get the compensation, the money is in your hands, so who is it that is returning to the UK and sending you $$$?

[cwrtcoed]

I'm back in the UK,a friend of mine who lives out there with his wife is sorting things out. I gave the police both a copy of their ID cards so they can sort it out on our behalf. He said once I am Awarded the money he will put it in his Thai account, then once he visits the UK in two months time he will transfer the money into my UK account, sounds too good to be true or is that the way things work over there

[stevenl]

Where is the money coming from? There is no 'court fund'.

[Dagnabbit]

I'm back in the UK,a friend of mine who lives out there with his wife is sorting things out. I gave the police both a copy of their ID cards so they can sort it out on our behalf. He said once I am Awarded the money he will put it in his Thai account, then once he visits the UK in two months time he will transfer the money into my UK account, sounds too good to be true or is that the way things work over there

Got it. Did you sign a power of attorney? If not, they cant do anything & may be taking you for a ride.

The 70k for a lawyer for 1 day is way in excess of what you should be paying. Obviously I dont know your friends but someone is taking the piss there.

Ultimately, you are recovering uninsured loss. So 1 court case for the claim, 1 for the appeal, 1 to file for recovery of assets if (when) they dont pay.

The question you have to ask yourself is "does the person you are suing have the assets/money?" If not, you could well win but not see a penny.

Best bet is to negotiate what you can and walk UNLESS the person has $$$ and you are prepared to sink a decent sum and 2 or 3 years into recovering the money.

Whilst there may be victim support comp here, there is no way the givt is going to give you 1.6 million baht. It'll be capped.

[cwrtcoed]

Hi

No I didn't sign anything for a power of attorney, because my friend has hood connections with the Police, I thought this may go in my favour, apparently they jailed the driver (not sure what for) , and his family paid his bail. I don't think they are from a poor family, I have met them at the police station, they seem quite decent.

Only thing that puzzled me, was that my friend said prior to meeting the insurance company and the driver that they normally try and settle things outside the Police station, because the locals don't want to go to court.

When they turned up they had large wallets with them and I thought they were going to settle then, but the Police took a statement from my daughter and they told us he's going to court which I found odd, when we had the chance to sort it there and then

[Dagnabbit]

Hi

No I didn't sign anything for a power of attorney, because my friend has hood connections with the Police, I thought this may go in my favour, apparently they jailed the driver (not sure what for) , and his family paid his bail. I don't think they are from a poor family, I have met them at the police station, they seem quite decent.

Only thing that puzzled me, was that my friend said prior to meeting the insurance company and the driver that they normally try and settle things outside the Police station, because the locals don't want to go to court.

When they turned up they had large wallets with them and I thought they were going to settle then, but the Police took a statement from my daughter and they told us he's going to court which I found odd, when we had the chance to sort it there and then

Without a power of attorney, nobody can act on your behalf. Nothing can be resolved in your absence.

If the driver was insured, then the insurance company are the people you should be dealing with.

If he's not covered, this will take time but is a civil matter.

If the police are involved, then they are discussing a potential criminal case. Nothing to do with compensation to you.

That or they are working with the driver to make it look like it's not his fault.

You need a lawyer. Your friend is giving you the mushroom treatment.

[cwrtcoed]

This is the message I had this morning, because I said I didn't have the money to pay for the lawyer

So just drop the case, is what he saying true then??

spoke to police to drop everything he told lek she must come down and pay 14000 for the court and the lawyer wants 3000 for what she have down if we don't pay it lek will go to jail

[Dagnabbit]

This is the message I had this morning, because I said I didn't have the money to pay for the lawyer

So just drop the case, is what he saying true then??

spoke to police to drop everything he told lek she must come down and pay 14000 for the court and the lawyer wants 3000 for what she have down if we don't pay it lek will go to jail

Sorry - but how are we supposed to know who Lek is?

Your daughter got hit by a car.

The driver is either insured or not.

If insured - you should be dealing with the insurance company.

If not insured - you can file civil and/or criminal charges.

The police may also file criminal charges - which you do not have to pay them to do. The police will NOT be involved with the civil claim.

There are no circumstances under which your daughter gets hit by a car and then some (unrelated?) person called Lek has to go to jail for not paying the police.

As for telling the police to drop everything - do you mean the criminal case? Because they are not going to be involved in a civil claim.

You are being taken for a mug by the sound of it. My guess - you've had some vultures around you that thought they could extract $$$ from you (like 70k baht for a day trip) and now they know you are asking questions, they are upset and are trying to cut their losses.

I presume it's these people that dangled a big juicy carrot in front of you that you thought you'd like a bite of....

[stevenl]

This is the message I had this morning, because I said I didn't have the money to pay for the lawyer

So just drop the case, is what he saying true then??

spoke to police to drop everything he told lek she must come down and pay 14000 for the court and the lawyer wants 3000 for what she have down if we don't pay it lek will go to jail

Sorry, don't understand this, can you please explain this. This also seems very different from what your friend told you earlier.

As I said: get your own lawyer.

[cwrtcoed]

Lek is the Thai wife of my friend
My daughter was hit whilst being a passenger on a moped
The driver was insured but only with a blanket payout of £10,000
Insurance have paid around £7500 for hospital fees and still owe £2500 which we are still waiting for them to pay us, insurance company are called DELETED
Police said they are taking the driver on for criminal charges
Because the lawyer has asked for 60,000 bhat which I'm presuming is to take the case on ( just guessing it's for the full case to court) and they wanted another 10,000bhat for accomadation and flights from Phuket to Bangkok
My friend text me today to say that he has given my mobile phone number to the lawyer who's dealing with the case, so he can ring me
I'm not paying anything out, sounds a bit dodgy

[cwrtcoed]

Just something else I remembered, when my daughter done the statement with the police Officer ( who had three stars on his shoulder I think a leutenant) he asked my daughter about compensation so he looked at all the hospital bills and loss of earnings and he put down 1.6million bhat, so I'm not sure if the police don't get involved in compensation why put a figure down?

Remember I said before my friend has connections with the colonel from his local station who spoke to the colonel at the one we were in, I thought the police were doing us a big favour? And supporting us

[seedy]

Post Edited - Forum Rule -

6) You will not post comments that could be reasonably construed as defamation or libel.

Defamation is the issuance of a statement about another person or business which causes that person to suffer harm. It does not have to be false to be defamatory. Libel is when the defamatory statement is published either in a drawing, painting, cinematography, film, picture or letters made visible by any means, or any other recording instruments, recording picture or letters, or by broadcasting or spreading picture, or by propagation by any other means. Defamation is both a civil and criminal charge in Thailand.

[Dagnabbit]

Lek is the Thai wife of my friend

My daughter was hit whilst being a passenger on a moped

The driver was insured but only with a blanket payout of £10,000

Insurance have paid around £7500 for hospital fees and still owe £2500 which we are still waiting for them to pay us, insurance company are called DELETED

Police said they are taking the driver on for criminal charges

Because the lawyer has asked for 60,000 bhat which I'm presuming is to take the case on ( just guessing it's for the full case to court) and they wanted another 10,000bhat for accomadation and flights from Phuket to Bangkok

My friend text me today to say that he has given my mobile phone number to the lawyer who's dealing with the case, so he can ring me

I'm not paying anything out, sounds a bit dodgy

The police will forward the case to the prosecutor. If the prosecutor considers there to be a reasonable chance of a win, then they will take the case to court.

In that case, you do not have to pay anything. It is the state vs the driver.

Your 'friend' is doing you no favors here. You are being asked for money for something that is normally free and your friend is telling you the police have threatened to put his wife in jail.

It's Bullsh*t. The money they are asking you for is just the start. It'll grow & grow and the more you send, the more they will ask for.

Lek ain't going to jail. She's in on it.