Car accidents are a distressing experience for victims even if it doesn’t involve any serious injuries. In the event of a car accident, the parties involved are usually required to contact their insurers. The insurance company of either party will usually assess the situation before making the decision as to whether to or not to accept liability. Should the insurer of either of the parties accept liability, they will then make compensation to the other party.
Whiplash claims rank as the most popular claims for car accident compensation. Other claims related to car accidents include broken limbs, bruises, and psychological injuries among others.
Although most car accidents have roots in road and environmental factors as well as mechanical problems with the car, human error also ranks as a significant cause of car accidents. This could be due to poor judgment, absentmindedness, fatigue, stress, or intoxication. Even the most capable and experienced of drivers can get caught up in a car accident as no one can anticipate the behavior of other drivers or how their vehicle might react to road conditions.
It is often easy to prove liability if the other drive was intoxicated and especially if the police were called to the scene of the accident immediately after its occurrence. In such situations it helps to lessen the stress of making a car accident compensation claim.
When making a car accident compensation claim, it is usually a good idea to hire an injury claim solicitor. The solicitors will often represent you in court, making sure that the right issues are raised and thus ensure the appropriate amount for your compensation.
Usually a car accident will include two or more vehicles and pedestrians. But other types of road traffic accidents can involve objects at the side of the road such as road signs, fences, lamp-posts etc.
There are varying types of scenarios that can cause a road traffic accident such as two cars; a car and motorbike; car and a pedestrian; a car and a bicycle; a car and a road sign or a fence or wall.
When a road traffic accident occurs, depending on its severity, in some cases it is not necessary for any emergency services to be involved.
Should the nature of the accident be severe then the Police would be required to attend and also an ambulance may be called to give medical care should anyone involved have suffered personal injury, and then if need be take them to a local hospital.
In extremely serious road traffic accident it might be necessary for the Fire services to attend especially if someone is trapped in their vehicle. A police officer will in a critical accident investigate the scene for proof to determine what actually caused the accident; for example any debris or skid marks that might be present on the road and try and decide who was responsible for the event.
Following the road traffic accident the parties associated with the event would have to contact their car insurance company on order to file a claim for repair or replacement of their vehicle. Should the event involve two or more individuals it is then up to insurer of the party at fault to pay for the repair of the other parties vehicle or property. In the situation where the party at fault only has “third party, fire and theft” insurance, then their insurer will not cover the cost of repair or replacement of their own vehicle but only cover the cost of the damage caused to the other party.
Insurance companies will provide their customer with a hire car on a temporary basis whilst the insured vehicle is being repaired but some companies charge for this service.
In a serious accident the vehicle repair centre may find the car is so seriously damaged that it is considered to be a ‘right-off’ and in such cases the insurance company would need to replace the vehicle or pay out in full the value of the vehicle involved. A vehicle repair centre might make this decision as the cost of repairing the vehicle could be more than its value.
Should you be involved in a road traffic accident then you should do the following:
• Pull over to a place of safety
• Collect details of anyone who witnessed the event
• Contact the emergency services if someone is injured
• Take as much information as you can from the other party such as
o name and address
o vehicle make and model
o registration number of all vehicles involved
o insurance details of other parties
o telephone numbers
It is a matter of law that all parties involved in an accident should stop. If a driver refuses to stop then the accident will be classed as a ‘hit and run’ which is a criminal offence. A car accident compensation claim applies for both minor and major car injuries.
Car accident compensation claims may seem uncomplicated but they are not. Insurance companies usually have car accident solicitors who specialize in such claims and it is advisable that you also have one to ensure that you get the most out of your injury claim in terms of the compensation value.
Car accident compensation amount is usually determined according to various factors. For instance, if the offended party didn’t have his or her seatbelt buckled up at the time of the accident then the amount could be slashed down by as much as a quarter of the original figure. Also if the complainant was a passenger at the time of the accident but he/she knew the driver was not competent enough for driving owing to their being excessively intoxicated.