What Can You Claim from Your Car Insurance After an Accident?

Accidents are unfortunate to the core and can cause a lot of damage in just a few seconds. However, your car insurance plans can lighten the burden that accidents bring along quite a few times. Depending on the kind of accident, the plan coverage and the person at fault, you can claim several benefits from your car insurance plan. Car insurance claims can be used to cover damages incurred by your vehicle, your injuries and all other liabilities as well. However, several factors influence these payouts.

What you get to submit in a car insurance claim depends primarily on the plan coverage and the events of the accident. Your car insurance claim contents are going to be different for third-party liability and different for a comprehensive car policy and collision cover. On top of that, the claim also changes depending on the person at fault for the accident that happened. Let’s examine each of these factors:

What Can You Claim from a Third-Party Car Insurance Plan?

Third-party liability car insurance plans are designed to cover the insured person. The plan comes into play when the insured person causes an accident that injures the third-party driver or damages the third-party vehicle. If you have third-party liability insurance for your car, you can expect your insurance company to cover the repair expenses incurred by the other vehicle and the medical expenses to treat the injuries of the third-party driver. You cannot submit a car insurance claim for the repair expenses for your car or your treatment expenses in this situation. This claim is only applicable when you are at fault for the accident.

If you are not at fault for the accident, the insurance company is not liable to pay for anything. The damages caused to your car and the medical expenses have to be paid by the third-party’s insurance company. If the third-party driver is uninsured, you can make a car insurance claim and ask the insurance company to bear the expenses for your repairs. However, this is decided by a court of law only. If the insurance company bears the expenses to repair your vehicle, they make arrangements with the third-party driver to cover these expenses later in an instalment fashion.

What Can You Claim from a Comprehensive Car Insurance Plan?

Depending on the inclusions of your comprehensive car insurance plan, you can pretty much submit a car insurance claim for all damages and repair expenses for your car. Some comprehensive car insurance come with the basic benefit of personal accident cover for the drivers. If your car insurance plan comes with this cover, you can claim the medical treatment expenses for your injuries as well. A comprehensive plan will cover your third-party liability expenses, legal fees to settle any third-party related issues, treatment expenses for the passengers (if you have a passenger accident cover) and a few other things.

When You Are at Fault

Comprehensive car insurance plans can be used to settle almost all kinds of car insurance claims when you are at fault for the accident. This is the scenario for which they were initially designed – when the insured person causes the accident. Here, your car insurance claim will cover the third-party damages and injuries, legal fees, the damages incurred by your vehicle and your injuries if you have personal accident cover. This car insurance claim can only be approved if the insured driver qualifies for all the pre-determined conditions by the insurance company. An insurance company is not liable to pay these claims if the insured was intoxicated while driving, didn’t have a valid license or driving permit, or was using the car for unlawful activity.

When You Are Not at Fault

Technically, your insurance company is not liable to pay for the damages caused to your car in an accident that you didn’t cause. Here, the liability lies with the insurance provider of the other driver who was at fault. You still need to inform your insurance company about such accidents. It investigates the accident on your behalf and raises a car insurance claim with the insurance company of the third-party driver. This car insurance claim may take a while to get processed. In the meantime, your insurance company may bear the repair expenses for your damaged car and treatment expenses for your injuries. These expenses are later recovered from the third-party insurance provider.

Once again, if the other driver does not have a valid car insurance UAE, your insurance company will bear the repair expenses for you once you make a car insurance claim. If the driver/car owner cannot afford to pay for these repair expenses and medical treatment upfront, the insurance company gets an instalment plan set up from a court of law. They recover the expenses from the third party gradually.

Conclusion

Car insurance claims are a wonderful way to save yourself from major financial crises. But even if your car insurance claim would cover the damages done by you in an accident, you shouldn’t take driving lightly or drive carelessly. As explained above, car insurance claims are subject to several conditions and terms specified in the contract. If a loophole is found favouring the insurance company, you may not be able to get the claim settled. So make sure you have an in-depth understanding of your insurance coverage and never miss your car insurance renewal.