How to make a claim against the other party

Most motor vehicle claims are settled by insurers, but occasionally they also will fight a claim and you must be prepared.

In order to make a recovery, you must be able to prove two things -

1. the other party was at fault; and

2. the amount of your loss because of the other party's fault.

The law says that someone is 'negligent', careless or 'at fault' if they do something which a reasonable person would not have done just before the accident.

On the previous page we suggested that you make a note of conversations at the scene of the accident. One of the quoted statements was "Look I'm really sorry. I just did not see you at all." This is very good evidence of negligence and you are on the way to victory.

The usual allegations of negligence in vehicle accidents are -

• the driver was not watching the traffic

• the driver was too close to the rear of your car

• the driver was travelling too fast for the road conditions

• the driver failed to 'give way' to the right or on 'a round about'

• the driver failed to brake to avoid the accident - this normally means they were not watching the traffic!

  If you can prove any of these allegations, you will have just about proved your claim.

Law also says that you can only recover damages if you can prove that you have suffered a loss. Damage to your vehicle is such a loss. If you were driving a friend's car at the time of the accident, you may have suffered loss, but not necessarily so. If you were driving a friend's car, your friend will have to sue the other driver. You cannot do it for them!

Your loss is proved by showing that the damage was caused in the accident and was not there from the previous accident you had a few weeks earlier! You must have a loss assessor or a repairer with sufficient experience to tell a court the amount you claim is a reasonable amount in the assessor's opinion. If you have obtained two estimates of repairs to your car from different repairers and they are similar in estimate then you will not have a problem in proving your claim.

Photographs of the damage to your car and the accident scene are a good aid in recovery, but not essential. Also there is not any obligation to obtain any repair quotes for the other party as long as you are sure that you can prove your loss. For practical reasons you should always obtain such a quote and send a copy to the other party and offer the other party an opportunity to see the damaged vehicle before repairs.