3rd Party Insurance Claim

[Tractor]

I was hit from behind while cycling at the end of November 2013 and have only now been paid out as a third party claim.

 

All vehicles that have a valid and current insurance will have third party coverage. In my case the guy that hit me didn't disclose most of his details (a passing SAPS vehicle gave us each a piece of paper and told us to right all the details down) but a photo that I took of his car licence disk had a company staff parking sticker right next to it. So, I knew where the guy worked (an insurance company of all things) which gave me a good place to start. I called the company and explained what had happened and was put through to their legal department. I mentioned the staff parking sticker and provided all the details I had (name, ID number, vehicle registration) and also mentioned that the guy isn't taking my calls. It was left at that till I followed up with them a couple of days later (not once did they follow up and call me during the entire 3 month process, despite numerous promises to do so). I lodged a formal third party claim and was forwarded the necessary documentation which I duly completed and then waited some more. To cut a long story short, once I had a claim number I could phone every other day and follow up, which I did and eventually I was paid out.

 

If you have bikes that aren't all insured (like the one I was riding at the time of the accident) and you do need to claim as a third party here's some useful info from my experience:

 

- take photos at the scene of the accident

- get as many details from the other party as you can, they might not their insurance policy number BUT they will know who they are insured with

- make sure the details are complete before you part ways, for example a cell number is never going to just be 6 numbers long, or an address isn't going to be just 5 The Cedars

- if anyone witnessed the accident get their details

- report it to the nearest police station where the accident happened

- get an accident report number

- call the applicable insurance company and explain what happened and take it from there

Edited February 21, 2014 by Tractor

[shaper]

Glad you finally got some success!