imported_CIVICSI

What happens when you have 3rd party insurance and the occupant inside your car gets hurt during a colision...are they still covered by the insurance company for any claims?

Insuranceman

Your questions doesn't make sense. What do you mean when you say "3rd party insurance"? When you have a passenger in your vehicle, and they HAVE their own insurance, they go back to their own insurance first for injuires, but they do have the right to go after the driver of the vehicle (and their insurance company) for any negligence. This is a tort claim.

If they do not have any of their own auto insurance, they are covered for Accident Benefits under the drivers insurance policy, regardless of fault. Again, they still can go after the tp driver for a tort claim for negligence. Hope this helps.

imported_CIVICSI

Okay...so let me put it this way...my friend was driving and got into an accident with his car, he had a couple of passengers, one of the passengers got injured. He fixed the damages himself and did not claim for the damage to the insurance company so his record is clean, however, if one of the passengers decides to claim for accident benefits through his policy then will his insurance rate go up?

btw i appreciate your help

Insuranceman

If the passenger decides to claim, he will do so under the drivers policy, unless the guy has his own policy, but still, the driver and owner will have to report it.

motti

That could put your fried in deep water. You're supposed to report any accident where there is injury involved. Failure to do so is a serious HTA charge, and being convicted of that is in turn a serious hit as far as insurance is concerned.

If your friend claims accident benefits from the insurance company, what will you say when the insurance company asks for the police report occurrence number?

Insuranceman

Well not all accidents have injuries at the scene of the loss, so all he would have to say is he had a fender bender and 3 days later he is having some pain due to it. Just make sure he at least visits a doctor within 7 days.

I've had people relate back and leg pain to injuires 6 years after a loss and we still have to go to mediation with them, so anything is possible.

People report injuires days after the accident, you do have one year to report a claim, by the way.

motti

I guess it depends on the type of injury. Soft tissue damage sometimes doesn't show up right away. On the other hand, lacerations and badly broken bones are another story.

Insuranceman

Well, if the injuries are that serious, then the accident wouldn't be just a fender bender, and police and ambulance would likely have been called.

motti

You would think so, but I recall a couple of ditch jobs over the years where that did't happen. One resulted in a broken writs, the other in momentary unconciousness that actually turned out to be a concussion with significant complications a few days later.

Those two accidents weren't reported because in each case the driver involved was driving home with friends from bush parties. The problem was, the drivers were no more sober than the passengers, some of whom were underage.

Yes, the ambulance should have been called but..... that would also have meant calling the cops....

Insuranceman

Yeah, but honestly, in a situation like that, its pretty obvious that whomever is injured in an accident like that is not going to report it to their insurance company due to the fact that illegal activity contributed to their injuries. If your stupid enough to try to do so, you deserve what you get.

Plus, if your drinking and driving, you have commited a policy violation, and your Statutory Accident Benefits are no longer offered.