Philippines Trip 2002

It could happen to you! Recently a member of the expatriate community had a very unpleasant automobile insurance claim experience. He was driving home one evening from Makati to Paranaque after a few hours with friends when a bizarre accident occurred. Traveling at normal speed along the road in the left lane of two lanes towards the International airport, a pick-up truck in the right-hand lane suddenly decided to make a left turn towards a U-turn-break in the island that separates the four lanes of the avenue. Of course the Expat could do nothing but try to quickly stop his vehicle to avoid hitting the erring pickup truck. There was not enough room to avoid hitting the truck and thus the accident occurred.

The Expat got out of his relatively new sedan to assess the damages and potential injuries. He found that the people in the pickup stayed inside their vehicle though it appeared only to have minor damage in the rear portion where his car collided with it. His own sedan seemed badly damaged and water was leaking from the radiator. At 2AM, it was quite dark. Suddenly from nearby buildings several men approached the accident scene. Coincidentally the Expat had a camera in his car. He got his camera and took pictures of the damaged vehicles, expecially the pickup truck. Feeling increasingly uneasy with so many men gathering around him at the accident site, he decided to leave and het his car quickly home. He feared somewhat for his safety and also for his vehicle should he elect to leave it on the road-side for retrieval later by a tow-truck. At that hour, not seeing a policeman in sight, he simply thought it best to go home and report the accident to the police the next day. He told the onlookers that he would report the accident to the police the following day. Then he left.

The next day the Expat, who was able to get his car safely home without further damage, contacted his Broker and described the incident. He was advised to report the accident to the police immediately and to develop the film that noted damages and plate numbers of both vehicles involved. Going to the police station in the district where the accident took place he filed his affidavit of the the accident. The police provided an official report and informed the Expat they will contact him should there be any reason to do so. The Broker informed the Expat's insurance firm and began guiding the client through the claim process. The vehicle was assessed and scheduled for repair as an own damage claim against the Expat's personal automobile insurance policy. Over time the unit was repaired and the Expat had to shoulder the deductibles applicable to the garage's bills. Case closed, right? No way!

The pickup's owner contacted the Expat's office wanting to claim damages of P18,000 (later P23,000 and then later P50,000) to his vehicle from him. The Expat's secretary referred the pickup's owner to his insurance company and for some time he thought the insurance company was dealing with the truck owner. He clearly believed he was not at fault and therefore was not admitting liability to the other party. The insurance company could do nothing because the Expat was not filiing a third party claim against them because he was not at fault. As far as they were concerned, he was only informing them of the other party's demands, which appeared wrongfully made.

A civil legal case was filed by the truck's owner against the Expat demanding P50,000 in damages. A hearing date was set and the insurance firm was informed. An adjuster was assigned to the case yet there wasn't a claim formally filed against the insurance firm to date. A mix-up in communications occurred. The Expat thought the adjuster would appear at the hearing for him but did not. The Expat was actually expected to be there. A warrant of arrest was issued and delivered to the Expat. Now he is clearly upset and worried. To answer the warrant a bail bond was required. With his Broker he went to the court and posted a cash bond to be held by the court until the case was resolved. after much discussion and knowing the prospects of the estimated length of a court case definding his position of not being at fault, the Expat and his insurance company decided to settle out of court to the other truck owner's demands. Payment was made. The case was dropped. Everyone learned from this one.

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