Lawyer and Chartered Insurer, Jeffery Koranteng, says that persons injured in a road accident have up to three years to put in a claim to their insurance company. Minors, and the disabled have up to 6 years.
Speaking on The Law show, he explained that usually when accidents occur, victims might not be able to make claims right away or shortly after due to injuries and others, hence the limitations on the claims.
“So within three years after the loss, if you have suffered an injury and then you are hospitalized or anything, I mean…, you are not able to report. You still have within three years within which to bring the claim.
He stated that “If somebody is a child or somebody is of an unsound mind, we call that a disability in law. So even though there’s a three-year period within which you can bring the claim, if you’re under some form of disability, then the period of limitation does not run until you are out of that disability.”
“So if you were a child, for example, that means you are below the age of 18, so that that period of limitation, which is three years, does not start to run until you come out of that disability. And if you’re out of unsound mind, that same information applies to you,” he noted.
Additionally, Mr Koranteng said that victims whose properties were damaged in the course of the accident have a six-year period of limitations to make their claim.
“So in terms of the period within which you can bring the claim, it’s three years for injury and death, and then six years for property damage.”
Meanwhile, he cautioned accident victims against some actions that could get their insurance claims rejected.
He urged drivers to get appropriate licenses for the cars they drive, explaining, “I have a B license and I’m driving a vehicle that requires a C license, I’ve not been trained or certified by DVLA to drive that kind of vehicle.”
Mr Koranteng also urged victims to not only take pictures and videos of accident scenes but also report to the police.
“Some people (while) leaving, apart from not taking the pictures at all, do not report immediately and then they go ahead and repair the vehicles. By the time they come to the insurance company, the vehicle is already repaired. And then the question now is, what was the extent of damage at the time the accident happened?”
“If you have repaired the vehicle, it’s difficult to now go back and then ascertain that this was the actual damage that happened to the vehicle. So if you take the pictures, fine, and you go to repair it, how do we know what is the extent of damage?”.
Mr Koranteng advised victims report the issue to their insurance company and only fix it after a go-ahead from them.
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