Nobody expects to have a road accident. And yet this unwanted special situation happens to around 5 million of us every year. For most of those affected, the feverish search for information on accident settlement begins now:
- Who do I have to inform and in what order?
- Who has to pay what and when?
- Which documents do I get where?
- How can I get mobile again quickly?
- How do I minimise my cost risk?
We will help you through the jungle and show you the process of a customer-orientated claims settlement.
Accident victims in your situation simply get the best support from fairforce.one.
Depending on the cause of the accident, customers receive an average of €4802 Additional payment
Callback within 5 minutes.
Short & sweet: Claims settlement after an accident
The concept of Claims settlement is the general term for the entire claims handling and settlement process. This usually refers to the settlement of claims with the insurance company and the other party involved in the accident. Firstly, compensation is claimed from the liable party - in this case the party responsible for the accident - or their liability insurance. This is followed by the payment of compensation to the injured party.
There are often disputes about how the accident actually occurred, i.e. who is at fault - in this case the person who caused the accident - and who is the injured party. This essentially determines who has to pay compensation to whom and in what amount and influences the accident settlement.
Documentation at the scene of the accident is the prerequisite for correct claims settlement
Keep calm immediately after the accident. Exchange this information with the other party involved in the accident:
- Full name
- address
- Licence plate
- Insurance of the other party involved in the accident
Take photos that clearly show the final position of the vehicles. The damage to your vehicle and the other party's vehicle should be clearly visible. Also make sure that the other party's licence plate number is fully visible.
You should also make a brief note of how the accident happened. This should be done immediately after the accident, because in this stressful situation it is often easy to forget how the accident actually happened. If the other party in the accident already admits their fault, have them confirm this informally in writing on a simple sheet of paper.
When taking photos, pay particular attention to brake marks and splinter marks. Both the rubber and the glass marks provide valuable information later if there is a dispute about the course of the accident and the apportionment of blame. If passers-by or other road users are at the scene of the accident, exchange contact details with them too. If the other party later denies fault, witnesses are a very valuable remedy.
It also makes sense for the other party to have your details available so that they can contact you with further questions and pass on information - such as the claim number - to their insurance company.
Claims settlement procedure - this is how it works
Claims settlement after an accident is extremely important and not that difficult to carry out. We have summarised the most important steps here so that you know how claims settlement works for motor vehicles and the like:
1) Contact insurance company
When you are back home, you need to contact the other party's insurance company and report the damage. The insurance company will record all your details, ask you about the accident and also about all the details of your vehicle. The insurance company will then provide you with specific contact details (in particular telephone number and e-mail address) and at least a provisional claim number. You will also be told whether the damage to your vehicle should be documented by an expert or whether a cost estimate and informative damage photos from your trusted repair workshop will suffice. Now that you have the contact details of the insurance company and the damage number, you can also send the photos of the accident scene to the insurance company, quoting the damage number.
You must state the claim number for everything you report to the insurance company. Otherwise, there is a risk that your information will end up in nirvana because it cannot be assigned. The insurer of the other party involved in the accident will regularly try to minimise the share of fault of its own policyholder and/or direct you to its own workshops for repairs. If you agree to this, it will regularly be at the expense of your compensation payment and you will lose money and value.
The insurance company may also send you a questionnaire for claimants. Please fill it in truthfully and do not forget to sign it. Then send the completed questionnaire back to the insurance company. Make a copy of the completed questionnaire for your records so that you know later what you have told the insurance company.
Don't risk any reductions from the other party's insurance company - have your accident free of charge and without obligation by our regulation specialists.
2) Insurance company contacts the other party involved in the accident
The insurance company will now contact the policyholder, i.e. the other party involved in the accident, and question them about the accident. If both you and the other party involved in the accident have given a description of the accident, the insurance company can check whether the descriptions are the same and whether the circumstances of the accident have been clarified. If this is the case, the insurance company can determine liability, in this case 100 %. This means that you will be reimbursed 100% for your damage. Typically, however, this is precisely where disputes arise and the so-called operating risk is regularly invoked. If the other party in the accident succeeds in this manoeuvre, you have just inherited 20% of partial liability and minimised your payout claims accordingly.
As you can see here, it is extremely important to clarify who is the injured party and who caused the traffic accident in order to be able to assert claims for damages. The question of fault is determined based on the circumstances of the accident. If you report your road traffic accident via fairforce.one, you will receive an initial assessment of the question of fault from our network of highly qualified road traffic lawyers within 24 hours. This protects you from unjustified apportionment of blame. And best of all: fairforce.one provides this service free of charge.
3) Send expert opinion to insurance company
If you now have the expert report on your vehicle and, if applicable, an additional cost estimate with photos of the damage, please send these documents to the opposing insurance company, quoting the claim number. Your vehicle damage, which the insurance company has to compensate, will be determined from the expert report or the cost estimate.
At this stage of claims processing, you can use so-called assignment declarations to specify to whom which funds are to be paid out.
Don't have time to deal with the paperwork? Then we have a clever solution for you. If you report your accident via the fairforce.one portal, we not only communicate with all parties involved in the claims settlement for you, but you can also use our document centre. This is where all important documents such as expert reports etc. are securely stored for you. This means you have the latest data at your fingertips - without having to search through a large pile of paper.
4) Assert further claims
In this context, you can now also assert your further claims.
These are e.g:
Don't know what compensation claims you have after an accident? No problem. We can help you. Report your accident to us now and our traffic law experts will check your claims after a road accident.
Accident victims in your situation simply get the best support from fairforce.one.
Depending on the cause of the accident, customers receive an average of €4802 Additional payment
Callback within 5 minutes.
Be smart and utilise the advantages of the fairforce.one portal
As you have seen, comprehensive claims settlement is a rather confusing jungle. To shed some light on the subject, our experts will help you and take care of the entire claims settlement process for you.
The sooner you contact us, the sooner we can help you. Our network of independent, certified traffic law specialists will take care of a professional and smooth claims settlement in your interests.
What do you need to do now? In just 2 minutes, you can report your accident to us directly online or by calling the free service number 0800 - 30 111 60. A member of our network will contact you by phone within a very short time. The next steps will then be discussed with you.
Questions and answers on the accident claims settlement process
What is the claims settlement procedure after an accident?
It is best to document the course of the accident, the other party's details and other relevant details at the scene of the accident. Then contact the other party's insurance company, which in turn will contact the other party and inform you of all further steps.
The generic insurance company will probably try to minimise your claim. You can avoid unfair reductions by placing the accident settlement in professional hands.
How long does it take to settle a claim after an accident?
This depends entirely on the damage, the time required for the expert report, the insurance companies and other factors. The sooner you report the accident, the sooner your claims settlement will be completed after the accident.
How long does it take to get money back from the insurance company?
This depends on many factors. Depending on the damage, the circumstances of the accident, advance payment and necessities, the period for this can range from a few days to several weeks. It is best to talk to your insurance company if you have unplanned expenses after the accident or need a hire car.
Tip: With our clever fairforce.one portal, we help you quickly and easily with the accident settlement and take care of tedious paperwork and more. This means you often get your money back faster.
