Legal assistance for car damage | Get free advice

Questioner

Three months ago I had an accident with my car. The other party was at fault, has also admitted to fault, the damage has been processed by both insurance companies for a long time. My insurance company has repeatedly requested payment, the other party's insurance company has not responded for a long time, and has only now reported that they are very behind with payments due to high demand. In the meantime, 3 months have passed and I still haven't received my money. I have minimal insurance and no legal assistance. Still, I wonder if it should take this long, and if the extra costs I am now incurring should not be taken into account. I have to bend over backwards to arrange transport to go to work, if this were not the case I would not even be able to go to work since I have variable shifts and this is not feasible with public transport! Am I entitled to anything? Is there anything I can do?

Lawyer

No, it doesn't have to take that long and you shouldn't accept it. I increasingly notice that insurance companies leave things lying around for far too long. If you wish, I am happy to assist you further in this case because I notice that this can help quite a bit. I will recover the costs that I have to make from the insurance company. If you wish, you can contact me via my profile on this site. In this way, you can send me all the information that I need to handle the case further.

Lawyer

Once the other party has acknowledged liability, all kinds of costs that you have to make as a result of the accident are for the other party, including costs for the lawyer, but also all kinds of other costs, such as transportation costs, the deductible of insurance, additional care costs, etc. etc. It is important that you make a list of costs and that you can substantiate them with documents. So keep all receipts, invoices, etc. so that no discussion can arise about them. Another tip, in case you also have a medical injury, never sign an authorization form from the other party's medical expert to request your medical data. If you have already done so, you should immediately (have it) revoke it. If you are looking for a lawyer, I would of course be happy to assist you. Anyway, good luck.

Lawyer

If you think it is taking too long, you can summon the other party. In any case, it is important that you give the other party written notice of default. It is up to the other party to discuss the matter with their insurer. If necessary, you can directly contact their statutory liability insurer under the Motor Vehicle Liability Insurance Act (WAM). I do not read in your story that you have sustained injuries from the accident. If there is no injury, the extrajudicial costs of legal assistance can only be recovered from the other party to a limited extent.

Lawyer

With colleague Swart I believe that recovering the costs of legal aid in the case of material damage alone can be a problem. If there is only material damage (as opposed to personal injury) then help is not really necessary. To expedite the case, you can send a letter of complaint to the management of the insurer. Such a complaint to the management often causes your case to end up on top of the pile of the handler. In addition to the damage to the car, you are entitled to statutory interest on the car damage from the day of the collision until the moment you have been paid. In addition to the car damage, you can claim indirect costs, such as the costs of a replacement car over a reasonable period (equal to the repair time and in the case of a total loss often up to fourteen days), although only 75% of the car rental is reimbursed due to savings on your own car. It is important that you can substantiate the additional damage with receipts. If a complaint to the management does not resolve the matter, then it is advisable to go to a specialized lawyer. Because they have had every opportunity to settle the matter without a lawyer, the extrajudicial costs will be less of a problem. I wish you success.