4 Different Factors That Influence Your Vehicle Accident Claim Compensation

There’s an interesting phenomenon driving vehicle accident claims in a country like Singapore. According to the latest numbers from the General Insurance Association (GIA) of Singapore, the motor insurance sector has seen an increase in claims by 11.8%, or $291.3 million, in spite of a 4.3% drop in the number of vehicular accidents reported.

Two conclusions have been drawn up by experts: one is that many of the injuries incurred by victims are more severe in nature, and another is that citizens are truly taking the initiative to seek legal assistance for their redress.

If a vehicle accident is more than just a statistic to you—and you are currently aggrieved about your health, your finances, and your wellbeing because you have experienced one—then you must turn to a personal injury lawyer to help you file a claim. Your goals with your lawyer are threefold: for you to gain rightful compensation for the damage dealt to you and your property, for you to establish who is accountable for the harm from the accident, and to prevent future accidents of the same kind from happening again—not just to you, but to other people.

Filing a claim requires a lot of careful work. However, it will pay off if you can prove the liability of the party that had due care over you and if you can justify the amount in damages that you are seeking. With that said, this article aims to give you a briefer on everything you should know beforehand, i.e. the factors that will influence the success of your claim, who you’ll be up against in your battles, and how much you can expect to receive as your compensation. 

1. The type of damages you and your personal injury lawyer are seeking. Damages for vehicular accidents fall under three categories, depending on the circumstances of the aggrieved:
    
   1. General damages. This is a type of monetary compensation that can’t be calculated in exact terms, but it can be gleaned from documents such as medical reports. Some examples of general damages are: damages from pain and suffering, damages from losing your earning capacity, and damages for medical expenses that you can anticipate in the future.
      
      
   2. Special damages. Special damages, on the other hand, can be quantified more clearly in documents and hard evidence of loss. They include current medical expenses, valuation of loss to property, and other areas of compensation that manifest in receipts, invoices, or pay slips.
      
      
   3. Provisional damages. If a claimant is awarded provisional damages, it means that they can return to court to seek additional compensation in the future. This additional support will prove crucial if you are suffering from complications from the vehicular accident.

There’s a clear reason why you need to learn about these types of damages: it will help you and your lawyer be clear about what are you fighting for and how you must equip yourself to be successful in your claim.

2. Whether you are making a first-party claim or a third-party claim. Claims that involve vehicular accidents are either made as first-party claims (with you, as the policyholder, demanding redress from your insurance provider) or third-party claims (with you, as a non-policyholder, demanding redress from someone else and their own provider). The type of claim is what attributes who is at fault for the accident and who needs to be accountable for the injury—whether it’s you, the company that’s insured your vehicle, or the person who has harmed you due to their own negligence.
   
   
3. Your timeliness and thoroughness in making a case for yourself. Don’t forget that time is of the essence when you are preparing to make a claim for vehicular accident compensation. The sooner you seek legal assistance and demonstrate the urgency of your situation, the higher your chances are of success. It’s in your best interest to file early so that you can attain closure and heal faster. In addition, you should be as thorough as possible when gathering documents for your claim, such as photos of your injury and the damage incurred, medical bills, copies of your insurance coverage, and whatever else your lawyer advises you to have on hand.
   
   
4. The skill and the expertise of your lawyer. Putting together a vehicular accident claim requires a lot of technical and precise work. That’s why it’s of utmost importance to hire a lawyer who specializes in the practice area of personal injury. Experience will have taught them how to deal with complex issues like liability and finances in court. They will also know how to help you achieve the outcome you need, instead of bare-minimum compensation or nothing at all.

If you are based in Singapore and need assistance in filing for a vehicular accident claim, visit the Viviene Sandhu Clifford Law Profile of a legal exemplar in the area of personal injury law. Viviene Sandhu is a partner of the elite firm Clifford Law and has 20 years of expertise under her belt. She has also set several benchmarks in the country for the awarding of damages in personal injury-related cases.  If you’re seeking to resolve a vehicular accident claim, then you will want a lawyer of the same caliber to champion your rights.