Car Accident Claim Games

I need help/advice in bringing a claim against a 3rd party insurance policy to a swift conclusion before it seemingly gets bogged down in a legal quagmire.


In summary, a driver (lets call them ’X’) undertook a maneuver without taking due care and collided with my car. Fortunately there were no personal injuries but the damage to my vehicle was substantial. ’X’ accepted full responsibility for the accident at the scene (and still admits full responsibility), a witness supports this view and can confirm the facts. Further, the senior policeman attending the scene admonished ’X’ for not obeying the basic rules of the road.


Despite these circumstances ’X’s insurer requires that I proceed with a case of dangerous driving against ’X’. The insurer will only settle the claim upon the determination of the courts that ’X’s driving was negligent. Pursuing this action will take a considerable amount of effort on my part, will result in legal costs and worse, will take (I’m told) approximately 18 months to go through the courts during which time I will be without my vehicle unless I find the substantial sum to pre-fund the repairs. A side issue for ’X’ is the receipt of demerit points, a fine and possibly a criminal record.


It would appear that the insurance company is attempting to either push the parties to settle the claim (an offer of a quarter of the estimated repair costs was made and refused) or for me to lose interest because of the lengthy process involved and give up on my claim. Neither of these outcomes is likely.


The key questions I have are;

1. Is there any way we can bring the insurance company to meet the acknowledged liability of their policyholder without pursuing the dangerous driving case?

2. Can I recover all of the costs relating to this matter including; repairs to my car, hire of a similar vehicle for the period until my car is repaired (which may be the period to acceptance of liability, plus the repair time), any legal costs plus the cost of funding these activities (ie interest on the expenses paid in advance, such a storage of the damaged car)?

3. Is there anything else I can do?


Any advice/experience would be gratefully received.

Thanks, Oldhand - we're relatively new to HK, hadn't had the car long when this happened, so car claim procedures is a new territory to us. However, we did get a police report number and have made the report, it's only since the subsequent phonecalls to 'sort it all out' that 'X's insurer have stated we must issue proceedings against 'X', have the court uphold our case, before they will pay out. I guess we're just not sure what legal action to take next - against the driver or the insurer? Has anyone else had any experience like this?

Is this standard operating procedure for insurance claims in Hong Kong? In the States, your insurance company pays you out for damages/costs then chases the offending driver's insurance for reimbursement. You don't have to get involved, other than providing a police report.

Oldhand, agree they are professionals! Once all reasonable avenues of settling this without burdening the taxpayer are exhausted we will name and shame the insurance company and the well known corporate that owns the offending vehicle.



Tsui Wah, yes, shockingly, this is standard practice. When I spoke to my own insurers 'legal help line' their response was along the lines of "this is standard procedure in Hong Kong, we would do exactly the same in similar cirumstances". What can you do....

Dear Em&M,


In the first instance nothing would surprsie me when it comes to insurance companies! However, that said in your message you stated "Further, the senior policeman attending the scene admonished ’X’ for not obeying the basic rules of the road." This interests me and I would question whether the same police officer prosecuted the driver for any driving violation? Have you considered contacting the police and querying this? I accept, the police are likely to to decline an answer citing privacy and all that BS; if they do try a complaint against police report. If the driver was at fault he should have recieved a moving violation ticket (Pol. 575 - I seem to recall). If the driving offense was serious the driver would (or should) have been prosecuted. If they were, such legal action does not take that long. It would have either gone to court or been settled by post.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Go after the insurance company, not X. The guy admitted responsibility, the cops are involved, leave it alone. Whether X should be further prosecuted is between the cops and X.


It is immorral and unethical for the insurace to try to screw you. You shouldn't try to screw X to get your car paid....that is exactly what the company wants and if you give in, the insurance company will screw the next guy like they screwed you (since it worked).

from Em&M, took the driver and owner (it was a company car) to small claims tribunal, their insirance co turned up representing them both. In view of the weight of evidence I had the insurance co tried to negotiate a figure, the court official came as close as she could to advising me to settle at 80-90%. I refused and held out for full cost of repairs plus court fees - received full payment yesterday. It's hassle, but go to SCT it's quicker tha playing the insurance cos game.