Imani Tafari-Ama | Hit and runs and insurance claims

I once managed a project that drew attention to the fine-print exclusions usually hidden in agreements that ‘entrap’ the clientèle of banks and insurance companies. These clauses are constructed to protect the interests of the banking and insurance companies, and in many cases, compromise the rights of unsuspecting clients. Nevertheless, I am grateful for the protection provided by insurance policies, mandated for travel on our volatile roadways. Driving citizens should take time to study the policy’s clauses, especially the exclusions, that define the interests and responsibilities of the insured.

My reservations about the limitations of insurance coverage were realised recently when I was the victim of a hit-and-run accident. I was travelling down Half-Way-Tree Road towards Cross Roads when out of the proverbial “nowhere,” a Coaster bus appeared on my right – which was already illegal, since I was in the outer lane. When the stoplight changed to green, the bus driver “bored” his way ahead of me. To achieve this almost impossible feat, the Coaster driver bounced his bus against my right front fenders, slamming the rear-view mirror in the process. I was stunned and blew my horn vehemently to indicate my outrage. The driver showed no regard for my vehicular injury and proceeded to turn right on to Retirement Road. I decided to follow the vehicle and did not stop blowing my horn behind the recalcitrant driver, but despite this, he continued to ignore the loud honking of my horn. My thought at this point was to get the number of the licence plate, which I did. I thought this was a safer bet than directly confronting someone who had no qualms about exercising bullying road-use tactics. He obviously presumed that ignoring me would guarantee that he would get away with it.

Armed with the licence number of the offending vehicle, I proceeded to the Cross Roads Police Station and made the report. Next, I called my insurance agent at Guardian General Insurance Company (GGIC), who instructed me to proceed to their claims department to complete the reporting. Although the agent I spoke with was able to identify the owner/s of the bus from the licence number in a cross-referencing system to which they have access, solving the accountability problem was not going to be an easy matter.

NO COMMUNICATION

After a week had passed with no communication from my insurance company, I tried to contact the officer handling my case, with no success. So I returned to the office to find out what was happening. The representative of my insurance company spent a considerable amount of time on the phone before he located the relevant party at British Caribbean Insurance Company (BCIC), which provides coverage for the bus owners. However, the news he gave me at the end of the conversation was dubious, to say the least. The claims agent at BCIC said that he had not received the demand letter that was sent from GGIC relaying information concerning the accident. My representative promised to resend the missive. This was only the beginning of sorrows. My representative also said that it would be very difficult to pursue a hit-and-run case, which is notorious for ending inconclusively due to lack of evidence.

In pursuit of evidence, I armed myself with the identity of the owners that my insurance representative was able to confirm in the system and returned to the police. This time their system was up, unlike the day when I made the report. I was able to triangulate from the police system the identity of the owners and the make of the vehicle whose licence number I had. Bingo! There was my evidence. I also reconfirmed the names of the owners, which coincided with what I had ascertained from the insurance company. I then trekked to Toyota Jamaica to get an estimate of the damage.

A crucial component of your insurance policy is the excess, below which you are responsible for expenses incurred for both assessments and the actual repair job. As my insurance company representative explained, after ascertaining the damage cost, the usual procedure is for the insurance companies to negotiate and come to a settlement, which would be informed by both the damage estimate and the loss adjuster’s report. He stressed, though, that I faced the difficulty of proving my case. I was dumbfounded because I had the evidence of my eyes and experience plus the system corroboration. He explained that I had the option of suing the owners in the Civil Court to recover damages or claiming on my insurance and running the risk of losing my no-claims discount and facing the increased premium, which would be the likely outcome of pursuing legal action. Another option to explore would be to try to find the bus owners to arrange a settlement outside of the insurance claims system. So comprehensive insurance does not mean total or willing coverage.

The deeper issue that this experience drove home to me was the various forms of violence and the related repercussions in Jamaica. The bullyism of the big bus driver demonstrated the disregard for the rights of those who are considered lesser in gendered interpretations of power. I am a small-bodied woman, and those factors may have compounded the impunity with which the driver of the bus refused to acknowledge accountability for his actions. He did not seem to notice the insistent horn honking and that I drove behind him for a considerable distance. It is possible that the bus owners do not know at this moment that they have a criminal in their employment retinue and that a claim is pending on their insurance policy. Beyond the legal ramifications are the psychosocial and moral factors that always rear their ugly heads when we analyse issues of interpersonal and social violence.

I am fully convinced that pursuing justice is my right and responsibility. The problem is that when I rang the proximal police station to the community where the bus owners reside, the male officer responded that his under-resourced station’s only vehicle was out on assignment, and he was in the process of attending to another client. He invited me to call back. I reflected on the fear that prevented me from following the bus driver to a place where we could have exchanged identity particulars. I reasoned that if he was not restrained by an awareness that he had done something wrong, then there was nothing to prevent him from hurting me in a physical way. Yet the GGIC representative assured me that without that identity confirmation and photographs of not only the damage to my vehicle but to the offending bus, the claim may not be substantiated. I was flabbergasted to also learn that many victims of such accidents walk away, daunted by these obstacles. On the contrary, I am determined to solve this imbroglio.

Dr Imani Tafari-Ama is a research fellow at The Institute for Gender and Development Studies, Regional Coordinating Office (IGDS-RCO), at The University of the West Indies. Send feedback to imani.tafariama@uwimona.edu.jm.