How people usually put it
A lorry hit my bike and drove away. My father died in an accident on the bypass. Insurance company is refusing my claim. The other driver was drunk. Accident aayi, vandi nirthathe poyi. Insurance kittunnilla. വാഹനാപകടം, നഷ്ടപരിഹാരം എങ്ങനെ കിട്ടും.
First, safety
Call 112 for police and ambulance. Get treatment first; a hospital cannot refuse emergency care and cannot insist on police clearance before treating. Under the Motor Vehicles Act, a person who helps an injured victim (a good samaritan) cannot be harassed.
What the law says
The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (as amended in 2019) governs compensation. A claim petition is filed before the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal (MACT) where the accident happened, where the claimant lives, or where the opposite party resides. There is no limitation period for a MACT claim since the 2019 amendment.
Compensation covers medical expenses, loss of income, pain and suffering, loss of earning capacity, and, in a death case, loss of dependency, funeral expenses and loss of consortium for the family.
- Hit and run (the vehicle is untraced): compensation is payable from the Government scheme — presently ₹2 lakh for death and ₹50,000 for grievous hurt — through the Claims Enquiry Officer, usually the local SDM or the designated authority.
- No-fault liability allows interim compensation without proving negligence.
- Causing death by rash or negligent driving is an offence under BNS section 106, and the punishment is higher when the driver flees without reporting.
- Driving under the influence, without a licence or without insurance carries separate penalties.
Detailed Accident Reports are to be filed by the police with the Tribunal within the prescribed period, which starts the claim even without a lawyer.
Steps
- Get medical treatment and keep every bill, prescription, scan and discharge summary.
- Ensure an FIR is registered at the station in whose limits the accident happened.
- Note the other vehicle's number, and look for CCTV, dashcam or witnesses early — footage is usually overwritten in days.
- Inform your insurer immediately and give the policy number, FIR copy and vehicle documents for the own-damage claim.
- File the MACT claim with the FIR copy, medical records, income proof, and the vehicle and licence papers. For a death case, add the post-mortem report, death certificate and proof of the dependants.
- For hit and run, apply under the compensation scheme through the designated officer.
Keep ready
FIR copy, charge sheet if filed, medical records and bills, salary or income proof (ITR, salary slips, or an employer's letter), the RC, insurance policy and driving licence, and photographs of the scene and the damage.
This guide is legal information, not legal advice, and reading it creates no advocate–client relationship. Laws change and every case turns on its own facts. For anything serious, consult an advocate — and if you cannot afford one, the District Legal Services Authority will give you a lawyer free of cost.
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