THE MOTIVATED OFFER IN ACCIDENTS

After an accident occurs, and once we have the medical discharge, the insurer of the causing party will present a document called a reasoned offer to the injured party where it acknowledges the facts and accepts its responsibility regarding the payment of compensation for the damages generated, material or personal.

The existence of a motivated offer is an essential requirement to be able to make a judicial claim for damages resulting from an accident, that is to say, if we do not have it for not having made a previous extrajudicial claim, we will not be able to start a civil process

The purpose of this prior claim is both to encourage out-of-court settlements and to allow the company to know in advance the extent of the damages that are the subject of the claim, and it has a clear impact on whether or not default interest is imposed.

This reasoned offer derives from the obligation of the insurance company of the vehicle that caused the accident to have to satisfy the injured party for the number of damages suffered as a result of the same, both with reference to bodily damage (injuries specified in the days of leave and consequences) as in material damages, as well as all those expenses and other damages that derive from the accident.

Regarding the procedure that is given to be able to articulate the motivated offer, different obligations are established for each of the parties:

• With respect to the insurance company, it is required that from the moment it learns by any means of the existence of an accident, it must put in place all the mechanisms to try to repair the damage that has been caused, starting to put contact with the victim to find out the extent of the injuries and damages he suffers and offering him the corresponding compensation once he can determine its amount, even if no claim has been made by the victim until that moment, starting the period of one year from the moment in which the injured party has received this compensation offer, which does not mean that you can rest easy if it is not received because there must also be an active attitude of the victim and injured party in the accident.
• With regard to the injured party, when he starts the claim procedure for the motivated offer, meaning that he does not have to wait for the end of the healing process because he can even claim the payment of amounts on account of the final compensation, the term of prescription will begin to count once the company has responded, although it is not advisable to let more than a year pass without a response and without making a new claim.

The injured party or their heirs, within a period of one year, must notify the insurance company of the loss, as it could be that the latter would not know about it if there is no prior communication from the insured, automatically activating the motivated offer process from this moment.

A simple communication will be sufficient in which the circumstances of the accident are referred to, such as the date and place of production, participants in it, identification of the vehicles involved, and, where applicable, if there is an accident report or police involvement or police officers, and an identification of the damages suffered.

In the event that it is not known which insurer guarantees the liability that the driver of a vehicle may have incurred, the victim can claim their identification from the Insurance Compensation Consortium as there is an Informative File of Insured Vehicles (FIVA) which has all this information.

It is not necessary for the victim to quantify the amount that is the object of the claim, it is sufficient to provide the insurer with all the medical documentation it has along with all the documentation on the basis of which it seeks compensation for expenses and other damages, being the insurer obliged to quantify the damage.

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From Adacc Advocats Accidents Catalunya we want to help you with any question or doubt you may have in relation to the production of a traffic accident or that has occurred in other different areas, such as in the workplace, maritime, air, domestic, school, etc. Do not hesitate to contact us. We do not charge anything to solve these doubts, because we share your concerns.