The air bag: Insurance quirks can make an accident costly

The entire insurance process can be baffling, even infuriating - a stark reminder that things can be different here from what one is used to in other countries.

Police at a car accident in Abu Dhabi. Andrew Parsons / The National

My beloved Volkswagen Scirocco has been in the wars recently – and my experiences over the past few days serve as a cautionary tale for anyone about to renew their car insurance.

To cut a long story short, Mrs H was slowing down to stop at a red light in Dubai when a gentleman smashed into the back of the ’Rocco, shunting her forward approximately four car lengths. It turned out, in one of those “you can’t make these things up” conversations between her and this man, that he works as a health-and-safety professional. As the attending police officers were busy handing him the infamous “pink slip”, it became obvious that his car was in worse condition than the sturdy VW.

Water was all over the road, his Ford’s radiator having been destroyed in the impact, while the diminutive Scirocco was sporting a caved-in rear bumper and a damaged tailgate. More worrying for me (I dashed to the scene in a taxi) was the cut across my wife’s shoulders from the seat belt and the fact that her neck was causing her a great deal of pain from the resulting whiplash. It could have been worse, though. Much worse.

This is my first experience in the UAE of claiming against another driver’s insurance. Frankly, the entire process has me baffled and infuriated; a stark reminder of how different things are here, compared to my home country.

In the UK, after an accident, you normally swap insurance details with the other party and the company covering the person at fault puts everything right. Police intervention in these instances is rarely required and the insurer paying out will cover the cost of hiring a car while yours is off the road, as well as any medical bills, loss of earnings, etc. Naively I expected the same sort of after-smash care here, but I could not have been more wrong.

Here, things are different. I’m having to claim through my own insurers, who will then claim against the insurance company used by the driver who caused the smash. That isn’t necessarily a problem if it’s a quick and easy fix, but once you start delving into what you can claim for, you suddenly realise you have few, if any, cases for recompense.

When I renewed my own insurance last year, I opted for a package of cover that excludes the provision of a rental car in the event that mine is off the road because of an accident. In the UAE, it turns out, that means I can’t claim for such from the other driver’s insurance, so I have to shell out for hiring a car when mine is in for repair. My pleas about my own cover’s provisions being irrelevant when someone else has damaged my car have all fallen on deaf ears.

So, too, when it comes to anything related to injuries. When the police asked if she needed them to call an ambulance, my wife declined, as she didn’t believe she was in sufficiently bad shape to justify a hospital visit. She explained that I would take her to her usual doctor for a check up and that was that. Crucially, however, the police report mentioned nothing about requiring medical attention and that means I cannot claim for that, either. Loss of earnings for Mrs H while she was unable to do her job? Forget that, too.

As my insurance company explained to me, the only thing I or anyone else in my situation can expect to be covered is actual repairs to the car – anything else is “consequential loss” and must be claimed via the courts, which carries its own ­financial risks.

So, 10 days later, I’m still waiting to hear when my car will be repaired and I’m still nursing a bruised wallet. My wife is OK, though, so I’m thankful for that, but when it comes to my next insurance renewal, I can assure you I’ll be spending much more time making sure we’re actually covered for every eventuality. You should do the same.