Third party & personal injury claims

What is a third party claim?
Who is entitled to claim?
Merits
Quantum
What is a third party claim?

A third party claim is a claim for compensation resulting from personal injury to or the death of a person, eg. the death of a breadwinner, in a motor vehicle accident. Such a claim will lie against the RAF, a statutory body. A third party claim only relates to bodily injuries, and accordingly no claim for damage to a motor vehicle or other assets can be claimed from the RAF.

Who is entitled to claim?

The following persons will be entitled to claim:

* a person who was personally injured (except a driver whose negligence was the sole cause of the accident) including a claimant under the age of 21 years, provided he is assisted by a parent or legal guardian;
* a dependant of a deceased victim;
* a representative of the estate of a deceased or a close relation in respect of funeral expenses.

Merits

It is important to establish how an accident occurred and who negligently contributed to the cause of the collision. A passenger only needs to prove 1% negligence on the part of another driver (therefore not the driver of the passenger’s vehicle) to succeed with an unlimited claim against the RAF. Should the negligence of the driver of the passenger’s vehicle be the sole cause of the accident the claim against the RAF will be limited to R25 000.

The balance above R25 000 can be claimed from the negligent driver personally. In the case of claims by drivers and pedestrians, an apportionment can be applied against the claim for his/her own contributory negligence. The quantum of his/her claim will be reduced by the percentage of his/her own negligence.

An assessment of the merits require investigation and collection of evidence which is done by our professional team.  If appropriate, an accident reconstruction expert will be appointed to assist.

Quantum

The quantum of damages refers to the total amount of money that the claimant will receive. for further information in this regard click here to go to the section ‘What can I claim?’ where the different heads of damages are set out.

To download our Third Party Information brochure click here.