When two insurers are involved

Two insurers can be involved in one road accident because two separate losses are often at stake: damage to your own vehicle and an injury caused by another driver. Your own insurer handles the first. The at-fault driver’s insurer generally handles the second.

Why does your own insurer get involved?

Compulsory motor insurance in Malaysia centres on covering third-party death and injury, while cover for your own vehicle’s damage is a separate, optional part of a comprehensive policy.^[1] If you carry that cover, your own insurer handles your vehicle repair claim.

This runs on its own track, described in full in claiming for your own vehicle damage, regardless of what happens with your injury claim.

Why is the other driver’s insurer involved?

Any injury caused by the other driver is a third-party bodily injury claim, and the law requires the at-fault driver’s insurer to satisfy a valid judgment for it.^[2] This is a separate legal relationship from the one you have with your own insurer.

So the letter about your vehicle and the letter about your injury may come from two different companies.

Does fault matter differently to each insurer?

Your own insurer may pay your vehicle claim under an arrangement such as knock-for-knock, sometimes regardless of fault. The other driver’s insurer only pays your injury claim if their policyholder is found responsible. One outcome does not decide the other.

What if the two insurers give conflicting information?

Each insurer’s loss adjuster usually focuses on its own part of the claim, which can sound like conflicting messages. Note who told you what and when. If something does not add up, raise it directly instead of guessing which is right.

How should you keep the paperwork?

Keep correspondence from each insurer in separate parts of your file. Building your claim file shows a simple way to do this.

When can a lawyer coordinate this?

Handling two insurers while recovering from an injury is a lot. An independent lawyer can take on the claim and deal with both insurers for you. What a lawyer actually does explains this work. Send what each insurer has written, the accident date, where it happened, whether anyone was injured (yes/no) and the police report status.