SINGAPORE: When the SG Road Vigilante group uploaded videos of men caught harassing motorists who had just met with an accident, netizens’ comments came fast and furious.
He and his wife were unhurt. But as it was his first road accident, he was in a state of shock. “I panicked,” he recalls. “I didn’t realise I needed to call the insurance company.”“ gave a name card and said … ‘I can settle all your claims. I can do everything — no headache, nothing. Follow me to the workshop. drive together,’” Lee recounts.
They should take photos of all the vehicles involved and any skid marks. Finally, they should note the date, time and accident location.On top of the advice given by Kho, drivers must call their insurer’s hotline and get their car to an approved reporting centre or authorised workshop for repairs in the Motor Claims Framework endorsed by insurance companies.
He has heard touts say that “in a good month, they can earn, easily, S$20,000”. The workshops, meanwhile, may inflate charges by 200 per cent.Since April 2016, motorists making third-party claims should appoint a surveyor to assess the damage incurred in an accident before the workshop starts on repairs.
“Once we’re licensed and regulated, there’ll be a form of disciplinary action that we can rogue surveyors,” he says. Intentional inflation, on the other hand, occurs when “someone says it costs more than it really to make a profit it”, says Kapeller. “If there’s an intentionally inflated claim, that’s called fraud.”