PIPD 1 - At the Scene PDF

: Hello, this is Willy Tay. I\'m the examiner for this course called Personal Injury and Properly Damaged. This is part one of my recording. And I hope that you will find this session and this video helpful. Now, personal injury and property damage relates to claims made in an accident scenario. It...

: Hello, this is Willy Tay. I\'m the examiner for this course called Personal Injury and Properly Damaged. This is part one of my recording. And I hope that you will find this session and this video helpful. Now, personal injury and property damage relates to claims made in an accident scenario. It is part and parcel of our life that accidents will happen. And this is especially the case when often time, whether you want it or not, are involved in road traffic accidents. As a result of this traffic accidents, there would be people who will be injured, and that would be property, there would be damage. And this set in motion, infringement of certain civil rights, like the rights to protection or the sanctity of the body and you write to your property damage. And this is what PIPD is all about. And we\'re going to have an overview of what this involved in how we as lawyers can play a part, whether you are advising your clients and whether you are putting forth cases in court. So let\'s head into this category and let\'s see what we can learn from this session. Now let\'s talk about the laws that you need to be familiar with when doing PIPD work. This is important because in order to do this work effectively and to the best of your professional abilities, you need to have a grip of these areas of the laws. The first area is the law of thoughts. This is one of the\... main features in PIPD work. So you need to go back to law school perhaps in year one when we learn about Donald Hugh and Stevenson, when we learn how the law has developed and how our courts have expanded this area of the law. We also know that one of the most basic aspects of this law is a claim that needs to prove four elements in order to succeed in a claim under the law of thoughts. The claimant needs to establish duty and then the claimant needs to prove that there was a breach of that duty. The claimant also needs to show that the negligence of the defendant or the potential defendant caused by the personal injuries or property damage or any consequential loss. And finally, you need to prove damages. So this is the law of thought. The second area of law that you need to be familiar with for PIPD will be contract law. Contract law will be relevant, for example, if you are advising the client who has his vehicle repaired. You need to understand the contractual relationship between the client, the vehicle owner, and the repairer. You also need to sometimes deal with the repairs as you represent your client\'s interest. Also, there are other areas of contract laws where, for example, the claimant was injured, he went to a hospital, and there would be a contract of service between the client and the hospitals. The third area of law is insurance law. We all know that in a PIPD work dealing with is something that you cannot run away from. Legislation in Singapore provides that all vehicles that are to be used on the road needs to have basic insurance coverage for a claim for personal injuries. Insurance law is a different category of law. One of its outstanding features is It is a contract of good faith. You need to understand these concepts when advising your client as a policyholder. For some of you, you may be acting for insurance company, and you need to advise the insurance company of their rights, vis-a-vis the policyholder or their rights against a third party who\'s making a claim. on the motor insurance consent. So these are the three areas of the law that you will come across constantly in your area of work. And you need to have an understanding of this in order to do your PIPD work to the best of your abilities. Other than being familiar with the three broad areas of the laws that I\'ve highlighted, law of tort, law of contract, insurance law, PIPD work is also unique in the sense that there are a number of useful references that you can use in the course of the work. And I\'m going to share which practitioner of PIPD work will refer on a regular basis. The first is the Moto Accident Guide. Now this is a publication by the judges in the state court. It is into its second edition. And the second edition is actually a digital copy. I\'m not so sure whether it is still available currently, but the Moto Accident Guide is basically a compendium of different scenarios where it gives a useful reference point or a guide as to how liability can be abortioned. Now liability in this sense relates specifically to the relationship or the apportionment of blame for an accident between primarily two vehicles in different scenarios. So the guide will contain different scenarios of accidents, a collision occurring in a junction, accident in a car park scenario or accident where one motorist opens the door and different scenarios of a similar nature. There\'s also a section on cyclists, motorcyclists and even pedestrians. There\'s also one on passengers especially those in public vehicles. And the guide also contains reference to different cases at the time of the publication. So that would also be a good reference point or starting point to your legal research about useful legal precedents, about previous judgments or decisions by our courts, how liability has been apportioned in a\... particular factual scenario. And this is often a guide that even the judges in the courts, especially the state court, will refer to. So this is the first starting point and the first reference that you will need to refer to. And I\'m sure in the law firms that you will eventually work in and should you do this area of work, you can talk to the seniors in the firm or to your\... other friends to ask for a digital copy or a hard copy which some of them might be able to print out for you. Another useful reference is a publication known as the Guidelines for the Assessment of General Damages in Personal Injury Cases. It is in its third edition and this is another publication by the Judges in the State Court. This is a copy of what this guideline, this book, looks like. For PIPD practitioner, we usually refer this as the guidelines. And this is a very useful guidelines or reference relating to quantum for general damages. And it\'s divided into various chapters according to different body parts, injuries to different body parts, like the head, the neck, the back, the upper body, and the limbs. and they also include certain introductory or write-up on each section and they will be different categories where you have a range of possible awards. Now this guideline is very useful when you need to write an opinion to your clients about how much a particular case is worth in terms of dollars and cents. It is also useful as a reference or authority that you can cite in your submission to the courts. Even the judges from the High Court makes reference to these guidelines. So this is certainly a very useful reference that you need to be familiar with. in PIPD work. Another textbook that you need to know that is also very useful to practitioner of PIPD work is the Practitioner\'s Library Assessment of Damages for Personal Injuries and Fatal Accidents. It is in its third edition and it is also a compilation or a book written by various judges in the state court. Practitioners often refer to this as the blue book, so as to distinguish this from the other, the guidelines. The guidelines are more of a summarized, shortened version of quantum. The Practitioner Library, on the other hand, is more like a textbook of cases, although it contains summarized versions of the case. Now, this is also a textbook reference for quantum, and it is also something that the judges refers to, lawyers use in their submission to the court, and certainly reference that you will use when you advise your client. Like the guidelines, it is divided into different categories of injuries to different body parts. but it also contains general rights up about the law relating to quantum. So this is certainly a valuable textbook that all practitioner of PIPD needs to know and have. Another useful textbook that you need to be familiar with or that you will use in the course of a PIPD work is the actual table with explanatory notes for use in personal injury and death claims. This is one of the latest publications. And it was the\... based on results from a committee that look into this area. The committee comprises of judges from the high courts, lawyers, actuaries, and even members from MAS. This is a table that provides multipliers for claims for future losses, such as loss of earning capacity, loss of future earnings, future medical expenses, or claims of future losses that requires assessment over a period of time. The unique feature about this table is that it is based on data collected from the statistic department on mortality rate. It also features a U curve that factors economic situations such as inflation. However, this table is an ongoing process in the sense that it will be revised subsequently through the years when more data. is obtained and when the economic situation requires a revision. So this is something that is new and something that is quite exciting for PIPD practitioners because it changes the way multipliers are computed. It ensures more finality. and less unpredictability in this area of the law. I will not comment more because to go more details into this requires time that I presently do not have. But this is certainly a book that you must have if you want to practice this PIPD work. One final reference that you need to know is the Moto Accident Claims Online, in short, MAKO. Now this is actually a\... online simulation program when the user can put certain information and the MAKO application will then give suggestion on how liability can be based on certain information that you put into the system and it will give an indication on how much the claim based on that information will be worth. It is strictly speaking not an authority because it is not clear what case law it is based on but it is certainly a\... self-help application more catered to the layman rather than lawyers. So I am not sure whether this can be cited as a case authority but I am bringing this in this talk because you need to know in case the client that you\'re advising tells you about this MAKO and\... perhaps want to challenge your opinion or advice, and then you would be prepared to be able to answer their challenge by saying that my opinion or my advice is based on design of case law or established textbook authorities published by state court or high court judges, such as those that I have shared to you before, like the MAG. or the guidelines or even the blue book on the actual table. I\'ve come to the end of the first part of the PIPD video. B24 PIPD - Lecture 1 - Immediate steps to take - Motor Claims Framework (MCF) - Market Agreement between the Defendant and the insurance companies used to save time and money. Only one insurance company needs to pay the other insurers even though the car may not be at fault. **[Barometers of liability (BOLA)]** - In a chain collision, the Bola agreement applies to 2nd vehicles and then the one subsequent behind the second vehicle. That means that insurance of the car that is directly behind the payment will settle everything. **[However, BOLA does not apply to the claimant]**, and therefore, the defendant may argie contributory negligence by the claimant (I.e the first driver). **[Reporting procedures:]** Bring your vehicle to the reporting centre or authorized workshop within 24 hours. Make an accident report and request for a copy. When to lodge a traffic police report - Options at the lawyer\'s office - The Claimant: When advising client as a potential Claimant: To use Workshops, Lawyers or D-I-Y Own policy (OD claim) or Other driver's policy (third party claim) or Private Settlement The Defendant: Private Settlement Let Insurers handle Repudiation : Reasons for insurers to refuse insurance cover: Driving under influence of alcohol or drugs. Driving an unregistered vehicle or vehicle with prohibited or unapproved modifications Driving with an invalid driving' license Driving with passengers exceeding its legal seating capacity Admitting fault or liability Failing to notify the insurers about the accident or of any proceedings India International Insurance Pte Ltd v Ho Chai Hong Joanne \[2013\] SGDC 193