A civil court in Dubai has ordered an insurance company to pay 244,103 dirhams in compensation following disputes regarding liability for two traffic accidents.

The case arose after the owner of a vehicle insured by the company involved a second vehicle, a luxury car, in a collision leading to its total loss.

In a formal complaint, the plaintiff insurance company demanded 270,000 dirhams for two claims, plus a legal interest of 9% from the date of the claim until full payment, along with all associated legal costs.

The plaintiff stated that an insured vehicle was involved in an accident caused by a driving instructor’s vehicle, which was also insured by the defendant company.

As a result of the first accident, the luxury car was deemed a total loss according to the damage report.

The plaintiff compensated the car owner by paying 289,000 dirhams after deducting depreciation, and later sold the wreckage for 55,000 dirhams.

The outstanding amount claimed from the defendant for this incident was approximately 233,500 dirhams.

Despite acknowledging coverage for the accident, the defendant insurance company refused to settle the compensation amount.

The plaintiff further noted a second accident that also involved one of its insured vehicles.

At the time of this incident, the insurance contract with the defendant was still active, leading to damages of 73,500 dirhams, which the plaintiff fully paid to the affected car owner.

The defendant failed to contribute to this claim or respond to the plaintiff's demands.

The plaintiff submitted a collection of documents, including photographs of the accident report, vehicle documents, a technical report indicating the car was a total loss, and receipts and waivers associated with the payments.

In response, the defendant insurance company contended that the plaintiff's documentation was insufficient.

They asserted that the claim lacked a certificate of vehicle scrapping and ownership transfer to substantiate that the car was indeed a total loss.

They suggested that the damaged vehicle could be repaired at a cost of 20,000 dirhams and requested that the court dismiss claims exceeding this amount.

Regarding the second claim, the defendant noted that all documents presented by the plaintiff were in English and should therefore not be accepted.

Due to the disagreement between both companies regarding the claim amounts and extent of damages, the court appointed an expert to review the case.

The expert concluded that the vehicle involved in the first incident, a Range Rover, met the criteria for total loss.

According to the expert, the plaintiff only provided a single repair estimate, while the defendant presented estimates indicating a lower repair cost without addressing details of the damage.

The expert found that under the standard policy conditions, a vehicle is considered a total loss if the structural components, including the frame, are significantly damaged.

The market value for the damaged Range Rover was determined to be 295,000 dirhams, depreciated by 20% over a 44-day insurance period leading up to the accident.

After deducting the value received from the sale of the wreck, the amount owed to the vehicle owner was calculated to be 210,103 dirhams.

For the second claim, the expert determined that the defendant's share of the repair cost was 34,000 dirhams.

Overall, the court awarded the plaintiff a total of 244,103 dirhams in compensation and ordered the defendant insurance company to bear the litigation costs.