Own damage or third-party claim — which applies, and where is each decided?

Own damage is your claim on your own insurer for damage to your vehicle: a dispute about it goes first to the insurer's grievance officer in writing, you can also use Bima Bharosa, and an individual policyholder can go to the Insurance Ombudsman once the insurer has rejected the complaint, replied unsatisfactorily or not replied within one month. Third-party liability is someone else's claim for injury, death or property damage caused by your vehicle; your insurer covers your legal liability, and one insurer's summary sheet says such claims are settled in the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal. ClaimAssure helps with disputes with your own insurer, not with tribunal cases.

A package motor policy has separate sections, and each has its own route when something goes wrong. Knowing which one you are on saves weeks of writing to the wrong place.

The sections of a package policy

If someone else is claiming against you

• One insurer's summary sheet says the third party should lodge an FIR and file a case, and that all third-party liability claims are settled in the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal.^[2]
• Do not admit liability or promise payment yourself. The example wording says no admission, offer, promise or payment shall be made without the insurer's written consent, and lets the insurer take over the defence.^[1]
• Send every claim letter, notice or summons to your insurer as soon as you receive it; the example wording requires it.^[1]
• IRDAI's circular says your insurer cannot cancel the statutory third-party cover except for double insurance or total loss.^[5]

If you are claiming for your own vehicle

Own-damage disputes — a rejection, a depreciation deduction, the surveyor's figure — go first to your insurer in writing. The Insurance Ombudsman Rules cover personal lines of insurance, and the Council for Insurance Ombudsmen says only individual policyholders, sole proprietorships or micro enterprises who have taken insurance on personal lines are eligible, so a car insured in the name of a firm or company may not qualify. Where the Ombudsman is open to you, you can go to it once the insurer has rejected your written complaint, not replied within one month of receiving it, or replied unsatisfactorily.^{[3, 6]}

When one accident creates both claims

One accident can create both: your own-damage claim for your car, and a third party's claim for theirs. They run on separate tracks. Report the accident to your insurer once, with all the facts, and keep the two threads apart in your own records.

ClaimAssure is an independent private platform. It is not an insurer, IRDAI, Bima Bharosa or the Insurance Ombudsman, it never files anything on your behalf, and it cannot promise any outcome. What it does is read your documents and show you what they say.

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