UK Solicitor explains what you should do if a UK resident is involved in a road traffic accident in Spain.
Road traffic accident victim Spain question
I am a UK resident and I was on holiday driving my car in Barcelona en route to Malaga in Spain. I came to a stop at a junction on a roundabout when another car came at speed around the roundabout and took the nose off my car and his car spun two or three times.
I believe the other driver was responsible for the RTA as he was travelling too fast down the hill towards me on to the roundabout. However, I am mindful that I did stop with the front of my car slightly over the stop lines at the roundabout and therefore there is a possibility that I may have a liability to the third party.
I was not injured, but clearly the other driver was. The police attended at the scene and an ambulance took the other driver to hospital.
I have now received documents from Spain which are all written in Spanish. It looks like documents from a Spanish court and that the other driver from the RTA is trying to claim compensation from me.
There appears to be a hearing listed for later in this year.
What should I do with this information?
European road traffic accident solicitor response
From your description it appears that you did not suffer personal injury and as such are not considering making a claim against the other car driver involved in the accident.
You have received official documentation in Spanish which is very likely to be the commencement of a claim against you. It might also be possible that unbeknownst to you that this claim is slightly more advanced than you would think.
The critical step you must now take is to contact your motor insurer by telephone and describe the documentation you have received. Thereafter, you should send the documentation to your motor insurer.
Your motor insurer will act so as to indemnify you for any liability that you might have to the third party driver. As such your motor insurer will take the necessary steps on your behalf to defend the claim or otherwise.
In any event you should actively liaise with your motor insurer as to what you should do.
It might be necessary for you to attend at court as the document you have received might be a subpoena to attend court to give witness evidence.
In any event you should act quickly in liaising with your motor insurance company.
You can claim for injuries and car damage in a European RTA using a UK solicitor – click Spain road traffic accident to see how to claim.
