Motor accident claims cover compensation for injury or death resulting from road accidents, including disputes with insurers over claim amounts and compensation for hit-and-run cases where the responsible vehicle can't be traced. These are governed by the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (substantially amended in 2019), which sets up Motor Accident Claims Tribunals (MACT) in every district specifically to hear these cases outside the regular civil court system.
Compensation can be claimed either under a "no-fault liability" provision (a fixed amount payable regardless of who caused the accident, meant for quick relief) or under the "structured formula" basis, which calculates compensation based on the victim's age, income, and extent of injury or, in fatal cases, dependency of survivors — this route typically yields higher compensation but takes longer to resolve. Hit-and-run victims where the vehicle is untraced can claim from the Solatium Fund, a government-administered compensation scheme for exactly this situation.
Filing promptly matters: while MACT petitions don't have as rigid a limitation period as ordinary civil suits, evidence — medical records, the FIR, eyewitness accounts, income proof — is easier to gather and more persuasive the sooner a claim is filed. If you or a family member has been injured or killed in a road accident, it's worth consulting a lawyer early to understand which basis of compensation applies and what documentation to start collecting.