Compensation after car incident

Questioner

a fellow occupant of my car opened the door carelessly at a parking lot, the door hit the car next to it, this was in January 2014, I have only just received the amount of the damage, is that a legal problem, I have held the fellow occupant liable, and have already paid myself, otherwise my insurance would have been cancelled

Lawyer

The long duration of the settlement is not a problem. Your passenger's AVP insurer will compensate for any damage to your own car. If your car is fully comprehensively insured, you can claim the damage on your own insurance, which will then recover the damage from your passenger or their AVP insurer. If this is not the case, you can indeed also directly contact your passenger or their AVP insurer. The damage your passenger caused to the other car must be covered by your third-party car insurance under the Motor Vehicle Liability Insurance Act (WAM). The passenger's private liability insurance (AVP) only provides secondary coverage in this case. Your WAM insurer will therefore have to compensate the damage. You can recover any bonus/malus loss from the passenger's AVP insurer