A car insurance claim in Jordan is a
very different experience from the UK. In the UK, both drivers
involved in the accident will exchange insurance details and then
both will write their account of what happened. The two insurance
companies will then decide who was at fault and therefore, which
company will pay. The police only become involved if someone is
seriously injured. Everything is done over the telephone or by post,
unless there are further police proceedings.
In Jordan, the police must be called
immediately for any crash. They decide who is to blame for the
accident, and then write this in a report for the insurance company.
When Kate had an accident in her car recently, the police rightly
decided that it was the other driver's fault, so I had to go to his
company to sort out the claim. These things are never sorted by
telephone or post in Jordan.
Fortunately, my Jordanian friend came
along to help guide me through the process. The insurance office was
very full of other people making claims, and it took us a long time
to talk to someone. There did not seem to be any queueing system, so
it was a matter of barging in and pushing your papers further
forwards than everyone else. We did not manage to complete the
process before their 12pm closing time because they did not accept
the photocopy I had of the other driver's insurance policy and he was
not on their computer system.
The next day, we returned with the
original policy, went to a few different offices to get different
stamps and signatures on the forms and it was all finished in about
half an hour. Everyone served me very quickly. 'Why was it so much
easier today compared to the yesterday?', I asked myself. But
then I realised that it was because I was wearing a suit, since I
would be having an important business meeting later in the day. In
shame-honour culture, the more honourable clients are served before
the less honourable. Wealth is one characteristic of an honourable
gentleman, so anyone in a smart suit will be served quickly, just in
case they are someone rich and important. This is a source of great
irritation to scruffy-looking Western tourists who complain that
other people who arrived at the hotel reception after them are served
first. I made a mental note to always wear my suit in these kind of
situations in the future.
