LIABILITY CLAIM: THE FIRST RESPONSE
The first 72 hours, from Claims Desk by RFS

In liability, the damage is usually done in the first conversation, by
somebody being decent and apologetic to a person who has been hurt.

WHAT LOSES IT
Admitting liability. Almost every liability policy makes it a condition
that you do not admit fault or settle without consent, so the sentence
that felt like basic courtesy can be the sentence that voids the cover.

1. Do not admit liability, agree fault or apologise for cause
   [Immediately]
   You can be humane without accepting blame: help the injured
   person, ask what they need, and say the matter is being looked
   into. Almost every liability policy makes admission a breach.

2. Tell the insurer at once, before you reply to anyone  [Same day]
   Liability cover is claims-made or occurrence-based depending on
   the wording, and both are sensitive to when you knew. Notify on
   the allegation, not on the lawsuit.

3. Forward any legal notice unanswered  [On receipt]
   Send it to the insurer and do not reply to it yourself. Insurers
   usually have the right to conduct the defence and a reply sent
   without them can prejudice it.

4. Preserve the evidence of what you actually did  [Day 1]
   The batch record, the QC report, the maintenance log, the
   delivery documents, the site register, the CCTV. Your defence is
   the record of a process being followed.

5. Identify and preserve the product or the site  [Day 1]
   For a product claim, quarantine the batch and retain samples. For
   a premises claim, photograph the location before anything is
   repaired -- including the thing that will obviously be fixed
   tomorrow.

6. Write down the sequence while people remember it  [Day 1]
   Who was present, what was said, what was done, at what time.
   Liability claims surface months or years later, and a
   contemporaneous note is worth far more than a recollection.

7. Do not negotiate or pay  [Throughout]
   Not a settlement, and not a free replacement offered as an
   apology, without the insurer's written consent. Goodwill is the
   commonest way this cover is quietly breached.

8. Check whether anyone else shares the liability  [Days 1 to 7]
   Contractor, supplier, transporter, principal. Contractual
   indemnities and the insurer's recovery rights both depend on this
   being identified early.

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Claims Desk by RFS - claimsdesk.in - 92514 56334
We run insurance claims end to end, including on policies placed
elsewhere. Nothing here is legal advice, and what your policy pays
is decided by its wording and the facts of the loss. Where this
says 'the time your policy sets', read your own wording: the
periods genuinely differ and a wrong one costs the claim.