Traffic accident: how to file your ACAA claim

ACAA, the Automobile Accident Compensation Administration, runs a traffic accident insurance and compensation system funded by a mandatory annual premium paid with the registration sticker of every authorised motor vehicle. In return, it covers bodily harm, illness and death resulting from a traffic accident: emergency room, outpatient physician, hospitalisation, surgery, dental, medication, rehabilitation therapy, chiropractic, convalescent homes, nursing care, medical equipment and ground or air ambulance, among others. ACAA states that all its coverages provide services for a period of two years from the date of the accident.

ACAA states that every person involved in a motor vehicle accident — driver, passenger or pedestrian — benefits from its medical and hospital services, and that cyclists and riders involved in traffic accidents may also claim. If you were driving on a learner’s permit, ACAA states that you can indeed claim, by presenting your learner’s permit together with the licence of the authorised driver accompanying you at the time of the accident, who must be of legal age. Act 111-2020 sets out exclusions, and this guide reproduces them in full below because they are the difference between having coverage and not having it.

• Notify the nearest police station within the first four (4) hours after the accident, and write down the complaint number.Verified against the official source
• Visit an ACAA regional office within fifteen (15) calendar days from the date of the accident.Verified against the official source
• Not falling under any of the exclusions in Act 111-2020, among them driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, not holding a valid and current driver’s licence at the time of the accident, or having an expired registration sticker or none at all.Verified against the official source

• If you are the driver: name and address, the Police complaint number, and the driver’s licence and the vehicle licence.
• If you are a passenger: photo identification.
• If you went to an emergency room: the medical discharge report and the studies performed.
• If you ride a motorcycle: the driver’s licence together with the DTOP endorsement to ride a motorcycle.
• If the vehicle is new: the provisional licence together with the purchase contract provided by the dealer.
• If your driver’s licence or vehicle licence is lost or illegible: a licence certification issued by the nearest DTOP or CESCO, including validity with issue and expiry dates. ACAA asks you to obtain it before visiting the regional office.
• If you were driving on a learner’s permit: your learner’s permit and the licence of the authorised driver, of legal age, who was accompanying you.

1. 1

   Step 1: Call the Police within the first four hours

   It is ACAA’s first requirement and the easiest to lose: notify the nearest police station within the first four hours after the accident. What you have to walk away with is the complaint number. Without it the claim has nothing to point at, and it is the first thing ACAA asks for when you reach the regional office. Save it on your phone that same day; do not rely on the paper.

2. 2

   Step 2: If you went to the ER, keep the discharge and the studies

   ACAA expressly asks for the medical discharge report and the studies performed if you went to an emergency room. Ask for them before you leave the hospital: coming back for them later burns days you do not have.

3. 3

   Step 3: Gather the licences, original and current

   Driver’s licence and vehicle licence. If either is lost or illegible, ACAA sends you first to the nearest DTOP or CESCO to request a licence certification including validity, with issue and expiry dates. That detour also has to fit inside the fifteen days, so sort it out early.

4. 4

   Step 4: Visit a regional office before day 15

   ACAA has ten regional offices: Aguadilla, Arecibo, Bayamón, Caguas, Carolina, Centro Médico, Humacao, Mayagüez, Ponce and San Juan. You may go to the one nearest your home. Addresses are looked up in the regional office selector on acaa.pr.gov, and the general phone number is (787) 759-8989.

5. 5

   Step 5: If you cannot go, authorise someone by letter

   ACAA contemplates it: you may authorise a representative to file for you, still within the fifteen calendar days. They must bring a letter authorising them, photo identification for both of you, the complaint number, the original and current driver’s licence, the original and current vehicle licence, and the medical discharge report with the studies if there was an emergency room visit.

At any of ACAA’s ten regional offices — Aguadilla, Arecibo, Bayamón, Caguas, Carolina, Centro Médico, Humacao, Mayagüez, Ponce and San Juan — within fifteen calendar days of the accident. ACAA states you may present your claim at the regional office nearest your home. Addresses are looked up in the office selector on acaa.pr.gov. Head office: 249 Arterial Hostos, San Juan, P.R. 00918-1849. Phone: (787) 759-8989.

• Letting the first four hours pass without notifying the Police and without getting the complaint number.
• Believing ACAA covers car damage: it covers bodily injury, not bodywork.
• Not asking for the medical discharge report and the studies before leaving the hospital.
• Being a pedestrian, cyclist or rider and not claiming, when ACAA names them expressly.
• Discovering on day 14 that the licence is illegible and that a DTOP or CESCO visit comes first.
• Not authorising a representative by letter when you cannot get there yourself within the fifteen days.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Administración de Compensaciones por Accidentes de Automóviles (ACAA)

  ACAA

  www.acaa.pr.gov

• ACAA — official site and regional office selector

  ACAA

  www.acaa.pr.gov

• Act No. 111 of 2020 (official text on docs.pr.gov)

  ACAA

  docs.pr.gov