Legal Standards for Insurance Claims Handling and the Protection of Insured Persons and Injured Parties: A Comparative Analysis of North Macedonia and Croatia

This article examines the regulatory framework for insurance claims handling and the protection of insured persons and injured parties in North Macedonia and Croatia, from the receipt of a claim to its settlement. It analyses the broader North Macedonian framework and compares it with Croatian rules on motor third-party liability claims, limiting the comparison to procedural elements common to both frameworks. The study uses doctrinal and functional comparative analysis to examine the rules on registration, evidence-gathering, reasons for decisions, payment and complaints. It draws on published supervisory complaint data to identify recurring issues. Both countries require a reasoned offer or reply within 60 days of receiving a motor liability claim. Croatia specifies which evidence the insurer must obtain, how it must explain the amount offered and when it must pay that amount or, as an advance, the undisputed part. North Macedonian law already provides for prompt registration and reasoned decisions, but its motor insurance statute ties the payment period for a reasoned offer to delivery of the injured party’s written response to the insurer. The article proposes an outer payment deadline, clearer requirements for explaining compensation and rules on when the European Accident Statement may serve as a claim. It also explains why these solutions are transferable to North Macedonia and what their implementation would require. The findings concern the legal safeguards available to claimants; the complaint data indicate recurring issues but not actual settlement times.