Passenger crash victim got financial aid: Grab

FILE: FINANCIAL AID. A copy of the check issued by Grab to Roel Capuno, uncle of car crash victim Karen Graneta, sent to the media on Friday (Oct. 4, 2019). The company denied Graneta’s allegation of not receiving financial aid from Grab since her accident in 2016. (Photo courtesy of Grab via PNA)

MANILA – Ride-hailing company Grab Philippines on Friday denied that it failed to provide financial aid to a passenger involved in an accident on board a Grab car in 2016.

In a statement, Grab belied crash victim Karen Graneta’s claims that she did not receive any financial aid from the firm.

Grab said the case involving Graneta was pending in court. It clarified that a check worth PHP160,000 was issued to Graneta’s family, specifically to her uncle, a certain Roel Capuno.

The company said its chief of drivers’ services personally went to the University of Santo Tomas Hospital a day after the accident to see Graneta’s family and asked them about their needs.

“At the time, Ms. Graneta’s family acknowledged that it was not the fault of the GrabCar driver, who also sustained injuries due to the accident,” the statement read.

During the second visit of a Grab representative, Capuno was designated by the family to transact with Grab and was later given the check named to and personally received by him.

“The family’s biggest concern at that time was the hospital expenses,” Grab said.

Aside from providing financial aid, Grab said they also assisted the victim’s family in the processing of insurance claims as part of the company’s protocol.

However, the family failed to comply with the requirements of the insurance claim.

“Ms. Graneta’s family expressed interest to claim insurance benefits but were not able to submit the documents required for the processing of insurance claims,” Grab said.

To express their willingness to extend support “above and beyond” what is necessary, Grab said they have also engaged additional third-party insurance since the accident — on top of the government-required insurance.

On Wednesday, Graneta narrated the events of the 2016 collision that killed her friend, during a hearing by the Senate Committee on Public Services on the Philippine Day of Remembrance for Road Crash Victims, Survivors, and Families.

Graneta and a friend were aboard a Grab car in full-stop at the Nagtahan (Mabini) bridge on Sept. 27, 2016, when a truck crashed into them from behind, causing their car to surge forward and hit another truck in front.

Graneta recalled that they were trapped inside the vehicle for almost an hour. She was hospitalized for six months and her hospital bills amounted to PHP3 million.