Who is liable for this crash

rose28454

raskazz wrote: »

For one it would mean that future insurers will know about her careless attitude to such matters and will charge her a premium appropriate to the actual risk she presents, rather than spreading the risk across other innocent policyholders.

Lets put some perspective on this matter. Firstly she is 22 and has had a terrible couple of years ( aneroxia, a suicidal alcoholic father, having to leave home for a year etc). She now lives with me alone and we are strugglng to keep a roof over our heads. I am sure she did not realise that not opening her post could lead to this and we are going to explain to the other driver and see what happens. But she is not a heroin dealer or murderer so people should back off a little bit with the high handed attitude. Lets not forget he pulled out and hit her not the other way round. She is just a young woman who made a silly mistake not a mass murderer!!

rose28454

cogito wrote: »

But that isn't what happened here. If it had been a serious incident, the police would have attended and the law would have taken its course. I have no truck with drivers who drive uninsured and the law should deal with them much more seriously than it does. The OP's daughter will rectify her mistake which was probably no more than an oversight but I wouldn't regard it as my responsibility to go running to the police to try to get some advantage out of an accident that was my own fault.

Thanks for your comment.

raskazz

rose28454 wrote: »

Lets put some perspective on this matter. Firstly she is 22 and has had a terrible couple of years ( aneroxia, a suicidal alcoholic father, having to leave home for a year etc). She now lives with me alone and we are
let it lapse and therefore should explain to the other driver and see what happens. But she is not a heroin dealer or murderer so people should back off a little bit with the high handed attitude. Lets not forget he pulled out and hit her not the other way round. She is just a young woman who made a silly mistake not a mass murderer!!

Personally I'm not advocating that the third party should definitely report her to punish her, but giving a reason why it would be it the public interest for him to do so.

I sympathise, but none of the factors you listed mitigate what she did. We all have our hurdles to overcome - that's life. Not that it matters, but it is my personal opinion that when you drive a car you have to be mature and diligent enough to handle the responsibility that comes with it. A car is a killing machine in the wrong hands. As someone who works in insurance I have seen a case of a motorcyclist who was decapitated by an uninsured driver, they found his head 200 yards down the road - can you imagine how his family felt? That would certainly put your daughter's own problems into perspective. To (a) not pay the premium and (b) ignore letters from your insurer is totally irresponsible. That cannot be argued against or glossed over.

uktyler

rose28454 wrote: »

Lets put some perspective on this matter. Firstly she is 22 and has had a terrible couple of years ( aneroxia, a suicidal alcoholic father, having to leave home for a year etc). She now lives with me alone and we are strugglng to keep a roof over our heads. I am sure she did not realise that not opening her post could lead to this and we are going to explain to the other driver and see what happens. But she is not a heroin dealer or murderer so people should back off a little bit with the high handed attitude. Lets not forget he pulled out and hit her not the other way round. She is just a young woman who made a silly mistake not a mass murderer!!

Driving without insurance is not a "silly mistake"

She did not open her mail. She did not check with her bank that the insurance was paid.

If she does not release what not opening her mail can lead to should she even be behind the wheel of a car?

She may of hard a hard few years, but that is no excuse for her actions.

tinkerbell84

Driving without insurance is ILLEGAL.

You daughter can go and sign up for a £35+ a month phone contract but doesn't ensure she has insurance when driving the car.

Does she check that it's roadworthy?

It doesn't matter what she's been through I'm afraid. Insurance is a mandatory requirement when driving and she didn't bother with it.

cajef

cogito wrote: »

The OP's daughter will rectify her mistake which was probably no more than an oversight but I wouldn't regard it as my responsibility to go running to the police to try to get some advantage out of an accident that was my own fault.

For a start how do you know who's fault the accident was, we only have one persons side of the story and while I do not dispute it is possibly what happened, the other person involved may not agree if they had stared to pull out of the junction and a car suddenly crossed the white line onto their side, insurance companies may well say it is 50/50 especially if it is one persons word against another.

If this minor accident had not occurred this driver would still have been driving around uninsured, oblivious to the consequences if she had caused a major accident.

cogito

cajef wrote: »

If this minor accident had not occurred this driver would still have been driving around uninsured, oblivious to the consequences if she had caused a major accident.

Perhaps it's as well that it did as the matter is presumably now being rectified.

rose28454

cogito wrote: »

Perhaps it's as well t Anyhat it did as the matter is presumably now being rectified.

Yes it has been sorted. We are just waiting to speak to the other driver tonight to sort it out. He was very cagey when we went round to see him and said he could not remember what happened. However he pulled out of a side road and hit her square on the side which is odd as he was supposedly turning right. He told us he saw the van pulled out over the Give way on the other side so surely should have been wary of cars coming up the main road?? The other thing is it is his word against hers but her car has much more damage. Hopefully we can sort and maybe having to pay for her repairs will give her a jolt!

SandC

I hope you get this sorted amicably between the third party and yourselves and that he is understanding, but I would advise against trying to pursue him for any damages to your daughters car just as all the others above have said. Without the insurance in place there is no proof that the accident was his fault - it's up to the insurer to decide (it is always advised never to admit responsibility at the time of the incident) and unfortunately they cannot do that.

Aside from that, she will have learnt a hard lesson through this - whatever the outcome may be. It has to be remembered that whilst you look at this as an oversight it's the consequences that matter. Remember again as above, she is in no place to decide that the third party was in the wrong.

I urge you to advise her to pay her insurance premiums by direct debit and keep an eye on her account to make sure that there are funds in there to cover it.

rose28454

She is going to call him and tell him about the insurance not being in place. Hopefully he will be understanding and let it go. Obviously she will have to pay her own repairs which will be a lessonlearnt!!