Uninsured Driver

scouselad1974

Hi

This is a post for a couple of friends of mine who were hit in the rear by an uninsured driver, the driver has still not supplied his insurance details and is refusing to, the police have been involved but don't seem to interested, the claim is going to the MBI and my friends insurance company are asking for the £300 excess, is this correct? and is there anything else that they can do ?

Thanks in advance

Money_Grabber13579

If they are uninsured, how can they provide insurance details? And unfortunately, that's the way it works. You have to pay the excess. Although, strictly speaking, you could probably sue and the police should be pursuing it as it is an offence.

scouselad1974

Hi

I should of said it is presumed that the other driver is not insured as he will not provide the documents and unfortunatley the police do not seem to botherd. Thanks anyway

TonyMMM

You could take the other driver to court (through small claims) for the £300, plus any increase in premiums that may be incurred in the future because of the claim - but this may be a waste of time if they have no money to pay.

Do your friends have legal expenses cover as part of their insurance ?

dacouch

You can find out if there is a policy in place at the current time (It might not have been current at the time of the accident) by using this website. https://www.askmid.com it will cost you £3.50 and uses the same database the police and Insurers use to check Insurance. If you use the website it will tell you the name of the current Insurer and their contact details.

I suspect they do not have cover as normally your Insurers will use the system (They can access more details than you eg who covered it at the time of the accident) and if they have advised you to go to the MIB I assume they have checked and it shows as no cover (The system is about 95% accurate so if it shows as no cover there is a small chance they are actually insured).

As a previous poster mentioned you could try sueing them, if you have legal expense cover they should do it for you.

The Insurers are correct in requesting the £300 excess as if you claim off your Insurers you pay the excess. (If there with NU or Direct Line they supposedly waive the excess if you have an accident with an unisured driver)

daveyjp

If they have fully comprehensive insurance forget the MIB for getting cash back for car repairs - they are a last resort option.

You could sue the other driver, but as others have said if they have no money they won't pay, but will get a CCJ.

Quentin

dacouch wrote: »

.....you could try sueing them, if you have legal expense cover they should do it for you.

There are two conditions that legal expense cover always need answered in your favour before they will embark on court proceedings:

Both parties involved in the legal cover (ie the solicitor and the insurer funding them) need both these conditions answered in your favour before they will embark on court proceedings:

1) Do you have a reasonable chance of winning (ie more likely to win than not)

2) Is there evidence that the defendant has the resources to pay up after you win.

Sueing for your money involves more expense, and if the defendant cannot pay, then going to court is just good money after bad even though you win your case.