question on car insurance

darrencgraham

Hello,
My wife and I have just returned home from a lovely spa break to find out that her car has been towed, as we stand accused of driving into the back of and side of a neighbours car and causing damage to one other.

Heres the crunch of what we need to know, my wifes car was uninsured, it was taxed and mot etc, she closed the policy on it, when the new insurance company ( for my car which she now drives as i cant due to ill health) wouldnt allow the no claims to be running on two policies at once!

The question is, are we going to have insurance/legal problems now? If we can prove she wasnt driving, do you have to insure a car you know your not going to drive thats just parked at the side of the road?

hope this makes sense...

Darren

hartcjhart

yes you will have problems as it is an offence to keep a car on the road(even if not being used)

DaveMacD

You may have some problems (unless your car was parked in a driveway/garage or whatever when you left). However, if you can prove you were not driving, then you should at least be able to offset some of those problems. I would guess that it is less of an issue for the Police that your car is parked and uninsured, than that your car has been used uninsured and been involved in multiple accidents. They will want to know who the driver was more than they will want to get you for insurance right now.

maninthestreet

So who towed your car away? When did the accident allegedly occur?

Wig

A car in a public place has to have insurance. So in order to get your car back you will have to get someone who is insured to drive other peoples cars (assuming it is drivable) Then you will have to pay the towing fee about £150 plus storage fees of about £25 per day (maybe more). You could be prosecuted for having an unisured vehicle in a public place.

Regarding the liability for the accident damage, as the car was either not involved at all or if it was it was being driven without your permission, then -I reckon- this won't be your problem. The person whose car was damaged will have to claim off the MIB. The MIB will then have to identify the driver if they want to recover their costs from the driver, unless the car was left with a dodgy handbrake, or no handbrake, and it moved on it's own into the other car. Then perhaps you could be liable for damages under negligence.