help i dont know what to do. they want £5000.

shinobi247

i sold a car 3 years ago. The people i sold the car to crashed the vehicle the same week i sold it to them. Because i never told my insurance company i sold the vehicle and only told them i have sold it after i bought another one 2-3 months after selling it, i am liable for the damage , so my insurance company is now pursuing me for £5000.
The vehicle was registered to the new owner, but because ther was valid insurance on the car , my old insurance company paid ou the 3rd party and now wants money from me. Surely i cant be responsibile for other peoples accident, even if the car was insured, the most i should have to pay is excess? please help i dont know what to do.:embarasse

mattymoo

I can understand why the insurer paid out but not why they are chasing you.

It sounds like the third party pursued a claim against the Motor Insurers Bureau - (MIB) who compensate victims of uninsured and untraced motorists. MIB is a not for profit organisation, funded via a levy on motor insurers. It is a "fund of last resort". This means that as part of their investigations they will check to see if there is any insurance at all on the vehicle - and this is how they found your insurer.

Your insurer would have been obliged to take over the handling of the matter and then compensate the victim of the person you sold the car to.

While you ought to have told them before 2-3 months was up, the fact the accident occured the same week you sold the vehicle means you cannot be criticised. suggest to your insurers that they pursue the claim against the person you sold the car to - they were the negligent party.

Oscar_The_Grouch

Agree with Matty here. You need to speak to your insurers and tell them what happened over the sale of the vehicle. If they still say they want the money from you, then you need to look to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

The FOS are not just there to deal with "my insurer won't pay my claim". They will also get involved with this sort of case. You would need to register a complaint with the insurance company first and give them 8 weeks to come up with a response, but you can do that whenever you like. I'd suggest speaking nicely to the insurer first and if they don't go away, come back here for some more advice.

dunstonh

You could get the DVLA to confirm the dates when ownership changed and that should show when you ceased to be owner and hopefully its before the accident.

The only possible snag is if you and/or the other party didnt send of their bit of the log book confirming sale/purchase.

PennyPinchingMiser

No, third party insurance relates to a person, not a vehicle.
Whoever was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident is liable, not you.
e.g if you lent you car to a mate, and they had an accident, they have to have the insurance, not you.

They can't claim against the comprehensive side of the insurance either, only you can do that, it's your policy

mattymoo

Pennypinchingmiser - that is not strictly true.
Your insurers can be liable under the Road Traffic Act even if you were not driving the vehicle. Their right of recovery though should be against the uninsured party (the buyer in this case).

There is no claim against the comprehensive cover either - it's against the third party liability section of the policy.

PennyPinchingMiser

mattymoo wrote: »

Pennypinchingmiser - that is not strictly true.
Your insurers can be liable under the Road Traffic Act even if you were not driving the vehicle.

So, your saying that if some steals your vehicle, and they're involved in a accident, that the claim is against you, and you have to pay any excesses, and loose your NCD, and have a claim against you and pay the subsequent higher insurance for the next five years, even though you weren't in the vehicle at the time?

mattymoo

Correct.

Excess for loss of the vehicle or repairs to damage caused by thieves.

Claims against you will succeed because at the end of the day the innocent victim has to be compensated. All motor insurance policies provide liability cover for Road Traffic Act Liabilities (one step below third party cover and not sold as such) and this is why they are required to pay out.

PennyPinchingMiser

mattymoo wrote: »

Correct.

Excess for loss of the vehicle or repairs to damage caused by thieves.

Claims against you will succeed because at the end of the day the innocent victim has to be compensated. All motor insurance policies provide liability cover for Road Traffic Act Liabilities (one step below third party cover and not sold as such) and this is why they are required to pay out.

Fair enough. (citations to this would be nice)

So, the OP shouldn't be liable for the claim, as the insurance company should cover that, but they will have to declare the claim on future insurance applications, and will be liable for any excess?

mattymoo

PennyPinchingMiser wrote: »

Fair enough. (citations to this would be nice)

So, the OP shouldn't be liable for the claim, as the insurance company should cover that, but they will have to declare the claim on future insurance applications, and will be liable for any excess?

They will not be liable for any excess. The claim is purely for the third party vehicle / injuries etc. There cannot be a claim for the OP's old car - that is all down to the buyer who failed to insure it.

Re declaring the claim - I don't honestly know. Yes it will show on the OP's claims history with the CUE database that insurers can access. I am not sure if insurers will disregard Road Traffic Act liability claims though.

Citations (long ones) - MIB FAQ - http://www.mib.org.uk/Frequently+Asked+Questions/en/Default.htm
Uninsured drivers agreement - http://www.mib.org.uk/Downloadable+Documents/en/Agreements/Uninsured+Agreements/Default.htm
Section 151 of the RTA - http://www.ukmotorists.com/third%20page%20liabilities.asp
It is the fact that the insurance cert had not been returned to the insurers that means there is a liability arising, forcing the OP's insurers to settle the third party claim.

shinobi247

i wouldn't have a problem with it being on my record or even having to pay excess , they want me to pay for the whole damadge to the 3rd party which i believe was a building. My insurance company know the vehicle was registered to the new owner on the day of the accident, my problem is why are they pursuing me for the costs of the accident.