Accident in own car as passenger

Chrisblue1962

In July 2009, i was off work with a broken ankle and I was out in my car with my OH, who was insured to drive any other car on her own policy.

We were involved in an accident which has not yet been resolved due to neither party accepting liability and may even be going to court. I have not yet informed my-then insurer due to fact that liability has not yet been addmitted / settled. I beleive I have 6 years from any accident to claim against the guilty party (but I am hardly likely to claim against OH - I / we beleive it wasn't her fault anyway).

My questions are:

1. Am I obliged to inform a would-be insurer of above accident when requesting a quote as I could hardly be liable for an accident when I was travelling as a passenger in my own vehicle...

2. Can I ask current insurer if they took above accident into account when setting previous premium and if so, can I complain and get money back?

3. If 2. is yes, who would I complain to?

I feel aggrieved as I now have a damaged car which I wish to sell to buy a more economical model but cant afford to get repairs done (circa £500.00) but I feel I am being penalised for an accident that clearly wasn't my fault .

Any thoughts / ideas are welcome...

Quentin

You only have 3 years to claim for injury (it's 6 for property).

You should make a claim against your wife (her insurer will pay up, and if a third party is responsible will chase them for the money)

1) No need to declare anything if you were a passenger. But if your wife is a named driver, or you are involved in a claim for your car's damage it needs declaring. (Presumably you are, as you say liability is being disputed)

2) Check your paperwork and see if the incident is mentioned

3) Complain to your insurer (unsure what grounds you want to complain on)

2sides2everystory

This looks to be a bit of a muddle.

It was a bit unlucky that the accident occurred when OH was driving apparently protected only by a 'Driving Other Cars' extension. Did you know that many insurers charge a cheaper premium if you have your OH named as a second driver from the outset? Some notion of couples being better risks than singles or something?

I suppose all this means that you don't have any motoring legal protection cover that covers the incident?

Broadly Quentin is probably right, and you certainly should not have qualms about claiming for any additional injuries you sustained against your OH's policy. Afterall, OH insurers are already involved so OH's own insurance is already prejudiced to an extent that no-one can be certain until the two insurers involved settle it?

You certainly must not see it as a personal attack on your OH's integrity or driving skill, or any such thing. You were a passenger. The way the law protecting passengers was created means passengers should always generally claim against their drivers not the other driver. Obviously some very big personal injury claims have been made over the years against other family members' insurances. It is nothing personal against the other family member. It is the standard route to proper compensation for injuries. You are not prejudicing the legal position of who ultimately will be found to be to blame by doing so.

You haven't actually said you were injured in the accident however, so don't let us go too far with the concept.

I am intrigued by your suggestion that this "may even be going to court". Why is that? Simple bumps occur every day. It seems your car has been insured again since the accident but you have not fixed it so it is driveable ... ?

Was this not a simple bump?

Insurers are entitled to take most things into account that might materially influence their assessment of the correct premium. But if your OH was not a named driver and you did not notify the insurer at the time then how would they know about this anyway?

Pardon me if this seems a silly question, but I take it your OH DID notify their insurers?

Forgive me for further silliness, but I am now wondering if the reason that court has been threatened is because you have not given details of any insurance to the third party?


Can you tell us more about the court threat and confirm that OH's insurers have agreed to deal with the third party's claim against your OH?

Chrisblue1962

Firstly, big thanks to 2sides2everystory and Quentin for replying. Thank You.

No-one was injured in the accident, I had already broken my ankle in a fall at home weeks earlier. As luck would have it, an ambulance was passing the scene just after the accident and they stopped and confirmed no-one was injured. The police were not called either due to this fact.

My OH reported accident to her insurers, we took photos of both vehicles and skid marks on road made by other party's car. A passing motorist, who has subsequently provided a written statement (this has also passed to OH insurers) stopped just after the collison and said he noted the fact that the other driver overtook him at great speed just before the accident and could be seen to be breaking the speed limit as he (our witness) was driving at the speed limit but did not see the actual collison due to undulating nature / sloping uphill gradient of road.

My vehicle was damaged but only to bodywork (£500 approx) and infact has passed MOT since accident without requiring any further remedial work.

The fact of matter possibly going to court was mentioned due to fact that other party has filed papers with a county court against OH for damages against him - we received court documents but with no accompanying letter so we don't know if he is doing this himself or via his insurers. Documents were duly passed onto OH's insurance company.

I think my current insurers found out by checking Insurance industry database as a claim has been lodged against OH but in my car so they think I may have a claim against me.

OH has provided information to her insurers who, as far as we are aware, are dealing with matter.

Quentin: Where would it say in my current insurance paperwork that premium influenced by an accident occurring?

Quentin

Chrisblue1962 wrote: »

Quentin: Where would it say in my current insurance paperwork that premium influenced by an accident occurring?

Probably in the schedule, or similarly named section ("drivers details" etc)

They list drivers together with claims/convictions/disabilities etc.

If you have the claim/loss shown against you or the named driver then it has been taken into account.

Chrisblue1962

Thanks Quentin, will look at paperwork over weekend.

2sides2everystory

Sorry not to have replied the other day, have been away.

Quentin sounds like he might be more up to date with the ways of the insurance world than I, but if I was in the OP's shoes I'd be exploring ways to get my own car fixed and to try to leave the various insurers to sort everything out now between themselves.

When Quentin said you should make a claim against your OH, I think he was assuming you may have been injured in the accident. That is not the case so I don't think there is anything you can claim for against OH insurance unless she is covered by Hiscox or Chubb - top class insurers I read about in another thread who apparently give fully comp DoC extensions to their favoured customers!

So have you actually submitted any claim against the Third Party's insurers? It sounds like you may have done but that TP's insurers have thus far denied liability? Your OH's pure motor insurers seem to be upholding your OH's end of things, but is there any Motoring Legal Protection cover in play for your side/your OH's side?

Basically it is the kind of situation where you might just as well let the insurers take the strain as far as possible but in order to do that, they all needed to be in play early on perhaps. Your plan to leave your own insurance out of it whilst understandable, may have backfired if, for example, your own insurers might have been able to play a useful part.

The broad situation whilst a bit complex sounds fair enough and although I am no expert I don't think you could do any harm by speaking to your old insurer's claims department and sounding them out. You'll tell them that you thought that since your other half was relying on her DoC that it was simplest to let her DoC insurers handle things, but you wonder if they would have had a different take on it.

Although "late notification" is the obstruction to it now, one thing I would be wondering is whether my own insurer might have still put their hands up for an "own damage" claim had you contacted them earlier - and if so, would they still consider it on the basis that most people might have assumed it wasn't possible ...

My thoughts on this are that whilst you were not driving the car, you were definitely "using" it, and I wonder if that would have been sufficient for an OD claim to have succeeded. It is perhaps one of those questions 'out on a limb' of an insurance policy and I am probably barking up the wrong tree.

On the question of any difference in premium charged for one modest accident involving a named driver, I don't think in isolation it would make very much difference to a renewal premium or a quote. All insurers have their own ideas about such things, but generally I think it wouldn't have cost you much.

I wonder if Quentin or someone else in the know like dacouch has any thoughts on this one?

Chrisblue1962

I phoned my current insurers yesterday nd whilst they said they were aware of he accident, it was classed as "No Fault" so didn't negatively affect my policy.

david39

The details given seem quite involved and slightly difficult to follow.

Unless I am mistaken, it seems that you are depending on your OH's insurance to pay the cost of your repairs on the grounds that she has cover from her policy to drive any car.

As I understand it, such cover by all companies is for Third Party liability only and cover is not given for the vehicle that she is actually driving - just for anything or any person she might hit.

There is currently another thread running on this board that points out that some companies specifically exclude even this third party cover when the vehicles belong to partners or spouses.

2sides2everystory

Good to know it isn't being held against your record thus far Chris. So will you talk to your old insurers too, or is everything panning out the way you want now?