Uninsured Driver Claim on my policy

caezar

I did not report the car stolen. As I said, it was the insurance company that told me there was an incident and only then did I realise that my car had been used. Perhaps I should have reported it immediately after that but it didn't seem relevant to do so at the time (the insurance company came knocking about two months after the actual incident). I will get it reported to the police now however. Whatever good that may do.

I used to leave the keys at home. I work in central london and it's too expensive to drive to work with all the costs of congestion charges and parking that that entails. Since I learnt about this incident, I take the keys with me. Like I said there was no permission given. Not even implicitly. This is really my sister's fault. She should have been responsible enough to tell me before she and her friend used the car and to tell me after the incident occured.

@DUTR
You say that I am liable via my insurers. But I contend that what's happened here is that I have effectively NO insurance. The insurance company came knocking and I told them the truth as far as I was aware. I was not present at the incident, did not give permission, yet I now have a 13k+ bill to foot. I have an insurance policy but it provides me no protection. And why can't the insurance company go after the real driver? I have already given them what details I have of her and I have offered to assist them in tracking her down. What more can I do? In retrospect, I should have lied to the insurance company and said that I had been driving at the time of the incident. At least it would only have affected my No Claims Bonus!!!

I say it's not fair that people should fall victim to uninsured drivers, but it works both ways. It's not fair to the victim of the accident and it's certainly not fair to the owner of the car involved in the accident if he/she is expected to foot the bill in the end.

caezar

DUTR wrote: »

Yes and that is why we have 3rd party insurance, TBH I don't fully beleive the OPs story and it just seems like a cheap way to blag out of a historic incident.
There is no point being bla-ze about the whole set up, it wouldn't be so bad if the OP felt somebody had to pay out, and if it were not himself, then it should be his insurance company, although the policy would have expired by now.

I resent the tone of your posts. You seem to have come to the conclusion that my story is lie. But it is the whole truth!
Also, I have never said that no one should pay out. I believe the actual driver at the time of the incident should pay out! But I cannot see the moral justification in slapping me with this bill just because I left my keys at home. Even if the insurance company had agreed to pay out and slap me with a penalty, say an excess charge or something, I would have accepted it. But a 13k bill when I did not drive nor give permission for my car to be driven is unfair in whatever light you put it.

raskazz

You need to report the crime of taking the vehicle without consent as a matter of urgency.

You see to the insurer, and from an objective standpoint, a reluctance to report the crime to the police implies that the vehicle was actually taken with consent (or the claimed "driver" was not even driving at all); and so the owner of the vehicle is reluctant to report to the police for fear of being found out and then hit with a charge of making a false report.

Is your sister named as a driver on the policy?

mikey72

Seems a large bill. Have you asked the insurer for details of what they paid out for?
As to the uninsured driver, and police, there is a good time to let sleeping dogs lie.
As you where not there, there is no evidence either way, anything you say is mere hearsay.
Report it if the insurer requests you do.

dtaylor84

caezar wrote: »

@DUTR
You say that I am liable via my insurers. But I contend that what's happened here is that I have effectively NO insurance. The insurance company came knocking and I told them the truth as far as I was aware. I was not present at the incident, did not give permission, yet I now have a 13k+ bill to foot. I have an insurance policy but it provides me no protection. And why can't the insurance company go after the real driver? I have already given them what details I have of her and I have offered to assist them in tracking her down. What more can I do? In retrospect, I should have lied to the insurance company and said that I had been driving at the time of the incident. At least it would only have affected my No Claims Bonus!!!

I say it's not fair that people should fall victim to uninsured drivers, but it works both ways. It's not fair to the victim of the accident and it's certainly not fair to the owner of the car involved in the accident if he/she is expected to foot the bill in the end.

Ultimately, your insurance have had to pay out under the RTA. They are now chasing you for the costs as they are entitled to do. Based on the circumstances you've outlined, it's your responsibility to chase the (uninsured) driver for your costs.

Had you reported your car stolen at the time, I could see it having a different outcome - but you're now in a very difficult situation.

vax2002

raskazz wrote: »

You need to report the crime of taking the vehicle without consent as a matter of urgency.

I would refer to my earlier post about seeking legal advice first, this could be down to what a jury believes.
I certainly know where the majority of readers here would cast the verdict.

Not saying he is spinning it, but by God does he need to be careful.

raskazz

dtaylor84 wrote: »

Ultimately, your insurance have had to pay out under the RTA. They are now chasing you for the costs as they are entitled to do.

If the vehicle genuninely was taken without consent by the "friend" then they are not entitled to do this.

raskazz

vax2002 wrote: »

I would refer to my earlier post about seeking legal advice first, this could be down to what a jury believes.
I certainly know where the majority of readers here would cast the verdict.

Not saying he is spinning it, but by God does he need to be careful.

Well obviously if he is lying then yes, he should consider his position carefully.

dacouch

caezar wrote: »

@DUTR
You say that I am liable via my insurers. But I contend that what's happened here is that I have effectively NO insurance. The insurance company came knocking and I told them the truth as far as I was aware. I was not present at the incident, did not give permission, yet I now have a 13k+ bill to foot. I have an insurance policy but it provides me no protection. And why can't the insurance company go after the real driver?

As has been stated previously, the Road Traffic Act (Quite rightly) makes your Insurer liable for fault accident caused by the vehicle they Insure providing either the driver is covered by the policy or if not covered by the policy if they are identified.

The Insurance did provide protection by handling and paying the claim against you. Without this you would be in much greater problems. If your sisters friend had told you as soon as the accident had happened the claim could well be dramatically lower.

You need to start taking the matter seriously and sort the matter out.

Is the Insurer Admiral by any chance

DUTR

caezar wrote: »

I resent the tone of your posts. You seem to have come to the conclusion that my story is lie. But it is the whole truth!
Also, I have never said that no one should pay out. I believe the actual driver at the time of the incident should pay out! But I cannot see the moral justification in slapping me with this bill just because I left my keys at home. Even if the insurance company had agreed to pay out and slap me with a penalty, say an excess charge or something, I would have accepted it. But a 13k bill when I did not drive nor give permission for my car to be driven is unfair in whatever light you put it.

Post #16 has answered before I had chance to.
The moral justification is that the vehicle registered to you should not be made available to unauthorised drivers, I'm not sure where you cannot see what I'm getting at here, you did not do everything in your power to prevent the situation, slim as the chances of it occuring, it did occur and sadly it happened to you, my car keys are locked in a safe when I go away, it is up to you how you prevent unauthorised usage of your vehicle, however had you paid it more attention at the time, you would not have this headache now
Just to add, then you could pay the money and recover it from the unauthorised driver, that way everybody is happy.