Uninsured Driver Claim on my policy

olly300

prowla wrote: »

The OP obviously didn't report the car stolen because he didn't know it was stolen/borrowed/moved/whatever - he went out to work in the morning and the car was there and when he came home from work the car was there.

The OP does not have to lock up the keys in his own house; that is not a stipulation of any insurance policy that I know of.

He should have reported it stolen as soon as he knew it was taken without his permission.

However the policy wording doesn't help him anyway.

prowla wrote: »

If the sister is seen to have taken the car (probably including authorizing the taking of the car), then I think she has dropped the OP right in it.

Either way you play it there will be a family dispute.

dacouch

caezar wrote: »

Lol. The way I'm feeling right now, I think a spell in custody WOULD teach her to be more responsible.

I think there's a fair chance they have deceived you or at least under played the situation.

They must have had some action in the situation as I would assume the SA driver did not know your keys would be at home, so I guess the sister instigated it.

As Razzkaz mentioned, the NHS charges would suggest the other driver and / or passengers were taken to A&E which the sister must have been aware of. It may also be the case that if the police attended they panicked and miss led the police and pretended the SA was actually you.

If your sister had been truthful with you then the claim would probably have been considerably lower.

As I mentioned earlier, collect all the evidence you have, do a time line, speak to your sister and get some advice.

Have Elephant renewed your policy since the incident?

marywooyeah

OP this sounds horrible I'd be interrogating your sister under a hot lamp if I was you! you need to find out what really happened asap.

Also, given the cost of the claim I'm really surprised you didn't notice any damage to your car, is there none at all?

DUTR

marywooyeah wrote: »

OP this sounds horrible I'd be interrogating your sister under a hot lamp if I was you! you need to find out what really happened asap.

Also, given the cost of the claim I'm really surprised you didn't notice any damage to your car, is there none at all?

Which is why I suspect not the whole truth is being submitted, never mind just the sister having a spell at the Queens pleasure :eek:
Unless the OP is a troll, he needs to wake up and smell the coffee .

caezar

marywooyeah wrote: »

OP this sounds horrible I'd be interrogating your sister under a hot lamp if I was you! you need to find out what really happened asap.

Also, given the cost of the claim I'm really surprised you didn't notice any damage to your car, is there none at all?

Yes, there was absolutely no damage to my car which is why I didn't realise it had been out. That's also the reason why I was so convinced that my sister was/is telling the truth and there was no real harm done.

Note that the amount paid out does not specify any damages to the third party car unless 'Injuries and associated costs' is a blanket title for damages to the car as well. The other items are NHS costs and Solicitor's costs and disbursements. Should I request a more detailed breakdown of these costs?

I do agree with you that I need to have a sit down with my sister on the issue. But she has been adamant that there was no damage to the woman's car and that she came out of the car looking perfectly alright. In fact, she said the woman drove from the scene saying "It's fine. There's no problem". The way she describes it, at first I thought this was a fraudulent claim but now I can't be certain. In any case, I will take a second, more thorough look into the matter.

@dacouch
I am currently outlining a timeline as per your advice. I want to be fully aware of what happened and when by the time I return from my holidays. Thank you for your advice.

dacouch

caezar wrote: »

@dacouch
I am currently outlining a timeline as per your advice. I want to be fully aware of what happened and when by the time I return from my holidays. Thank you for your advice.

You will find it very helpful to avoid forgetting, it will help you piece things together and also make communicating it to others easier.

Parking_Trouble

I would be asking Elephant for ALL the details of the claim and check against the sisters version of events. They won't provide all the medical reports because of Data Protection but at least get the claimants statement and pictures of damage caused. Don't accept poor quality photo copies and excuses that they don't have original pictures.

An extravagant PI claim combined with harsh EUI (Admiral/Bell/Elephant/Diamond) T&C's is not good.

Definition of TWOC..........

...a person shall be guilty of an offence if, without having the consent of the owner or other lawful authority, he takes any conveyance for his own or another's use, or knowing that any conveyance has been taken without such authority, drives it or allows himself to be carried in or on it.

Last bit is a bummer as the sister has admitted this. Plays into the insurers hands. How on earth can people stop this happening unless they lock the keys away?

Might be worth a browse of the Financial Ombudsman site for any similar cases.

Legal advice needed. Most solicitors will no doubt say you signed up to this. Personally I think it is an unfair condition of the contract so you might need to find a sympathetic lawyer who also thinks it is.

I have yet to find a case where EUI have successfully taken someone through the courts to recover the money (any examples gratefully received).

Elephant will no doubt be asking how the OP wishes to pay back the £14k. :mad:.

prowla

olly300 wrote: »

He should have reported it stolen as soon as he knew it was taken without his permission.

So, the instant the notification of the claim arrived?

BTW, is there a statute of limitations upon when a crime can be reported?

olly300 wrote: »

However the policy wording doesn't help him anyway.

Or is there an established principle that says you have to lock up your keys in your own home?

olly300 wrote: »

Either way you play it there will be a family dispute.

Yep - you're right there!

shreddy

Hello OP,

Sorry to hear of your dilemma.I find it strange that your insurance company are pursuing you, we (I work for a large insurer) usually instruct solicitors if our own recovery attempts fail, however this would be against the driver of the vehicle at the time as opposed to the policyholder. If unsucessful we would likely write the debt off or apply a charge to the driver's mortgage, I've never once attempted recovery from the policyholder in thi type of scenario.

On a side note did the driver have any insurance of her own which provided cover to drive other cars?

I would also be concerned about the amount of the third party claim and the causation of the injuries given that there is no credit hire involved and there is no damage to your vehicle. Unfortunately it's probably too late to dispute this now. Had you been in contact with your insurer at the time they could have arranged an inspection of your own vehicle to compare allegations, damage, injuries etc.

Good luck

kaya

there was a programme on telly about insurance fraud, apparently accident details are being faked and people who have never had an accident are also targets, i would report your sister and her friend for TWOC , lets be realistic about things , thats what they did and they know it , i would also contact the relevent authorities regarding insurance fraud-despite the actions of your sister and her friend if there was no damage to any vehicle or party then demanding 14k from you is fraudulant to say the very least , i would also be hoping that your sisters friend has a spare 14k you can sue her for if it all goes belly up