Uninsured driver

goldiefloss

My son whilst stationery was hit by an insured driver. She was honest and said straight away that she wasn't insured and begged us not to get the police involved. she promised to pay for damage. Details were exhanged and my son informed his insurance company but said he didn't want to claim ' yet. he got 3 quotes and got in touch with her. There were between £900 - £1000. She asked if he would be prepared to take the car to a 'friend of the families' as he would give her mates rates. My son checked the garage out and it was OK. He taped a conversation with the owner saying "To make sure we are reading from the same page, Ms *** has a greed to pay for repairs to my car and I will get receipt and guarantee." The mechanic acknowledged this saying "Ms *** is going to owe me big time for this and yes she had been in touch explainign the situation". So we have a conversation with garage and one with Ms *** saying what was going to happen. However, nown it comes to the time for my son to pick his car up the garage won't let him have it until they are paid and .... you guessed it .... no one can get in touch with Ms ***. My son needs his car for work, where do we stand??? Is it worth getting the police involved, can they do anything?

slyracoon

You should have phoned the police on day one and claimed though the MIB.

All you can do now if you want the car back is pay the garage and persue the woman in the hope that she may pay you back, maybe small claims if needs be.

You can go to the police but as time has passed since the incident I doubt there is any proof or witnesses to the incident so she will just claim ignorance.

Quentin

Police won't help regarding the car/garage - it's a civil matter.

(They may though be interested in the criminal matter of her driving without insurance!)

You know your son has gone about this the wrong way, but now needs to pursue the third party.

He can see if his insurer/solicitor can help.

maninthestreet

What contact details for the other driver does your son have? Has your son actually seen the car now that it has been repaired?

Cash-Strapped.T32

Did you specifically acknowledge on-tape that you're aware of the girl's insurance (or lack of?).

If not, just treat it like a case where you didn't learn until after the fact she was uninsured.
You/he informed your insurance company of the indecent , only that you were not submitting a claim, due to the fact the 3rd party agreed to pay;
Which it appears you have convenient proof of,
the recorded convo with the girl in question, and with the garage agreeing to terms.

So given that is this really such a difficult matter to resolve?
I don't know, I'm just asking here but this situation must pop up fairly often; A 3rd party offers to pay for repairs but then fails to pay when the work's done..

The whole thing about her being uninsured is nowt to do with the OP's "case", unless she (or her son) wants it to be, no?

Antispam

Sorry but he should if reported this to the Police in first place. Why do you think driver is uninsured because they probably cant afford insurance or worse banned, so what makes them think they can afford a repair?

You do realise his insurance might go up anyway even if he didn't claim

You probably have to pay and then take the driver to court but is difficult one as its his word against theirs

McKneff

I would still report her to the police to be honest, she presumably still doesnthave insurance, so theres nothing stopping her from killing somebody next time she is out.

They will (hopefully) trace her through her reg. number and watch her.

Nine_Lives

Was the mechanic / bodyshop person aware that they were being recorded?

If not, i'm not sure about how you go forward with the recording as "evidence". Maybe it'll be allowed, maybe not. I don't know.

Was the contact info for this woman checked out before the car was sent in - to see if the contact was legit, or whether the phone number leads to Disneyland?


I'm certainly hoping that your son isn't going to end up learning a harsh lesson here & that he will get his money back.

vax2002

if you do not report the accident involving a non insured driver your son will be guilty of "assisting and offender" and will almost certainly be sent to prison.
This is a very very serious matter that must be resolved immediately.
I can not advise you on the recording evidence as it can be used AGAINST your son showing his conspiracy in the crime.
This is a very serious matter indeed and I would recommend that you seek legal advice as a matter of the up most urgency with regards to his implicitly with the offender.

dggar

vax2002 wrote: »

if you do not report the accident involving a non insured driver your son will be guilty of "assisting and offender" and will almost certainly be sent to prison.
This is a very very serious matter that must be resolved immediately.
I can not advise you on the recording evidence as it can be used AGAINST your son showing his conspiracy in the crime.
This is a very serious matter indeed and I would recommend that you seek legal advice as a matter of the up most urgency with regards to his implicitly with the offender.

My heart sank when I saw the title of the thread. I knew where it was going before I even read it.

Leaving aside "assisting an offender"issues i doubt the recording would be accepted as any form of evidence. Signed written agreements between the garage , the OP and the uninsured driver would have been more sensible.

The most sensible course of action in this sort of situation would be to ignore any offer to do the job "on the quiet" and report the incident to the police and the OP's insurance.

Re-reading the first post.
What did the OP's insurance say when the incident was reported to them. Were they made aware that the other driver had no insurance?

AlexisV

Do you know where Ms * lives? Do you have her car reg?