Hit from behind whilst uninsured!

mikey72

Before doing all that, what have the police actually said you will be charged with, if anything?

vax2002

mikey72 wrote: »

Before doing all that, what have the police actually said you will be charged with, if anything?

He told the officer he had insurance.

Which he does not.

If they charge when he can not produce, it is an absolute Liability offence as the "I thought I had it" defence only applies in employee situations or if you have a valid certificate of Bond of insurance for purposes of the road traffic act.

shadowfnx

mikey72 wrote: »

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:


But seriously,
op - it makes no difference to the third party what your state of insurance is/was.

They are obliged to pay out for your loss.

Any problems, find a claim management company to pursue the claim for you.

That's what I was thinking. Otherwise I could go around smashing the windows of every uninsured car knowing I'd get away with it. I'll explain the situation to a claims management company and see what their take is on it. I also was thinking that the truck driver's company may settle with me privately, although that is a long shot.

mikey72 wrote: »

It will be fixed, or written off.
How much was it?

The car is worth about £3500, although I got a pretty good deal at £3000. One of the shops I went to today said they might have to just write off the damage, even though the car drives fine and appears to be road worthy.

vax2002 wrote: »

Any traders insurance will only cover vehicles he owns, once sold I doubt very much any cover exists, any such policy would cost tens of thousands in premiums, as you have found out, it was total windbaggery and bull.
On what you told the police, I would seek legal advice from a solicitor as soon as possible and arrange for them to attend the police station with you and prey they can convince them it was a genuine mistake and they only pursue the no insurance.

Right. That was very stupid of me to believe him. Do you think I should wait for the police to contact me? I'll contact a lawyer tomorrow regardless.

mikey72 wrote: »

Before doing all that, what have the police actually said you will be charged with, if anything?

The officer said I would be charged with driving without insurance. He explained to me that I may need to prove that I was insured at the time of the incident, but didn't go into any more detail other than that. I was also allowed to drive away from the scene of the accident, after being checked by the paramedics.

vax2002 wrote: »

He told the officer he had insurance.

Which he does not.

If they charge when he can not produce, it is an absolute Liability offence as the "I thought I had it" defence only applies in employee situations or if you have a valid certificate of Bond of insurance for purposes of the road traffic act.

I made it clear to the officer that I may not have insurance.

vax2002

What exactly did you put in this "statement" about the insurance and did you sign it ?

shadowfnx

vax2002 wrote: »

What exactly did you put in this "statement" about the insurance and did you sign it ?

The statement was written down by one of the officer's at the scene of the incident, and is a transcript of the interview that took place in the ambulance. With regards to the insurance, I stated that I have interim insurance provided by the trader. I did sign the statement.

mikey72

shadowfnx wrote: »

..............The car is worth about £3500, although I got a pretty good deal at £3000. One of the shops I went to today said they might have to just write off the damage, even though the car drives fine and appears to be road worthy.............t.

It'll be a write off.
They should pay you the price you paid for it.

As the police let you drive away, they are unlikely to believe you were uninsured.
Personally I'd wait for them to contact you.

vax2002

shadowfnx wrote: »

The statement was written down by one of the officer's at the scene of the incident, and is a transcript of the interview that took place in the ambulance. With regards to the insurance, I stated that I have interim insurance provided by the trader. I did sign the statement.

In that case, you do need to contact a solicitor .

You need to separate the two issues, the damage to your vehicle is a liability issue and can be sorted via a claims company or by contacting the drivers involved.

The matter of what you signed for in the statement is a legal issue, as it has had consequence upon the officers action, I would obtain some legal advice on what you should do next if it gets roped in.
Before it does might be better.

shadowfnx

mikey72 wrote: »

It'll be a write off.
They should pay you the price you paid for it.

As the police let you drive away, they are unlikely to believe you were uninsured.
Personally I'd wait for them to contact you.

This seems to be the most sensible course of action right now. Hopefully the car will be able to be fixed, as I wouldn't be able to buy the same one at the price I paid.

vax2002 wrote: »

In that case, you do need to contact a solicitor .

You need to separate the two issues, the damage to your vehicle is a liability issue and can be sorted via a claims company or by contacting the drivers involved.

The matter of what you signed for in the statement is a legal issue, as it has had consequence upon the officers action, I would obtain some legal advice on what you should do next if it gets roped in.
Before it does might be better.

I'll speak to a lawyer tomorrow regarding the legal situation. Am I correct in assuming that a claims company doesn't actually need to talk the insurer of the affected driver in a no-fault accident? Could the claim's company talk to the insurance of the at fault driver on my behalf?

TrickyWicky

vax2002 wrote: »

He told the officer he had insurance.

Which he does not.

Yes but so do plenty of people at the roadside and the fuzz find them out too. The op has already stated that there may be a problem to the police at the scene:

After the accident occurred I had a sinking feeling the trader may have been lying about the insurance, so I asked the officer at the scene what would happen if that was the case. He told me that as a new driver

shadowfnx wrote: »

Unfortunately not, although I do have a recorded conversation in case this goes to court.

Lucky. That may well save your bacon or at least soften the blow.

shadowfnx wrote: »

Would that cause trouble for the car behind me with their insurance, as they weren't at fault either?

No, their insurance will still sort it out and class it as an uninsured driver hit.

shadowfnx wrote: »

I had filled out the form online and set up the insurance to start next Wednesday. After the incident I changed the start date to today. I didn't realise I had to notify them of the accident and will do so in the morning.

Hang about, you took out insurance AFTER the accident by doing it online and where it asks you about any ACCIDENTS or CLAIMS you didn't think you had to tell them anything? - That is insurance fraud. Those accident / claim history questions are not optional, you have to tell them because that is how their formula calculates your premiums based on risk etc.

shadowfnx wrote: »

Apparently the "trade insurance" covers anyone driving the car, although I am certain you are correct.

Not if he cancelled it the moment you bought the car as you say he said.

shadowfnx wrote: »

I told the officer in my statement that I have 7 days interim insurance provided by the person whom I purchased the car from. As far as I knew at the time, that was the case.

Yet in your opening post you say that you spoke to the officer at the scene about not having insurance after ringing the trader that sold you the car. Now you've given a statement saying you DO have 7 days insurance? Which way round is it? - At the scene did you tell them you do have insurance or that the trader has done the dirty on you?

shadowfnx

TrickyWicky wrote: »

Hang about, you took out insurance AFTER the accident by doing it online and where it asks you about any ACCIDENTS or CLAIMS you didn't think you had to tell them anything? - That is insurance fraud. Those accident / claim history questions are not optional, you have to tell them because that is how their formula calculates your premiums based on risk etc.

I quite literally only changed the start date of the insurance I already had in place for next week. I didn't go through the whole form again. Now that I'm thinking a bit clearer after the shock of the accident, I realise that was a silly thing to do. I'll cancel the insurance immediately.

TrickyWicky wrote: »

Yet in your opening post you say that you spoke to the officer at the scene about not having insurance after ringing the trader that sold you the car. Now you've given a statement saying you DO have 7 days insurance? Which way round is it? - At the scene did you tell them you do have insurance or that the trader has done the dirty on you?

I only spoke to the trader after getting home, but I can see how the paragraph structure in the original post could be confusing. I've edited it now to make it clearer

I told the police at the scene of the accident that I have 7 days insurance provided by the trader. I then spoke to the officer about my doubts over the insurance, due to the trader lying about other things (eg. no CD changer, the car not being an "SE" trim, etc.). The police are not yet aware that the trader screwed me over.