insurance dispute-help!

adh90

hi,


2 years ago i took my dads car without his consent and was involved in an accident with a pedestrian.


i was unisured however as we knew the man we went to his home and he assured us that he will not make claim.


however after 4 months my dad recieved a letter from insureres stating that his insurance is void for failure to report an accident.


now me and my father have recieved letters from tradex demanding that one of us pay them £5000 which they paid to that pedestrian for personal injury.


i would appreciate if someone can give me advice on this issue.


i personally accept all respnsibility and dont want them to contact my father on this issue, however i do not want to pay such amount even though i have 11k in my account.

dacouch

If you accept responsibility and have enough money in your account why don't you want to pay for the £5k?

InsideInsurance

Assuming your father didnt report you to the police for theft of his vehicle then his insurers as RTA insurers of the vehicle have the right to settle any claim and have right of recover against either the policyholder or the driver.

If you were prosecuted for theft of his vehicle then his insurers rights are only against recovering from you but I am guessing you didnt get sent down for theft

adh90

because that man did not even suffer any injuries.
also we did not report because he said he will not put a claim in
aslo he did not ask my father for his inurance details neither did his solicitors contact us for our version of the incident.

adh90

during the police interview my father stated
that i took the car without his consent but did not
want to press charges against me.

dacouch

adh90 wrote: »

during the police interview my father stated
that i took the car without his consent but did not
want to press charges against me.

The police are often happy for this as they know you end up paying anything the Insurer paid out so get penalised that way.

Tradex are a nasty company and will do all they can to get the money from you or your father. If you leave it they will sell the debt on and charges will get added.

Did Tradex void or cancel your fathers Insurance (I'd be surprised if they did not).

InsideInsurance

adh90 wrote: »

he did not ask my father for his inurance details neither did his solicitors contact us for our version of the incident.

He is not legally required to

They are not legally required to

The process works that you tell your insurers about the incident. Your insurers receive the TP claim. Your insurers decide what the prospects of success are based on the two versions of events.

If you hamstring yourself by not bothering to inform your insurers because you are trying to defraud them about the incident then its your own issue that they only had the TP's version of events on which to make a decision.

You can register a complaint to say that they didnt inform you of a claim being made against you but I suspect they will say they did write to you but you didnt respond

adh90

yes the insurance was voided as we did not report the accudent.

any advice on what i should do, or what arguments to raise.

i am a fulltime student. i cannot afford to pay

InsideInsurance

adh90 wrote: »

i do not want to pay such amount even though i have 11k in my account.

adh90 wrote: »

i cannot afford to pay

The courts are likely to think otherwise and if you let it to get to that then the costs will be much higher.

As your Father is the PH they also have a right of recovery against him and his ability to afford £5k + legal costs will also be taken into consideration

vaio

InsideInsurance wrote: »

He is not legally required to

They are not legally required to

The process works that you tell your insurers about the incident. Your insurers receive the TP claim. Your insurers decide what the prospects of success are based on the two versions of events.

If you hamstring yourself by not bothering to inform your insurers because you are trying to defraud them about the incident then its your own issue that they only had the TP's version of events on which to make a decision.

You can register a complaint to say that they didnt inform you of a claim being made against you but I suspect they will say they did write to you but you didnt respond

But surely we are talking about RTA s151 here where liability only arises if a judgement against the driver is obtained? If judgement has been obtained then I can't see how the OP/father wouldn't have known.

rudekid48

You father must be a saint!

I try not to be too judgemental with people but you really take the biscuit!

You stole your dads car, ran over a pedestrian and didn't tell the insurance company that it had happened. You're a full time student - presumably you're studying medicine - which qualifies you to decide that the pedestrian was not injured.

The best advice is simple - pay up and shut up.

On the other hand, maybe you should dig your heels in and refuse to pay, at least then when the costs soar and you end up paying a higher amount you might actually learn a lesson.