Whiplash for un-insured drivers?

oldbaby

Hi All

Scenario: Friends front portion of the car has a collision with the rear end of an un-insured drivers car.

Friend is insured.

Friends car incurs significant damage and the car in front incurs minimal damage.

1) Can the uni-insured driver and the passengers in his car claim for whiplash from my friends car insurance company using any one of the multiple of no win no fee companies.

2) I understand my friends insurance will increase for the following year due to the simple fact that he was involved in an accident.

Will the increase in insurance amount reflect on the amount of any compensation for whiplash payouts that the un-insured driver and his co-passengers receive.

Thanks all

InsideInsurance

Lets use the terms your friend and the Third Party (TP) as from Q1 you already seemed to have gotten confused

1) Yes, the TP and their passenger(s) are the innocent party from the point of view of the accident and so can claim for any injuries sustained

2) Most insurers arent that bothered about the amount of settlement paid out on a claim as you can have a very unlucky 5mph collision that causes £1m+ settlement and a very major accident which causes no injury and just the total loss of two low value cars.

That said, a few insurers do ask the total settlement and so it does make an impact to them but typically it is small. A former person here asking did dummy quotes with £1k, £5k and £10k settlements and it made no difference to the prices they received.

BertTheRaccoon

The passengers in your friend's car can claim for any injuries they sustained from the insurers of your friend who was driving.

The uninsured motorist will also be able to claim for their losses and damages from your friend

Your friend's premiums will increase due to a fault claim being made. The amount of increase may not vary much, but this depends on what information any future insurer asks for when getting a quote as the amount or extent of the payout for this claim could be a ratings/ risk factor. i.e "when this dude has an accident his insurers got hosed down for over £30k in injury and hire car claims etc as he drives around with near full occupancy in his car and his friends/ associates like to claim".

His insurance will go up, but I would doubt it would make a significant difference whether one passenger or the whole lot claimed.

ACG

It makes you wonder why the uninsured driver would want to put a claim in or his mates - surely he could end up in a spot of trouble.

BertTheRaccoon

ACG wrote: »

It makes you wonder why the uninsured driver would want to put a claim in or his mates - surely he could end up in a spot of trouble.

Nope, only if the police are called to the scene.

Even then, unless the police are called to the scene, as a Claimant lawyer who often ends up with clients who have been hit by an uninsured driver, when I tell my client to go and notify the police of this, they never do anything.

InsideInsurance

ACG wrote: »

It makes you wonder why the uninsured driver would want to put a claim in or his mates - surely he could end up in a spot of trouble.

You're mixing up civil and criminal law. The two are totally separate and whilst there are some things that will impact both (driving the wrong way on a motorway) the majority dont.

You can of cause report the no insurance to the police but generally they arent that interested.

Their lack of insurance doesnt impact their ability to claim from you and unless you have a requirement for character assassination then it wont ever be mentioned in the civil case.

oldbaby

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Lets use the terms your friend and the Third Party (TP) as from Q1 you already seemed to have gotten confused

1) Yes, the TP and their passenger(s) are the innocent party from the point of view of the accident and so can claim for any injuries sustained
I find this extremely puzzling as legally they should not have been driving. Nevertheless can claim for any injuries incurred as a result of the accident. Where is the justice?

2) Most insurers arent that bothered about the amount of settlement paid out on a claim as you can have a very unlucky 5mph collision that causes £1m+ settlement and a very major accident which causes no injury and just the total loss of two low value cars.

That said, a few insurers do ask the total settlement and so it does make an impact to them but typically it is small. A former person here asking did dummy quotes with £1k, £5k and £10k settlements and it made no difference to the prices they received.

Can you elaborate on this point as I am not fully understanding the implications

Idiophreak

oldbaby wrote: »

I find this extremely puzzling as legally they should not have been driving. Nevertheless can claim for any injuries incurred as a result of the accident. Where is the justice?

...but it's not an accident *they* caused.

If your friend had hit a pedestrian, would you find it reasonable that the pedestrian's medical bills were covered? Even if they didn't have their own insurance?

How about if they hit a cyclist?

I really don't see what difference the third party being insured makes to anything - your friend injured them (allegedly...been there ) now they have to pay up.

The driver being uninsured is a separate matter and could be dealt with by the police. Probably won't be, but could be.

Crazy_Jamie

oldbaby wrote:

I find this extremely puzzling as legally they should not have been driving. Nevertheless can claim for any injuries incurred as a result of the accident. Where is the justice?

Your friend owes a duty of care to all other road users, be they drivers, passengers, cyclists or pedestrians. Whether or not a third party holds insurance is irrelevant; your friend owes a duty of care to other drivers irrespective of what insurance they hold. The other driver clearly committed a criminal offence in driving without insurance, but that does not negate the requirement of your friend to drive with reasonable skill and care.

oldbaby

Crazy_Jamie wrote: »

Your friend owes a duty of care to all other road users, be they drivers, passengers, cyclists or pedestrians. Whether or not a third party holds insurance is irrelevant; your friend owes a duty of care to other drivers irrespective of what insurance they hold. The other driver clearly committed a criminal offence in driving without insurance, but that does not negate the requirement of your friend to drive with reasonable skill and care.

CJ a very valid point of view.

OK on a slightly different note from the initial thread what processes are available to prevent a third party making fraudlant against you for a road traffic collision i.e fictiously claiming an incident at which you're at fault occurred and making arrangements for witnesses. etc.

vaio

oldbaby wrote: »

CJ a very valid point of view.

OK on a slightly different note from the initial thread what processes are available to prevent a third party making fraudlant against you for a road traffic collision i.e fictiously claiming an incident at which you're at fault occurred and making arrangements for witnesses. etc.

nothing at all apart from the possibility of getting caught and ending up in jail.

If you need a reliable witness then I'm available at very reasonable rates