What to do when the other person won't contact their insurance company.

sarahlou8383

I'm hoping someone here can give me some advice. My younger brother was recently involved in a car accident (he was in his parked car waiting for a friend and a taxi driver reversed into him so thankfully no injuries) and, at the time, the taxi driver apologised, said it was his fault and gave my brother his name, number, insurance co, reg, etc. My brother has contacted his insurer to let them know but the problem is the taxi driver hasn't contacted his insurer to admit liability - despite my brother chasing him several times.

What's the situation here? Is there anything my brother can do? In the meantime he's had to look into getting his car sorted and, despite it being a fairly low impact accident, the damage to the structure has meant the car is being written off so he has no car at the moment which is impossible as he needs one for work. The insurance company won't arrange a courtesy car until the taxi driver admits liability so he's really stuck. Does anyone know what he should do?

Many thanks,

S

Mark_Mark

Contact the third parties insurance yourself.

sithmaster

agreed contact third party insurance yourself, a lot of policies say you must inform then of any accident within 48 hours failure to do so may mean you have to pay the claim yourself. so the taxi driver may be in a load of crap for not doing so.

OnanTheBarbarian

The third party insurers still may not deal with the OP's brother until they have been able to verify with the cabby that this incident happened. Until they have their insured's permission to admit liability, they are unable to do so.

They may agree to deal with the claim on a without prejudice basis, realising that if they don't the claim is only going to catch up with them further down the line. However, they will most likely still want to validate the claim by confirming with their insured that he was involved in a collision.

Why not phone the cabby and ask him to speak with his insurers otherwise it will just end up with a set of court proceedings ultimately coming his way. An unsatisfied judgment is the only time when his insurers are then compelled to reimburse you for your claim.

fivetide

Dodgy cab?

Not actually insured? That might be the issue. Chase it down OP otherwise it will only get more difficult.

Might be worth a trip tot he cab office. He might only be a driver/renting a car from them and not even told his employers.

Bantex_2

Was this a "proper" cab or a mini cab?

InsideInsurance

If the third party doesnt involve their insurers then you need to pursue the driver themselves. Only once you have an unsatisfied judgement against the driver can you force the insurer to deal with it as the RTA insurer of the vehicle.

The easy route is to claim off your own insurance in the first instance and let them deal with the annoying TP but then your NCD etc may be effected whilst it is being resolved

hollie.weimeraner

All advice above is pretty good but I would also contact the local Taxi licencing authority (local council) and inform them as well. If his car was damaged and he's still using it he is contravening the terms of his licence.

Even if his car wasn't damaged they may well call him in for an interview.

vaio

If your brother *needs* a car and can't sensibly afford to hire one then get in touch with one of the many credit hire companies.

If you are feeling kind then contact the taxi insurer and tell them that if they don't sort it out you will be using credit hire. The thought of paying CH rates could well give them the nudge they need to get it sorted out

sarahlou8383

Thank you all for your useful advice - I think we will be trying everything!

They are a driver for a genuine taxi company so I'm assuming they are properly insured (presumably you can't be a licensed driver without this in place). However, I'm guessing their premiums will go through the roof if they accept liability for this so am worried they may be trying to avoid it

neilmcl

sithmaster wrote: »

agreed contact third party insurance yourself, a lot of policies say you must inform then of any accident within 48 hours failure to do so may mean you have to pay the claim yourself. so the taxi driver may be in a load of crap for not doing so.

^^^Do this and do it right away. It's recommended to claim directly of the 3rd party insurer anyway for a non-fault accident.