Sold my car and now been told it's caused an accident. Help!

straighttalker

It'll be all conjecture at the moment. The new buyer may well have his own insurance but it may have taken time for the insurance database to update with the new details.

The insurer will only look at recovering their outlay once the claim is settled. This could take years. I'm not sure whether they would go after the driver of your vehicle at the time of the accident or yourself for keeping the vehicle on cover.

Eeasp

Our insurance company have told us they are looking into the details we provided them on the copy of the DVLA V5 slip so hopefully, fingers crossed, touch wood, they find them and they either have that car insured or another insurance policy that covers them driving other cars. I can only hope! Really, really hope hard.

s_b

motor trader i know had a car on his trade policy and sold the car,he forgot to cancel and basically the fall out did for him,i used to put a slip of paper in with every car log book sleeve i had on the mid to remove it online as soon as customer purchased the vehicle but now only have registered user vehicles on and use the trade plates for everything else its much easier
wait till june 8th for the flan to hit the fan big time when its going to get really nasty on test drives for consumers in the insurance stakes if hurdles and t's arent crossed prior to going up the road accompanied or unaccompanied,

sorry OP looks like this mistake is going to hurt you for some time to come,lets hope others here learn from your genuine mistake

dacouch

It is possible for your Insurer and ergo you to avoid liability in these circumstances.

If your Insurers policy contains an express term that the policy ceases upon sale of the vehicle then the policy itself ceases. This means your Insurer is no longer liable under the Road Traffic Act and this would technically mean they're not Statutorily Liable eg liable due to the existence of a law (The RTA) making them.

However not all motor policy contain a wording stating the policy ceases upon sale / transfer of the policy (Many do though after a relatively high profile case).

Assuming your policy does state the policy ceases upon sale / transfer then your Insurer would normally become an "Article 75" Insurer. This being the Motor Insurance Bureau (Funded by Insurers and pay out claims for uninsured drivers). Very basically in virtually all cases where the Insurer is not Statutorily Liable eg Liable due to the existence of the Road Traffic Act if they have issued a Certificate of Insurance for the vehicle then their membership of the MIB makes them liable under the articles of association (Membership of the MIB) specifically under article 75. This means the Insurer of the vehicle (Issuer of the Certificate of Insurance) has to pay the claim out however they're not bound by the laws of the Road Traffic Act but are bound by the MIB. Which basically means there are instances they can reduce payments or even avoid making payments.

Back to the topic.

So assuming your Insurer is not liable under the RTA because the policy states cover ceases upon sale / transfer of the vehicle. Then your Insurer would also not be liable as an article 75 Insurer as Article 75 (2) (iv) which states the following.

"A member (Insurer) ceases to be an Article 75 Insurer:" (When)

"When the Insurance has ceased to operate by reason of a transfer of interest in the vehicle involved in the accident, which the Insurance purports to cover, and which transfer is proved by evidence"

dacouch

So despite the doom and gloom posts there is a chance your Insurer and thus ultimately you will not be liable.

You need to check your Certificate and Policy Booklet to see if your Policy has ceased (Been cancelled) due to it specifically stating it stops when you sell or transfer the vehicle.

You would also need to prove the transfer of the vehicle eg by the DVLA transferring the registered keeper to the new owner.

If you satisfy the above you have a chance.

Feel free to ring the MIB, their staff are pretty knowledgeable and may be able to guide you through this.

http://www.mib.org.uk/Company+Information/en/Contact+Information/Default.htm

AdrianC

Can I just put this here?
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/scots-biker-insurance-hell-after-4141840
http://www.whitedalton.co.uk/motorbike-blog/2014/12/dont-leave-yourself-liable/

Yes, that's a motorbike not a car. The law is the same.

dacouch

AdrianC wrote: »

Can I just put this here?
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/scots-biker-insurance-hell-after-4141840
http://www.whitedalton.co.uk/motorbike-blog/2014/12/dont-leave-yourself-liable/

Yes, that's a motorbike not a car. The law is the same.

Is this post in response to my post?

Eeasp

Yes, I've seen that which is what started my panicking. I can also see that the person died so they couldn't chase said person for money even if they wanted to. The new owner of the car in this situation is alive, as far as I am aware, so there is someone to chase for liability and money. As I said, fingers crossed insurers can find them and that they have insurance....

dacouch

Eeasp wrote: »

Yes, I've seen that which is what started my panicking. I can also see that the person died so they couldn't chase said person for money even if they wanted to. The new owner of the car in this situation is alive, as far as I am aware, so there is someone to chase for liability and money. As I said, fingers crossed insurers can find them and that they have insurance....

As far as I know the Motorcycle owner in the article has not paid out a penny thus far and the Insurers have not made any move to commence proceedings.

If you read my two earlier posts, they explain a possible exemption which may apply in your case. I would suggest you read it and research to see if your policy contains such a statement re sale of the vehicle and cover ceasing.

I would also recommend you speak to the MIB after you done this and ask their advice.

Your other exception is as has been mentioned if the motorbike owner does hold his own Insurance. The database the police & insurers use to check insurance is not 100% accurate. Some Insurers are slow to update the database in addition if the new owner or even his insurer has entered the registration number slightly wrong then it will not show up when someone searches the correct registration number

Astronaughtwannabe

I can't see how you'd have an insurable interest in the car. Many will no doubts argue that you're still liable (insured) but I'll leave it at that.