Collision with uninsured driver

Inland_Seabird

My friend's been in collision with another car and hers is an undriveable wreck. It is probably her fault but she has fully comp insurance, so was philosophical...until her insurers told her that the other driver was not insured, and therefore they will not pay for the damage to her own car. How can this be?

facade

It can't be, she must have misunderstood.

They won't pay her excess, but if she has fully comp, and has stuck to the T&Cs they can't wheedle out of paying.

(Unless they have something in their T&Cs about not paying out when you are hit by an uninsured driver, I think the Ombudsman would beg to differ on that one)

Hoof_Hearted

Yes, she has definitely got it wrong. Only her excess may be at stake. However, if her car is worth £500 and her excess is £500, she'll get nowt but can sue the other driver for the excess (good luck with that).

peter_the_piper

Too late to dob them in to the fuzz, won't get any money but could be satisfying ?

debtdebt

Could you clarify who's fault it was?

If it was your friend's fault, the fact that the third party was uninsured isn't a material fact. Your friend would still have to rely on her own fully comp insurers to pay out.

Aretnap

Some insurers do offer an uninsured driver promise whereby she won't have to pay her excess or lose any no claims bonus if hit by an uninsured driver.

If hers isn't one of them then they'll still pay out, subject to deduction off her excess and loss of NCD.

If she has comprehensive cover, and her car is worth more than her excess, then her insurer can't refuse to pay out at all, barring some breach of the policy terms or false declaration on her part.

Possibly what's happened is that her insurers have passed her on to an accident management company, who would make a claim on her behalf directly from the third party's insurers, and the AMC has lost interest on finding out that there is no 3rd party insurer. In which case she needs to,go back to her own insurer and make a claim on her own policy. (People often don't realise that they've been passed to an AMC or assume that the AMC and their insurer are one and the same - they're not)

chrisw

Aretnap wrote: »

Some insurers do offer an uninsured driver promise whereby she won't have to pay her excess or lose any no claims bonus if hit by an uninsured driver.

If hers isn't one of them then they'll still pay out, subject to deduction off her excess and loss of NCD.

If she has comprehensive cover, and her car is worth more than her excess, then her insurer can't refuse to pay out at all, barring some breach of the policy terms or false declaration on her part.

Possibly what's happened is that her insurers have passed her on to an accident management company, who would make a claim on her behalf directly from the third party's insurers, and the AMC has lost interest on finding out that there is no 3rd party insurer. In which case she needs to,go back to her own insurer and make a claim on her own policy. (People often don't realise that they've been passed to an AMC or assume that the AMC and their insurer are one and the same - they're not)

This won't apply as her friend was at fault.

Her comprehensive policy should pay out for her car less the excess and she will lose a couple of years NCB.

I guess the uninsured driver could potentially sue for damages or injuries?

Aretnap

chrisw wrote: »

This won't apply as her friend was at fault.

Oops, missed that bit. Yes if it was her fault the stuff about uninsured driver promises doesn't apply, and it's also unlikely that she have been passed onto an AMC.

I guess the uninsured driver could potentially sue for damages or injuries?

They could, though that will also be covered by the friend's insurance so won't directly affect the friend.

Inland_Seabird

Thanks all. It looks like she misunderstood - fair enough, as she was in shock! They were telling her she would lose NCB, would have to pay excess etc. She's !!!!!!ed for replacing it after forking out for excess + towing, and is being quoted more than twice her previous premium for equivalent insurance now. But I guess that none of that would be different had the other driver been insured. Could happen to any of us.

rs65

Inland_Seabird wrote: »

after forking out for excess + towing

Her insurers should pay for the tow.

debtdebt

rs65 wrote: »

Her insurers should pay for the tow. She can get her excess back from the at fault driver if he has money (much easier if he was insured).

No she can't as she was at fault!!!