Car Crash on a car I've not owned

gingerfail

Hi all,

Apologies this may be a long explanation!
Back in Jan i viewed a car and put down a deposit to pick the car up a week later after the dealer put an MOT on it and repair a broken back light.
When i went to pick up the car on the agreed day with my mechanic, they told me it wasn't ready and they needed to replace a part so it was locked in the garage so i couldn't look over it.
This rang alarm bells with my mechanic as the part was something that would have failed the MOT yet they had got the car fully MOT'd with the issue. So the dealer and i agreed 1 more day for the car to be ready, it subsequently was not so i told them that i wasn't going to be taking the car as something just wasn't right and i didn't appreciate not being informed about anything as i had gotten rid of my old car ready for pick up and needed a new one since i work 50+ miles away from home!

At this point i had insured the car ready for pick up on that friday because i wasn't told of any issues and was ready to go, after telling them i wasn't taking the car i immediately cancelled the insurance policy. I hadn't filled in a new owner slip and i hadn't taken the car off the dealers lot other than to test drive the day i originally viewed it.

Several months pass and i get an email from the insurance provider asking me to call them immediately regarding an accident i had been in. they confirm that the car i did not buy had been in an accident and was at fault so i explain the above story to them.

2 months later i get a letter from the police regarding the same accident and their intention to prosecute, call them up and explain and am told that i am down as the insurer of the vehicle and have to write to them explaining what has happened.
They tell me someone had crashed the car in may and ran from the scene.

After a little search i find the car was never taxed and figure if i am the last person down as insured then it obviously was not insured either!

So what i am hoping someone could advise about is;

Will this effect me in any way after i explain the situation and offer proof that i didn't have insurance on the car?
Should i speak to the police in person instead of just letters?
Do i have grounds for compensation for this whole situation if it is found the dealer registered me as the keeper without my knowledge?

Any other advice is obviously welcome!

AdrianC

The key here is whether the policy ACTUALLY got cancelled and removed from MID, the central insurance database. If it wasn't, then your insurer have a legal obligation to pay out.

You can't prove you didn't insure it - because you did. You can prove that you told the insurer to cancel the policy, I hope? Can you prove they did so?

The dealer can't register you as keeper without your knowledge. The registration would generate a V5C in your name, at your address. You'd have received that within a week or two, and would immediately have jumped on them. B'sides, nobody's said this is about you being the keeper, just about you having insured the car.

Quentin

Presumably the insurer involved can confirm they weren't covering it. (You say you cancelled the cover - did you get a refund?)


If the police do prosecute you then you defend!

societys_child

Compensation? Is that your main concern?

tykesi

societys_child wrote: »

Compensation? Is that your main concern?

Of course it is. The second a mistake is made by anyone now, all anyone wants to know is how much they can make out of that mistake.

gingerfail

AdrianC wrote: »

The key here is whether the policy ACTUALLY got cancelled and removed from MID, the central insurance database. If it wasn't, then your insurer have a legal obligation to pay out.

You can't prove you didn't insure it - because you did. You can prove that you told the insurer to cancel the policy, I hope? Can you prove they did so?

Well i hope that they did anyway! they sent an email confirming the cancellation and i got a refund of the policy amount so i was planning on using that a my proof.

With regards to them paying out, if they did end up paying out would that go against me when i come to renew?

gingerfail

societys_child wrote: »

Compensation? Is that your main concern?

Nope just an after thought, ill be happy enough making sure i don't get anything go against me since i haven't really done anything wrong

AdrianC

gingerfail wrote: »

Well i hope that they did anyway! they sent an email confirming the cancellation and i got a refund of the policy amount so i was planning on using that a my proof.

OK, so you should be in the clear.

With regards to them paying out, if they did end up paying out would that go against me when i come to renew?

If you can demonstrate it was their error to still have the car flagged as covered, then no - because your policy had been closed.

angrycrow

As you never had ownership of the car you have no insurable interest so the policy you took out expecting to collect the car does not provide any cover for the incident. As long as you fully co operate with the insurers and the insurer have a clue what they are doing (not all do in this situation) the whole mess should be passed to the MIB as an untraced driver / uninsured car claim.

With regard to the police set out the pertinent facts in writing I.e.

I agreed to purchase the car from garage a.
In anticipation of collection I arranged insurance.
On arriving to collect the car garage a could not produce the car so the deal was cancelled.
The insurance was then immediately cancelled from inception with full refund.
I never took ownership of the car.
I was not the driver at the time of the alleged collision.
Please redirect all enquiries to garage a.

Then keep chasing matters with the police and insurers until all concerned provide written confirmation the matter is nothing to do with you.