Drink Driving / Accident and Recovery of Third party claim Insurance

griffiths1971

k3lvc wrote: »

Indeed and it's me this time - maybe if the OP hadn't tried to justify/explain it away I wouldn't have commented


I'll take 'sanctimonious' over scraping body parts off the floor any day of the week

I've certainly never tried to explain it away, I'm guilty & extremely remorseful, regardless of how out of character it is for me.

eddddy

lewishardwick wrote: »

Check the Terms & Conditions of your insurance policy.

For instance, my insurer, Admiral, state the following:

If an accident happens whilst you or any person entitled to drive under
Section 3 of your current Certificate of Motor Insurance:
Ÿ is found to be over the legal limit for alcohol or drugs
Ÿ is driving whilst unfit through drink or drugs, whether prescribed
or otherwise
Ÿ fails to provide a sample of breath, blood or urine when required to
do so, without lawful reason
No cover under the policy will be provided and instead, liability will be
restricted to meeting the obligations as required by Road Traffic law. In those
circumstances, we will recover from you or the driver, all sums paid (including
all legal costs), whether in settlement or under a Judgment, of any claim arising
from the accident. See ‘Your Car Insurance Guide’ General Conditions (11).

Sorry!

An insurance advisor recently told me that the Admiral group have especially harsh policy terms on this. He said that some/many other insurers don't have such harsh terms.

I think he was making the point that not all insurance policies are equal - rather than saying that if you intend to drink/drive don't insure with Admiral!

molerat

My insurer has no such clauses, the only one relevant to alcohol related exceptions is the personnel injuries section.

rs65

griffiths1971 wrote: »

ow legally binding is this? Ive checked the small print of the policy and it says that they "reserve the right to recover all sums paid to any third party".

100% legally binding.

csgohan4

tenchy wrote: »

You always get one, don't you? Isn't there some other forum or board where users can make sanctimonious remarks without bothering anyone else?

If the OP read the medication leaflet as thorough as the T+C on their insurance, it would say no alcohol to be mixed with it. The OP bothered themselves to be honest and trying understandably frantically to get someone else to pay for their mistakes


Like with most things you get I life, you get what you pay for, Sheila's wheels being no different


Hope you find a resolution to this OP, an expensive mistake and one which may make you uninsurable or financially prohibited to do so

Radfi

Hi would you mind sharing the outcome?
My brother is in similar position and ssme insurance company

dacouch

Radfi wrote: »

Hi would you mind sharing the outcome?
My brother is in similar position and ssme insurance company

Generally they will not pursue the matter if they discover their client does not have the money or assets for them to recover all or a significant amount of the money. It's a business decision as it's pointless spending thousands of pounds in legal and court costs if there is no chance of making a recovery.

The citizens advice bureau is a good place to start.

Post his details up eg exactly what happened as we may be able to help as the Insurer is relying on the contractual wording of their policy. If your brother situation does not tally with their policy wording they cannot make a recovery. For example I have seen a case recently where the Insurer tried this but the customer was not actually convicted of drink driving, the police officer had informed then Insurer the accident was due to the driver being unfit through drink but had been below the threshold for a conviction. As this did not allow the Insurer (To contractually) recover the money they had to drop the case.

Chickenlips

You may wish to get legal advice. Do you have legal expenses cover on your home insurance?

They are legally entitled to pursue a recovery from you. What I would want to look at is the damage caused to the Volvo, the value of the work required, and the replacement value.

You may wish to seek a copy of the third parties policy documents (should be on file). This will tell you if their cover is the normal type where the replacement value factors in age and use, or if it states new for old. I would expect it to be the standard wording.

Compare the cost of replacement to the cost of repairs and decide if it was reasonable. Perhaps ask a local garage to provide a quote based on the damages listed.

Whilst insurers can pursue a recovery against you, they can only recover fair and reasonable costs. If they have paid out based on a car of better condition (betterment) the additional costs would be ex gratia payments from the insurers and not your costs to bare.

If the cost of repairs is exaggerated and/or it shouldn't have been a write off, you can try and settle for the repair costs.

The above are actions insurers take when pursuing recoveries against eachother.

It is worth seeing if you are able to do the same. They can't just send you a massive bill without justifying the costs.

Whilst you probably can't get off of the hook, you can at least make sure you're only covering fair and reasonable costs and the level of cover insurers were contractually obliged to offer. If they went above the terms if the policy, the additional costs remain with them.

lara.mango19

Any update on outcome if you do not have means to pay????

TadleyBaggie

The OP hasn't logged on for around 21 months...