Hit and run accident 28 August 2018 at 2:19PM in Insurance & Life Assurance 19 replies 1.9K views

lifesnotfair

Hi there

I am hoping you might be able to help me out of a horrible predicament, I was very unlucky to have been involved in a hit and run accident where a stolen trailer hit my car and caused a huge amount of damage. The car and trailer didn't stop (Obviously as it was stolen) and I have been hit with the excess and total loss of our no claims discount. The insurance company are sating that unless we can prove who the driver is of the stolen car and trailer then this will go down as our fault which is only going to make our premiums totally unnafordable (Audi car, previous accident which was my fault) so, can they do this? I have provided CCTV footage of the accident, this clearly shows the trailer being towed along by a rope on the back of a Peugeot 306! there is a police report from a well known large contractor to say their trailer had been stolen earlier in the day, 3 other cars had also been hit by the trailer before it was dumped, but I appear to be the one being penalized simply by being the victim of a crime,

Where do I stand legally on this?

Many thanks

zx81

It will go down as a fault claim if they are unable to recover their costs from another party.

Alternatively, you could repay them their outlay, but that sounds as if it would be expensive.

lifesnotfair

Its going to be several thousand, we simply don;t have that, they are trying to dispute even putting it as a no fault accident, I can't believe they could get away with that considering I have provided more than sufficient evidence it was a hit and run and police reports back this up. I understand we will have to pay more as a consequence of this, but for it to be classed as our fault is taking the @~=x!

greengiant00

Could it be worth seeking some legal advice on this one?
You seem to have quite a lot of evidence to explain exactly what happened.

Zorillo

Any claim under your insurance is recorded as an at fault incident unless a recovery of the insurer's outlay can be made in full against the responsible party, or the insurer offers "an uninsured drivers promise".

Presumably your insurer does not offer such a promise, or you wouldn't be in this position, but it's worth checking.

lifesnotfair

Hi there, Zorillo, sadly not no, it states that they will log it as a no fault claim if I can provide the reg number of the other party (they removed their reg plates) or give their name, I can't provide any of this due to the nature of the crime, I appreciate its not the insurance companies fault, but it sure isn't mine either, I will see if I can get the 30 mins free legal advice and get their perspective, I should also have CCTV evidence from my neighbour as well which captured the hit and run but again no conclusive reg number evidence which is going to be impossible given these criminals went out with the intention to steal this trailer and have concealed any identifying evidence, apparently they also hit two other cars on their rampage so it seems they caused a lot of damage not only to me but others too.

lifesnotfair

greengiant00 wrote: »

Could it be worth seeking some legal advice on this one?
You seem to have quite a lot of evidence to explain exactly what happened.

I do, when the insurance company told me I was liable for the excess and will lose my no claims bonus I went up and down my street (where it happened) and spoke to anyone on the road who had CCTV, I got lucky when my neighbour had captured the whole thing on his camera! Bet they still won't log it as no fault.

societys_child

they still won't log it as no fault.

Read posts #2 and #5 again. Unless they can recover the costs, it's classed as "at fault", that's how it works.

Retrogamer

Unfortunatily as other's have mentioned this has to be logged as an "at fault" claim.
It doesn't literally mean, you are at fault. It's insurance companies way of logging that they paid out for an insurance claim and weren't able to recover the costs.

It will impact your insurance premium for 4-5 years but the increase may not be too drastic and most certainly cheaper than the cost it would be to repair the car on your own. The increase is because you made a claim and they couldn't recover the costs, then statistically you are a higher risk to ensure moving forward. This is because people who make insurance claims are more likely to do it again,

It's all bad luck unfortunately with what's happened to you but the only options are to not claim and deal with the damage on your own, or to claim as you have, get the car repaired and usually a hire car but then face an increased premium going forward.

lifesnotfair

Thanks retrogamer, that does make sense, I totally understand that its the insurance company that are at a loss here as their costs are unrecoverable, it just sucks when you have done absolutely nothing wrong other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I sincerely hope it doesn't happen again, that would be more than bad luck to be involved in a hit and run twice! I think I would be cursed if it happened again

Thanks for the advice

dacouch

The Road Traffic basically says that if the driver of the vehicle is identified then the Insurer of the vehicle even if stolen is liable.

If the driver of the other vehicle is not identified then the Insurer of the vehicle is not liable.