Uninsured crash

joaxnwilson

Hi all, I am looking for some preliminary advice.

My partner had an accident over 2 months ago whilst unknowingly uninsured (his policy was cancelled with no correspondence). The accident was when it was snowy and his foot slipped at a roundabout going 5mph max. He gave his details across to the man and was obviously very apologetic.

We realised he was uninsured and was unsure where to go from there, but up until yesterday have heard nothing from the other party. Yesterday he showed up to our house with another man (he got our address from taking a pic of my partners driving licence) and was very intimidating. Saying he knows my partner was uninsured and wants us to pay the £7.2k cost of the structural damage of his car, and he will refuse to lose out on this. He left saying he wants this resolved by the end of the week.

We then composed a text saying we can either take our own mechanic to assess the damage, or failing that cost being too high, he will have to go through the MIB.

He has just replied saying 

“I have spoken to my solicitor today and he said that MIB will only compensate me for the excess of my insurance and any personal injuries I have, not any costs of the car. Therefore, I do not accept this as an option as I will still be left without the funds to repair my car. If I make the claim through my own insurance I will be paying a far higher premium for my future policies which is not fair considering the accident was not my fault.

With regards to getting your own mechanic to look at the car, this is it not necessary as the car has already had an extensive assessment of the damage by a third party which was arranged by my solicitor, please find their report attached. The amount they have quoted to repair the car is the minimum I will accept and is considerably less than what I paid for it. An alternative option is for you to buy the car from me at their valuation of £9700 and then you can get it repaired by your own mechanic for you to then resell where you might be able to then  recuperate most of the costs. 

If we are unable to resolve this between ourselves then I will be reporting the crime to the police and have been advised by my solicitor to pursue the case through the civil courts. Please understand that this is not the route I want to go down but will be left with very little choice. Im sure you can appreciate that if you were in my position you would want it sorted amicably and quickly, which is what I want. I want this resolved by the end of the week”

Sorry for the long post but is anyone able to give me any preliminary advice on where we stand/the likelihood of court proceedings? Is what he is saying correct or is it a further ploy to intimidate us? And surely that’s the whole point of the MIB... he cannot just refuse this as an option?

Thank you in advance for any help

angrycrow

MIB will not cover any losses that are insured so they will not pay for his repairs. As he has said to you only his excess and any personal injury will be covered by MIB. In any event the MIB and his insurers will pursue your partner for anything they pay against his claim.

£7.2k of damage says your partner was doing way more than 5mph when they lost control. The court will accept the engineers report presented as evidence of damage and you have no automatic right to have your own garage have a look at the car. 

Your best approach is to establish if the policy cancellation can be challenged. Why was it cancelled, likely reasons are payment default, failure to provide validation documents or a non disclosure.

You say your partner received no warning of cancellation, is the policy administered by email, if so could the emails have gone to the junk folder.

If you can show no correspondence was issued a complaint may see cover reinstated for this incident. 

AdrianC

Did your partner take any photos of the damage? If so, would you mind sharing them here?

sheslookinhot

5mph does not equate to structural damage of £7,200. A damaged or deformed bumper at most. Sounds like a scam. He is also a bit strong on “ the crime”. Police may not even be interested.

Tell him to claim his insurance, that’s what it’s for. A payment from you for his increased premium for a year or two is a good offer.

The_Fat_Controller

Surely the accident should have been reported in any case, both to the police and the insurance companies.

https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-insurance/if-youre-in-an-accident

Aretnap

The MIB exists to protect the victims of uninsured drivers, not to protect the uninsured drivers themselves. Even if the other driver did have the option of using the MIB, your partner would still be liable for the damage - he'd just owe the money to the MIB rather than to the other driver personally.

The same would apply if the other driver claimed through his own comprehensive insurance - your partner would be still be chased for the costs by the insurer.

In practice either the MIB or the insurance company would make a judgement on how likely it was that they would actually be able to recover money from your partner before actually starting court action - no court can force him to hand over money that he doesn't have. But if he has a reasonable income and/or some assets then he can be made to pay and there isn't an easy way out.

Agree that his first port of call should be his own insurer to see if the cancellation can be rescinded. What reason have they given for cancelling the policy, and why did your partner not receive the notice of cancellation? (It's unlikely that there was no notice sent at all, but if so that would be grounds for complaint in itself). 

joaxnwilson

Okay thank you very much that makes sense. The thing was, that he came to our house demanding a large sum of money by the end of the week. Who has £7k they are able to just hand over? I thought it would be a better option for both parties and handled better if it was done through insurance or MIB, that way when they chase him for the money it can be repaid in instalments? I may be wrong though.

Will definitely check with his insurance today thank you.

Aretnap

The_Fat_Controller said:

Surely the accident should have been reported in any case, both to the police and the insurance companies.

https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-insurance/if-youre-in-an-accident

No obligation to report to the police if the drivers exchanged contact details at the scene (assuming no injury).

The other driver should report the accident to his own insurance company, but if he doesn't that's between him and his insurer and doesn't change the OP's position. If he does involve his own insurer they may insist on it being reported to the police as there was an uninsured driver involved. 

If it is reported to the police then there's a theoretical chance that the OP's partner could end up being prosecuted for driving without insurance, however in practice the police are unlikely to be very interested in prosecuting over a relatively minor incident which they didn't witness themselves, where details were exchanged, and which is being dealt with by the lawyers, the insurance companies, the MIB and/or the civil courts. 

joaxnwilson

sheslookinhot said:

5mph does not equate to structural damage of £7,200. A damaged or deformed bumper at most. Sounds like a scam. He is also a bit strong on “ the crime”. Police may not even be interested.

Tell him to claim his insurance, that’s what it’s for. A payment from you for his increased premium for a year or two is a good offer.

I thought this too. The report from the assessors says his car is unroadworthy and his boot cannot even close, but the pics my partner took show his boot closed perfectly and just a large dent?

In addition to that, the company the assessment on his car was done by, I cannot find any records for on google/companies house, the phone number shows no results anywhere and the address given is for a residential property somewhere in Essex... it’s all very suspect. But the assessment was apparently done by his solicitors? I’m very confused.

joaxnwilson

AdrianC said:

Did your partner take any photos of the damage? If so, would you mind sharing them here?

Yes I can post once I figure out how too!

joaxnwilson

Here are the pics my partner took of the accident.