Can insurers pursue me for loss years after settlement

AlfaRomeo1

So basically I was involved in a rta in 2022 that was eventually settled in court. I lost and my insurers had to pay out 15k

during the year of my accident I had valid insurance certificate. The policy was never voided or cancelled, I actually ended up renewing with the same insurers. So I had valid policy year of the accident and renewed with same insurer 

My second year with them my circumstances changed (occupation and address) so they could no longer cover me. This is the same year the court case was settled

I always have this feeling that the insurers will try recover costs from me. Is this even a possibility if my policy was never voided or cancelled at the time of the accident? 

Veteransaver

Why would they come after you? And what for?

400ixl

You are obliged to pay the policy in full for the year of your accident, which it sounds like you did.

As you renewed with them, they had your full history and would have taken into account any open claims in pricing that renewal.

They can't recover costs of the claim other than any excess which I assume you paid.

There is nothing for them to come back to you for.

TooManyPoints

They can't recover costs of the claim other than any excess which I assume you paid.

Unless the incident which led to the claim resulted from you breaking one of the terms of the policy (provided that term was fair and enforceable). On what basis did they make their claim?

DullGreyGuy

AlfaRomeo1 said:

I always have this feeling that the insurers will try recover costs from me. Is this even a possibility if my policy was never voided or cancelled at the time of the accident? 

Why do you "have that feeling"?

They wouldn't need to void/cancel the policy but it would need to be a serious breach like using the car for commuting when you don't have commuting cover or drink driving or it was a friend driving who's not covered by your policy.

If they had hopes of recovering from you then they would have engaged you on that much earlier than now. As soon as we realise there is a breach of the policy but we are the RTA insurer we'd be asking our insured to sign a letter of indemnity reconfirming they know that they are liable for the costs that we are going to be settling. Its not legally necessary to do so, the RTA already gives the rights but it works as a good mechanism to prepare the insured for the forthcoming bill.

Aretnap

Your post didn't make it very clear why you think they might pursue you for costs, but I infer that it's because some time after the accident but before it was fully settled you changed occupation and the insurer didn't want to cover you under the new occupation.

In which case it's irrelevant. Car insurance covers costs based on the date of the incident the loss occurred - not the date the costs were actually paid. So long as you had a valid policy in force at the time of the accident, the insurer is obliged to cover all your liabilities arising from that accident.

In a big accident involving complicated personal injuries it might easily be several years before the claim is settled. In that time you might change insurer several times, cancel policies, have policies cancelled or even give up driving and stop buying car insurance altogether. None of that makes any difference. Your policy at the time of the accident still covers whatever costs are eventually settled on.

Nothing that you've said gives any reason at all to suspect that you insurer would try to reclaim any costs from you, or would have any grounds to do so if they tried m

Mildly_Miffed

You were insured with them at the time of the collision.
You were not insured with them by the time it reached court.

No, they've got no grounds at all to come back to you based on you not renewing - especially if it's because they wouldn't cover you any more.

The only date that matters for their liability is the one of the collision.

AlfaRomeo1

400ixl said:

They can't recover costs of the claim other than any excess which I assume you paid.

I don’t actually remember paying my excess directly, the claim was dealt by an accident management company so I’m assuming they dealt with this 

TooManyPoints

Put us out of our misery. On what basis are they chasing you for payment?

400ixl

Claims management company muddies the water somewhat.

They are a different party to your insurer. For example if your took a credit hire vehicle and part of the reason they lost in court was for this recovery and you didn't fully support them to their satisfaction then they could come after you for breach of the contract you signed with them.

AlfaRomeo1

TooManyPoints said:

Put us out of our misery. On what basis are they chasing you for payment?

They’re not, I think I’ve just been reading too much online, although they were cases where the policy was voided at the time or for drink driving. 

I’m just naturally an over thinker I guess