Drink driving and insurance

quasar11

A quick question as my girlfriend crashed her car and at the time failed the roadside breathalyser and was taken to have a blood test. The blood results have now come back and are below the legal limit and no further action is being persued in way of prosecution. However the insurance company is now refusing to pay out as they claim the road side breathalyser result is enough to breech the terms and conditions of the policy and are looking to now recoup costs of the claim. As the roadside test is non evidential, can the insurance company do this even tho we have proof of being below the legal limit?
Cheers

eddddy

She needs to read the policy wording to see what it says about drink driving, and/or ask the insurer which clause in the policy they are relying on to reject the claim.


I'm guessing that the insurer is Admiral, as they seem to take the toughest approach on drink drivers. Their current motor policy wording says:



So they might be saying she was "driving while unfit through drink", even though she was not over the legal limit.

But maybe she has a different insurer and/or different policy wording.

Ultimately, if she doesn't agree with the insurer's decision, she can complain to the FOS.

Alderbank

Since you say '...the road side breathalyser result is enough to breech the terms and conditions of the policy...' the first question has to be 'What do the T&Cs of her policy say?'

Other useful questions would be

• What was the actual result of the blood alcohol test?
• Which insurer issued her insurance and in which country?

The legal limit in England&Wales is much higher than in other European countries including Scotland. Some years ago some insurers such as Zurich said they would not pay out damage to own vehicle if the driver was under the influence of drink. Failing a roadside test would be sufficient evidence that she had been under the influence of drink.
Those companies have generally backed down on that requirement in the UK but might have similar conditions for policies issued elsewhere.

Voyager2002

This sounds like an issue for the insurer's complaints process and if necessary the Ombudsman service.

Breathalyser tests are unreliable, but provide a quick indicator to officers whether a proper blood test might be worthwhile. The blood test demonstrates that she was NOT unfit to drive, nor over the legal limit.

DullGreyGuy

You can have a look on the ombudsman website to see how they have treated other cases eg:

https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/decision/DRN-4127219.pdf - breath test at the scene above the limit, test at the police station below the limit and no prosecution. Complaint not upheld.

https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/decision/DRN-2608164.pdf - claimed the drinks were drank after the accident before the police arrived, found not guilty of drink driving but the ombudsman said declining the claim was reasonable.

https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/decision/DRN-4274735.pdf no breath test done, blood alcohol was only taken some time after the crash but was below the limit, how long after is unclear but the insurer states it was 6 hours after. Complaint upheld 

As always with the ombudsman you need to read all you can on the case and be aware you dont have all the details. That said, based on the first case in particular it's not looking good. 

Alderbank

Voyager2002 said:

The blood test demonstrates that she was NOT unfit to drive, nor over the legal limit.

We simply don't know enough to say that.

The result could have been 75mg per 100 ml blood. South of Berwick-upon-Tweed that would be below the legal limit.
Five miles north, that result would be well over the legal limit of 50mg/100ml.

MikeJXE

Blood test give an accurate reading but that is some time after the event and could well have gone down 

There is no reason to be sure she wasn’t over the limit at the time of the accident 

As I said before if you have been drinking then don’t drive 

oldernonethewiser

MikeJXE said:

Blood test give an accurate reading but that is some time after the event and could well have gone down 

There is no reason to be sure she wasn’t over the limit at the time of the accident 

As I said before if you have been drinking then don’t drive 

It appears you didn't as there has been some heavy editing of this thread.

MikeJXE

oldernonethewiser said:

MikeJXE said:

Blood test give an accurate reading but that is some time after the event and could well have gone down 

There is no reason to be sure she wasn’t over the limit at the time of the accident 

As I said before if you have been drinking then don’t drive 

It appears you didn't as there has been some heavy editing of this thread.

You’re correct 

My first post has been removed 

oldernonethewiser

MikeJXE said:

oldernonethewiser said:

MikeJXE said:

Blood test give an accurate reading but that is some time after the event and could well have gone down 

There is no reason to be sure she wasn’t over the limit at the time of the accident 

As I said before if you have been drinking then don’t drive 

It appears you didn't as there has been some heavy editing of this thread.

You’re correct 

My first post has been removed 

Wonder what has happened to remove a fair number of posts?

Reading the ombusdman reports, posted above, is interesting.

MikeJXE

What is also interesting is when I click this thread under the bell 

I get comment not found