Finding insurance details of car trader

sultan123

I was hit by a car trader. There were two number plates on the car. One plate was in usual position on car but other one was in windscreen. The person who hit me said the one in windscreen is the one to take note. He told me he worked for car trading company and gave me name of that company.

I passed on both plate numbers onto my car insurance company and solicitors. The solicitors found insurance details using trade plate number.

Car insurance company were simply using the other reg plate and saying car is uninsured and foreign. When I explained trade plate they seem confused. They also said the individual who hit was claiming he would need to speak to a friend to get the insurance details.

I verbally passed on insurance details from solicitors onto car insurance company who said they will now contact 3rd party insurance.

I feel like inexperienced claims handler at car insurance company is lacking proper knowledge around 3rd party being trader.

Should I complain?

Woodstok2000

I would see if it gets resolved now....passing on both plates has probably contributed to the confusion a bit. Hopefully it'll get sorted quickly from here.

paul_c123

How much have the solicitors charged you for this? And more crucially, did you contact the solicitors before or at the same time you initially contacted the insurance company, and if so why? Or only after there was no progress being made with your insurer?

You are entitled to complain if you're dissatisfied. You are also entitled if you are distressed or inconvenienced, or suffered a monetary loss. It seems to meet 1 or 2 of those criteria (I can't really credit you for being distressed, if you need to ask the forum if you are; and we don't know how inconvenient the extra contact with the solicitor was - it might have been only 5-10 mins of time).

facade

If you want to.

Trade plates are not exactly new, they have been around for well over 50 years that I know to.

They should really be fitted to the outside of the vehicle as they must be readable from 20 metres away, just chucking them on the dash and rear parcel shelf doesn't cut it- but it is never enforced.

sultan123

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81860800#Comment_81860800

The solicitors were the ones set up by car insurance company to deal with my injury. This is why I found it even more baffling that solicitors were rapid with finding details but car insurance company were not

sultan123

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81860804#Comment_81860804

And you can obtain insurance details using trade plates and MID right?

paul_c123

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81860835#Comment_81860835

You can, if the trader has added them onto MID (which they should do). They don't always add cars' actual registrations onto MID, and they have a 2 week grace period to do so. This means some cars that are in and out quick, never get added.

facade

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81860835#Comment_81860835

Yes,

Their policy will be registered on MID and found from the trade plate. (Trade plates themselves are not insurance, they are to drive a vehicle on the road without tax or registering it)

The car may not be covered by insurance though, traders have to add the cars that they want covered to their trade policy, which could be what your insurer actually meant when they said that it wasn't insured.

I don't know anything about trade insurance policies, whether there are "any vehicle driven by XXX" policies or not.

sultan123

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81860874#Comment_81860874

But if solicitors found insurance details using trade plate reg it must be insured?

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https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81860905#Comment_81860905

They can certainly find details of the trade policy attached to the plate.

I might be wildly speculating, but the driver told you that you "only need the trade plate number", and your insurer said the car wasn't insured……

I wouldn't worry, just claim on your own insurance and let the Ambulance Chaser Claims Management Company worry about it, they wouldn't take it on if they didn't think anyone would pay their fees, they could go for the driver's employer directly if they are solvent enough to pay.

Grey_Critic

Contact Swansea - Surprising how many traders do not tax vehicles and run around on Trade Plates - It is only when they are involved in a bump that problems arise with insurance that not always exists