Motor insurance claim - driver at fault left scene

Stonk

My car was damaged sometime overnight - looks like a motorbike hit it. Of course, the festering piece of poo just left the scene, knowing he'd never be found. I do hope he hurt himself.

It's relatively minor damage, and if I was at fault then I would think twice whether or not to make an insurance claim, what with the excess to pay and the loss of NCB.

Then I thought. If I did make a claim, would I actually be held "at fault", have to pay the excess, and lose my NCB? Or am I right in thinking there is a fund that insurers pay into, which covers the bill when uninsured drivers are at fault - which is roughly similar to the situation I find myself in?

Thanks in advance.

daveonline

Firstly the fund you mention is normally for personal injury claims, i think there are other funds available but you would need to report the incident to the police and for a minor claim it would become more hassle than its worth.
Secondly regarding your NCB ( no claims bonus ) it is exactly what it says, so if you make a claim and the insurance company cant claim the cost of repairs to your car from anyone then you would lose your NCB ( unless you have protected NCB ). According to their adverts Direct Line are the only exception to this - are you insured with them ?.

mancitychick

If you make a claim and your insurance co doesn't/cannot reclaim the full cost from the third party, the claim goes down as a fault claim against you. This is regardless of whether or not it was your fault.

Stonk

Yeah, it was a bit of a long shot. I know how NCB works, I just thought that if such a fund existed, then the insurer would recoup their costs from the fund as though it were the other driver's insurance company, thereby having no effect on my insurance or NCB.

But if it doesn't exist, then end of story. It's frustrating and unfair. I suppose I must put it down as yet another cost of car ownership.

(I'm not with Direct Line.)

telly-addict

The Motor Insurers Bureau is the body that deals with such claims - here's a link to the relevant part of their website:
http://www.mib.org.uk/MIB/en/Claims/UK/Untraced/Default.htm

As you have been unable to trace the driver of the vehicle, this would fall under the Untraced Drivers Agreement. There has been provision since 2003 to claim for property damage (subject to a £300 excess) under the Agreement, but only where the driver is unidentified but the vehicle is identified. Also you are unable to make a claim against the fund if you have your own comprehensive insurance, as your insurer is unable to "subrogate" their potential outlay for your vehicle damage against the MIB.

I'm afraid that you're stuffed. Without details of the third party driver, you won't make any headway with a claim against the MIB.

As previously advised, this would go down as a fault accident as there is no prospect of recovery against the other driver. This is why it's called a no claim (rather than "no blame") discount. without a protected NCD, there's probably no point in making the claim against your insurers.

Sorry to confirm the bad news.