advice needed

lisyloo

Why should I or anyone for that matter be expected to bear the brunt of the consequencial damage?

You shouldn't have to, but it's a legal fact that you can't get blood out of a stone.
If someone does not have any money you simply can't get it from them.
It doesn't matter how many barristers or balliffs you employ, if it's not there you can't get it (although you can send in the balliffs and sell their TV etc.).
However I have to say that in your situation if she lived locally I would want to do some private investigation of my own e.g. find out whether she's living it up but claiming poverty.

But I suspect she'll get off lightly perhaps a few points, perhaps a fine.

Not necessarily.
If she has not had her licence 2 years and get 6 points then she'll lose her licence.
I know what you mean but I don't necessarily think she'll get off lightly.

As I suspected, it mean's i'll be out of pocket before I start.

I'm sorry you are finding out the hard way, but as you are finding out, having insurance (and even legal cover) is not totally comprehensive.
You have been very unlucky in being hit by an uninsured driver.
However we don't actually know at the moment that she's a poverty stricken student, that has been an assumption.

gotta love british justice

I don't think she will get away with this as easily as you think.
Firstly she could lose her licence.
Insurance is going to be prohibitively expensive in future.
You could go to the county court and get a county court judgement against her (CCJ). If this is unsatisifed it will stay on her credit record which will stop her getting a mortgage, loan, credit card etc.
So don't think she's got away scott free, because it's not the case.

Also I am wondering about whether you can keep a "tab" against her future earnings.
I'm not sure how this works and perhaps you can ask your legal people, but I'm wondering whether you can win a case for £X but even if she can't pay now, she still may be obliged to settle in future.
I'm not sure, but please let me know if you find out.
I know that an unsatisfied CCJ stays on your credit record, so maybe you can win a judgement in the hope of getting it paid in future (if she can't get a mortgage in future then there's an incentive to pay it off).

Zazen999

bmewsd wrote: »

She's only had her licence since oct 07, maybe part of the theory test should cover that you CANNOT drive a vehicle without being insured? But what do I know??

Or driving the wrong way around a roundabout??? Fingers crossed she is taken off the road to protect the rest of us.

Anyway - try Lingscars.com [she off of the Dragon's Den] - I have a car on a 2 year lease and she does cars at a very reasonable rate.

Hope all goes well...

bmewsd

lisyloo wrote: »

You shouldn't have to, but it's a legal fact that you can't get blood out of a stone.
If someone does not have any money you simply can't get it from them.
It doesn't matter how many barristers or balliffs you employ, if it's not there you can't get it (although you can send in the balliffs and sell their TV etc.).
However I have to say that in your situation if she lived locally I would want to do some private investigation of my own e.g. find out whether she's living it up but claiming poverty.



Not necessarily.
If she has not had her licence 2 years and get 6 points then she'll lose her licence.
I know what you mean but I don't necessarily think she'll get off lightly.



I'm sorry you are finding out the hard way, but as you are finding out, having insurance (and even legal cover) is not totally comprehensive.
You have been very unlucky in being hit by an uninsured driver.
However we don't actually know at the moment that she's a poverty stricken student, that has been an assumption.



I don't think she will get away with this as easily as you think.
Firstly she could lose her licence.
Insurance is going to be prohibitively expensive in future.
You could go to the county court and get a county court judgement against her (CCJ). If this is unsatisifed it will stay on her credit record which will stop her getting a mortgage, loan, credit card etc.
So don't think she's got away scott free, because it's not the case.

Also I am wondering about whether you can keep a "tab" against her future earnings.
I'm not sure how this works and perhaps you can ask your legal people, but I'm wondering whether you can win a case for £X but even if she can't pay now, she still may be obliged to settle in future.
I'm not sure, but please let me know if you find out.
I know that an unsatisfied CCJ stays on your credit record, so maybe you can win a judgement in the hope of getting it paid in future (if she can't get a mortgage in future then there's an incentive to pay it off).

Thanks again lissyloo. I fully understand what you're saying. And yes, you're absolutely right. After nearly 30 years of driving, I'm all too aware that the insurance company are really only interested in their shareholders.

Strange, but you go I've gone through life thinking (yes naievely) that if I'm out of pocket (insurance excess, MIB excess, losses etc etc) then at some point in the process they'll be recovered. But for the insurance industry to absolve themselves of their responsibilities saying that MIB wouldn't look at a case of less than 300.00 or that if you buy legal cover they won't act on your behalf to recover your losses (both insured and uninsured). Is it any wonder the ambulance chasers are raking it in at the moment?

I really don't want to hound this girl into the ground, I would like to just recover what's it's costing me in terms of inconvenience, money spent on getting around etc etc. but that just seems to be too hard for any insurance company who provides fully comprehensive (a misnomer if ever I heard one) cover.

thanks again

I'll let you know how it goes, but I suspect I'll be in it for the long-haul

bmewsd

Zazen999 wrote: »

Or driving the wrong way around a roundabout??? Fingers crossed she is taken off the road to protect the rest of us.

Anyway - try Lingscars.com [she off of the Dragon's Den] - I have a car on a 2 year lease and she does cars at a very reasonable rate.

Hope all goes well...

Thanks for the reply zazen999, maybe driving the wrong way around the roundabout or stopping if you become lost and confused are deemed to be common sense? shame that good sense isn't actually too common. I'll go have a look at lingcars.

lisyloo

But for the insurance industry to absolve themselves of their responsibilities saying that MIB wouldn't look at a case of less than 300.00

From what you have said it sounds like your claim will be more than £300.

or that if you buy legal cover they won't act on your behalf to recover your losses (both insured and uninsured).

Have they said that?
I think people have warned you that they MAY not pursue it, which is a valid concern.
No company will spend thousands of pounds going to court if they suspect there is zero chance of recovery.
I can assure you the ambulance chasers won't take on a hopeless case either.
They qualify cases before they take them on and will only take the good ones, where people are insured and there is a good case.
But there is a chance that she may want to put things right or that she does have assets.

but that just seems to be too hard for any insurance company who provides fully comprehensive (a misnomer if ever I heard one) cover.

Why are you saying that?
We are only 2 days in and very little has happened.
Most of your costs will be covered.
You chose not to insure for a hire car.
I don't want to be nasty but you got all the documents up front, so surely you knew what coverage you had.
Perhaps you should have read them to see what it covers rather than just assuming "absolutely everything".
If you can't live without a hire car then why did you chose not to insure for this?

I'm really not meaning to be nasty but you seem to be very neagative and almost nothing has happened so far.

As you have now learnt an (unfortunate) lesson then I would suggest checking your other insurances (life, home, health, medical, dental) etc.
Maybe you are making some other assumptions than are not borne out by any policy documentation.
Better to do it up front rather than find out later in a difficult situtaion that there is a big gap in coverage.
All other insurance will be like this too, they all have exceptions and excesses etc.
For example if you have dental cover it won't cover "lab" work so you'll still have a bill.

bmewsd

lisyloo wrote: »

From what you have said it sounds like your claim will be more than £300.

Have they said that?
I think people have warned you that they MAY not pursue it, which is a valid concern.
No company will spend thousands of pounds going to court if they suspect there is zero chance of recovery.
I can assure you the ambulance chasers won't take on a hopeless case either.
They qualify cases before they take them on and will only take the good ones, where people are insured and there is a good case.
But there is a chance that she may want to put things right or that she does have assets.

Why are you saying that?
We are only 2 days in and very little has happened.
Most of your costs will be covered.
You chose not to insure for a hire car.
I don't want to be nasty but you got all the documents up front, so surely you knew what coverage you had.
Perhaps you should have read them to see what it covers rather than just assuming "absolutely everything".
If you can't live without a hire car then why did you chose not to insure for this?

I'm really not meaning to be nasty but you seem to be very neagative and almost nothing has happened so far.

As you have now learnt an (unfortunate) lesson then I would suggest checking your other insurances (life, home, health, medical, dental) etc.
Maybe you are making some other assumptions than are not borne out by any policy documentation.
Better to do it up front rather than find out later in a difficult situtaion that there is a big gap in coverage.
All other insurance will be like this too, they all have exceptions and excesses etc.
For example if you have dental cover it won't cover "lab" work so you'll still have a bill.

Hi lissyloo,

negative? moi? yes probably, but I'm literally quoting chapter and verse what I've been told. Yes you're right, I should have to paid for the car hire option. That's not in dispute, what is, is the fact that those costs may (i use that word as it is indeed early days) not be recoverable. My point is, that why should it be me that has to pay it? yes, wrong time wrong place and I'm lucky to be alive but the girl concerned is responsible and should be paying ALL the associated costs and my expectation is that the legal cover should recover those for me irrespective of how long it takes.

so your earlier post about attachment of earnings etc are indeed valid. If I had not had the accident I wouldn't be droning on about it would i? who's fault is that? yes :-) I know the droning bit is totally my fault but i'd never have to ask if the girl concerned didn't switch off and drive the wrong way around the roundabout or was switched on enough to have got insurance in the first place.

I most certainly know the ambulance chasers are not in the business for the good of their customers but it all comes down to an element of customer service and customer expectation. It is, after all part of what we are paying for. I'm pretty sure the company who gets outstanding press for brilliant customer service will get the majority of the business. Or again, i'm being silly, in thinking that all the UK public wants is rock bottom prices. I'm as guilty as everyone on that score.

still, i'm as chilled as i can be considering.

thanks again

lisyloo

I agree, you are fully entitled to be recomepnsed.
Unfortunately occasionally it is not enforceable.
I think people were trying to alert you to the pitfalls but I don't see a reason to automatically expect the worst case scenario.
She may be a wealthy student and may pay out immediately.
She may also have sufficient assets to be pursued.
I don't think it's helpful for your state of mind for you to concentrate of the worst possible case.

but it all comes down to an element of customer service and customer expectation

Some insurance companies offer excellent service. Others leave a little to be desired, but again why assume the worst?
The best plan of action is to hope for the best but plan for the worst.

I'm pretty sure the company who gets outstanding press for brilliant customer service will get the majority of the business. Or again, i'm being silly, in thinking that all the UK public wants is rock bottom prices.

I think people want rock bottom prices.
Time and time again we see people on here who've compromised cover and servce for a lower price.
If we thought quality was important the we wouldn't have an intensive farming industry but that's a diferent subject.

I hope it goes well, keep us updated.

Middle_Sister

Same here. Some nutter reversed into me when I was parked. He said he was looking in the other direction watching another driver and didnt see me. I said he was supposed to look in all directions. Nobody saw anything of course and while I took some photos he said, "I dont why you are bothering because I'm going to contest it". We were in front of a shop (off the main road) and he was parked at an angle and reversed at an angle - into my drivers door and wing mirror. I have ins thru M&S and have to pay the repairer the excess of £300 myself. I can have a courtesy car if the repair is going to take longer than 3 days. I will lose my NCB - all thru no fault of my own.