Car insurance issue - one 'eck of a pickle

leedsladmatt

Good evening, New poster here in dire need I don't know where to turn on this and I really need some sensible help
The story is as follows:
from the 2nd of Jan to the 9th of march I Was on a business secondment sunday nights whilst friday nights travelling in my own vehicle on expenses. One evening late in feb I arrived and had a prang with another vehicle. It was late so i gave details & stated i thought it was knock for knock but expected a phone call to discuss the matter later. but I heard nothing until today when i received a letter from her insurers demanding my details else Criminal action would be taken. I had been assured before i agreed to the project that whilst on comapny business my car would be covered on company insurance so i contacted the legal department for details to claim only to be told I was not covered for personal vehicles! The next nail in the cofin was that my own insurance had expired in january and, expecting it to autorenew, Didnt have private cover again until march 1st! At the time i though nothing of it thinking firstly that the Woman would call me and I would settle cash but failing that the comapny would cover me.
It now seems I have no cover for the time, I can't contest her claim (She has informed them it was my fault!) as I have no policy number to give. So it seems I will now at best have to pay half her repair cost and loose my no claim bonus but more likely I could wind up in court for driving without insurance!
I really don't know what to do I'm so stressed out I can't think stright about the matter and all the company will do is give me automated responses and fob me off, can anyone give me some advise I really could use it =(

Iamthesmartestmanalive

leedsladmatt wrote: »

Good evening, New poster here in dire need I don't know where to turn on this and I really need some sensible help
The story is as follows:
from the 2nd of Jan to the 9th of march I Was on a business secondment sunday nights whilst friday nights travelling in my own vehicle on expenses. One evening late in feb I arrived and had a prang with another vehicle. It was late so i gave details & stated i thought it was knock for knock but expected a phone call to discuss the matter later. but I heard nothing until today when i received a letter from her insurers demanding my details else Criminal action would be taken. I had been assured before i agreed to the project that whilst on comapny business my car would be covered on company insurance so i contacted the legal department for details to claim only to be told I was not covered for personal vehicles! The next nail in the cofin was that my own insurance had expired in january and, expecting it to autorenew, Didnt have private cover again until march 1st! At the time i though nothing of it thinking firstly that the Woman would call me and I would settle cash but failing that the comapny would cover me.
It now seems I have no cover for the time, I can't contest her claim (She has informed them it was my fault!) as I have no policy number to give. So it seems I will now at best have to pay half her repair cost and loose my no claim bonus but more likely I could wind up in court for driving without insurance!
I really don't know what to do I'm so stressed out I can't think stright about the matter and all the company will do is give me automated responses and fob me off, can anyone give me some advise I really could use it =(

Your surely on the !!!! take, if you thought it autorenewed why did you renew it later?

If you thought it wasnt your fault why so willing to pay cash?

Tbh it sounds to me you knew fine you were driving without insurance and hoped the other party would give you the chance to cover it up with a private claim

either way all this could have been avoided with a bit of common sense, i.e demanding to see cover notes, enquiring where your documents were, enquiring why your insurance wasnt paid as normal in january etc etc and therefore you deserve what you get

leedsladmatt

Wow thanks for THAT constructive peice. the reason i wanted to pay cash is it was a ding to a door maybe £150 pounds worth of damage and I have a £700 excess on my insurance policy. Same as most people on a minor claim I'd rather pay for it than suffer the higher premium in the future. Why i didnt check the renewl? I was getting maybe 12 hours to come home wash repack eat sleep and set off again. Why did i renew in march? when I got 5 to check my mail and affairs I realised it HADNT renewed itself. I realise a "little common sense" would have prevented the mess but the same can be said for a lot of the stories here. The fact is whats done is done and I can't undo that. I posted looking for help not a lecture.

V_tricky

Firstly - the insurer have cannot pursue criminal a criminal action against you - that's for the police to deal with. The police will only get involved if the other individual makes a formal complaint - and even then, they may well not take any action depending on the circumstances.

You can still dispute liability, just because you were a div (sorry) and were uninsured, it doesn't mean that you were 100% to blame for the accident.

What it does mean though is that you'll have to conduct your own defence.

However liability is split, you will obviously have to pay that proportion of the claim to her/her insurers. They are likely to accept a no interest payment plan from you though, and as long as you keep up the payments, they'll have no reason to take you to civil court to get a CCJ.

You wont lose your no claims discount either, because obviously you haven't made a claim from any policy, although your policy will more than likely be loaded ( THIS has more info about loadings ).

There's no point in stressing about it - you need to write (type is better) a clear version of events, and detail any evidence you have in your favour (ie witnesses). You appear to be prepared to accept a split settlement, so why not write to the other persons insurer & advise them that you are dealing with the matter personally, and that all correspondence should come direct to you.

Tell them your version of events, tell them why you hold the third party at least partially negligent, and make an offer to settle (ie 50/50, or even you could try a 'bear own losses' but don't get your hopes up on that one).

Also find out whether the other persons insurer has a dedicated file handler, and get their name, email & direct dial telephone number so you always know who it is you're speaking with.

Best off probably to do this in writing though, as you have more time to write a considered response to whatever they're saying, rather than being caught on the hop with a phone call.

HTH

leedsladmatt

Thanks for the response v_tricky that was a big help, i wasnt aware you could post your own defense in an insurance claim, I though once one party involved theres I had to involve mine....Hopefully the claiment wont raise the issue further so long as they get paid.

I am still contesting the issue with my company. I was a div definatly but there not squeeky clean here either. I shall start writing some letters today and get the ball rolling, thank goodness I got a nice commision cheque last month, but it will be a while before I go on a secondment again

Steve1981

if the pol was due to auto renew and did not auto renew due to a fault of your insurer, they 'may' cover you, i know the company i work for would.

also even if you are deemed to be at fault we dont load pols if there is no insurance pay out made. - ie if you pay it yourself