Minor road accident, not insured. 3rd party claiming for 1000s in damages. HELP?

CBoogie · 20 June 2018 at 9:09PM

Hi all,

So I had a minor car vs bike incident a few weeks ago, where a bike went into the side of my car while indicating to turn left and overtake another car. The motorist, fell off his bike and skidded across the pavement. He was unhurt but his bike however had some minor scratching. We agreed to settle this independently and not go through insurance. He has since got an insurance quote and they are quoting in excess of £1000 for extremely light external damages for the bike. He is unaware that I am not insured, and i was too until i called my insurance to make them aware of the crash. However I had MOT and Tax. I have since applied a SORN notification the car as I dont need to drive it ATM. My question is, if the motorist does now decide to go down the insurance route what are the options/repercussions for myself? My mum however thinks this is a scam and says I should go straight through his insurance and let them deal with this. however i am reluctant to do so as I don't want to lose my no claims and also be prosecuted by the police, as it was a genuine oversight on my behalf.

I have 6 years no claims and I am under 25 and rely heavily on my my licence for my job.

I would appreciate helpful comments and not any telling me how wrong I am for not being insured. I realise this, and have since taken the necessary steps to avoid this happening again.

Thanks in Advance.

Zorillo · 20 June 2018 at 9:50PM

You've a choice to either pay what he asks you to, or hope a court sides with you if he decides to sue you.

It's not abundantly clear from what you've said whether you are at fault, or he is, or both. If it's you that's liable, or liability is split, you've got a problem because his insurer will pursue you for their outlay. If he was responsible, and his insurer agrees, then you may be able to claim for any damage you have suffered, but as you have no insurer to represent you you may find them difficult to claim off and may need legal representation.

The police may charge you with driving with no insurance, which may mean points, a fine, and very expensive insurance in the future.

dacouch · 20 June 2018 at 10:09PM

It is very very easy to cause well over £1000 damage to a motorbike if it goes over and slides even if it looks like it only has light scratches

marlot · 21 June 2018 at 6:34AM

CBoogie wrote: »

...He has since got an insurance quote and they are quoting in excess of £1000 for extremely light external damages for the bike.....

People seem to think that repairs are cheap.

A door mirror for my car cost me £600 + Paint + fitting recently.

It's VERY easy cause £1000 of plastics damage to a bike. Someone knocked me off my bike nearly 20 years ago and the damage bill was about £1000 then - just a few plastics broken.

He should also be claiming from you for a new helmet and any damage to his leathers - so if he's not included those you're getting off lightly.

agrinnall · 21 June 2018 at 10:24AM

Why were you uninsured? It's your responsibility to be insured when driving on the road, so I think you're either going to have to persuade the other party to keep insurance out of it by paying up everything that he asks for, or run a high risk of being prosecuted, possibly losing your licence, getting a fine, and paying higher insurance premiums for a few years - and if your insurer declines to pay, you'll still have to pay the third party costs. An expensive lesson whatever you do.

CBoogie · 21 June 2018 at 11:47AM

As I said I didn’t realise I was uninsured until I called my insurer to notify them of the crash. I queried my renewal price a few weeks ago and then never heard back so assumed it had auto renewed.

The motorist wasn’t wearing any leathers his helmet was in damaged, and I’m not sure of liability, but upon further inspection of the pics of the bike that’s why I’m questioning what to do as it seems excessive.

He’s been very helpful in obtaining multiple quotes but I’m just thinking if I go through his insurance what options are available to me moving forward.

glentoran99 · 21 June 2018 at 11:49AM

Prosecuted for driving with no insurance, You can forget the "no claims" that you are afraid of losing its gone,

Zorillo · 21 June 2018 at 11:30PM

You don't really have any options if you're liable for the damage. You're going to need to pay for it.

If you're prepared to pay in full, then there's a chance he might decide not to give your details to his insurer when (if) he reports it to his insurer. But, if you end up in dispute, or he just does the right and proper thing by fulfilling his duty to report it to his insurer, then you're not going to be able to avoid a very big bill. And that's before the police decide whether they've got any interest in you.

tacpot12 · 22 June 2018 at 7:51AM

You only hope of avoiding paying for the damage is to find evidence that the rider caused the accident. This evidence will need to be rock solid. So you need independent witness statements, CCTV or dashcam footage. If you don't have these, the court is likely to rely on the accounts given by both of you, and this is likely to result in the court deciding in favour of the rider, and you will then also have to pay their court and legal fees.

Unfortunately, the plastic parts of bikes can be very expensive - I fell off my bike at a track day at Oulten Park racecourse and found this out to my cost. However the parts can also be repaired - the rider may be willing to accept a repair if it is done professionally by a well-regarded repair shop. If you want to keep the costs down you might have to take responsibility for finding a repairer, transporting parts, and paying for the work and fitting. The rider may be prepared to fit the parts himself, most just bolt on. You really need to make friends with the guy. If he sees that you are serious about repairing his bike to the highest standard, he may be prepared to let you repair some items.

Good luck

lisyloo · 22 June 2018 at 10:08AM

People seem to think that repairs are cheap.

I own both cars and motorcycles and bikes are more expensive to fix.
They are more fidly and specialist.

Also no such thing as "light" damage on a bike.
He might have bent things that can't be bent back.
I fell off my bike one day (single vehicle accident) and bent the (foot) brake lever). I was told that because of the alloy it was made with it could not be bent back and had to be replaced.
Just an example of something that might look like very little but requires a full replacement.

We don't have the quotes to look at but on the face of it it's certainly possible for a "light" accident to cost this much.

OnanTheBarbarian · 22 June 2018 at 11:59AM

OK so you have had an accident and were not insured.

The options for you from this point are to either agree a cash payment with the biker in "full and final settlement" of their claim, assuming you can pay or this in one hit as I would be surprised if the other party was happy with an instalment plan, or

You let the MIB deal with the claim on your behalf, after which they will come after you for reimbursement of their outlay.They would be amenable to instalments though. https://www.mib.org.uk

It is likely the biker would need to be the one who initiates the claim via the MIB rather than the uninsured motorist.

You personally can't go through his insurance.

Minor road accident, not insured. 3rd party claiming for 1000s in damages. HELP?

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