My car was written off in the early hours of last friday by someone who did a hit and run - we did manage to get a partial reg, and was able to complete it when his car was taken somewhere for repairs privately... I passed the complete reg to the police and insurance company and when I got a call from my insurers to say they were going to DVLA check the other car, that it did have insurance on the vehicle and they would contact the other party, I was pretty pleased.
I was shocked that 2 hours later I had a very sheepish 19 odd year old lad at my front door who admitted to my face he had been the driver. He looked so scared I didn't have the heart to give him a good old rant, but thanked him for owning up - albiet a bit late.
He did at one point hint that he may not actually be insured himself to drive that car..... what should I do? Tell my insurance company this little nugget?
If the car he was driving has insurance but the lad is not entitled to drive it, does that mean that I will not get a payout from them? I have comp and protected, but if my company has to stump up, I will lose my excess and I will get a strike against my NCD protection, plus it will affect the premium on my classic car policy too as I have had a claim against me...... I just don't need that right now....
Any advice?
Kryten
Edited by Pugugly on 25/03/2009 at 16:06
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Entirely possible that he was not insured to drive that car, even though the car was insured for others.
Two options:
1) claim on your insurance and take the consequences. Is the damaged car the one on the classic policy? Normally there's no NCD on a classic policy, so it should not affect it.
2) claim from the 19 y/o. You'll still have to tell your ins. co., though. Unlikely he can afford to pay, especially if he has to go to court for the other offence(s).
Even if you have to go with 1) you could still go after the 19 y/o for the excess etc.
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3) Claim against the owner of the car which hit yours - it was their property and they had a duty to ensure that it was only driven by insured drivers.
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What duty? This is unlikely to work...
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a very sheepish 19 odd year old
He should be sheepish. You will have to proceed in the correct manner, I'm afraid - through your insurers, firstly.
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Congratulations to kryten on being humanely disarmed by the terrified nipper.
But I agree with others that insurance must be the way to go. It won't do the culprit any good to get off scot-free. These incidents in youth concentrate the mind and build character. If his parents or a friend come down on him for costing them money, so be it.
Edited by Lud on 25/03/2009 at 15:35
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I think the fact that the lad came to your door is a positive sign - maybe a parent has forced them to do this as the parent knows right from wrong.
I don't think the owner has a duty as such as would this account for if the car was stolen, or TWOC?
I remember years ago that an uncle crashed while drunk, his ins co covered the other party but not his own car (a brand new Merc C class).
Either way you need to go through your own ins co as your car is a write off, we are not talking about a £200 bumper repair here. And then let them sort it out if they will, or ask them to invoke your legal cover to pursue the other driver.
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No reason why you must go through your insurance just because the car is a write off.
1st port of call is the 19yr old. You want *his* insurance details and the details of the car owner/insurer.
If he isnt insured then you are into a very different situation. If he admits to no insurance then who is the vehicle owner?
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.... If the car he was driving has insurance but the lad is not entitled to drive it, does that mean that I will not get a payout from them? ... >>
www.trafficlawyer4u.com/trafficlawyer/driving_unin...p
".... This may not however be the case where a person has leant [sic] a motor vehicle to a third party who turns out to have no insurance. We would consider arguing that the owner of the vehicle was not guilty of having no insurance because he no longer had control and so was not ?using? the vehicle. ..."
www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2000/20000726.htm
" Under section 143 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 ("the 1988 Act") it is an offence to use, or to cause or permit someone to use, a motor vehicle on a road unless its use is covered by an appropriate policy of insurance or security ("the insurance requirement"). "
Edited by jbif on 25/03/2009 at 16:37
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Blimey - I'm more confused than ever - I have 2 trains of thought....
1. I say nothing about the visit from the driver, hope that the registered keeper/insured owner takes the rap for the kiddie and then all is done and dusted.
2. Ring my insurer with the new information about the driver, actually naming the driver, but by default telling them that the other driver was un-insured and possibly gaining myself some expense.
Don't know what to do - by witholding the driver info can I technically invalidate the insurance?
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Kryten - In my opinion, you should tell your insurance company everything you know. If it later came to light that you hadn't.........
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Agree with HB - you really can not hide that info.
It's not going to make any difference right now, though. You have fully comp cover, and you are covered, regardless of the other party. The possible lack of cover on his part is not your problem, and is (part of) what you paid for when you bought fully comp cover.
You still have the opportunity to recover your excess and other costs from the 19 y/o, either using the legal cover you probably have with your policy, or instructing a solicitor to recover it by normal legal channels.
Edited by oldnotbold on 25/03/2009 at 17:41
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kryten,
I'm with Humph on this one - tell the insurance company about the visit from the 19-year-old.
Apart from anything else, you only have his word he was the driver - youngsters have been put up to say dafter things.
What I think you need to avoid is giving your insurance company any excuse not to pay out, if that's what it comes to.
Withholding information from them is never a good idea.
Fair play to you for not beasting the 19-year-old, by the way.
It would have achieved nothing and might have been counter-productive at this stage.
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I would have thought that, since you reported it to the police, they will be following up the failure to stop offence and maybe other things, the full story is going to come out one way or another. I would let the insurance company know about the visit but not commit yourself to making a claim on your insurance till the full facts and options are clear.
If you eventually recover all costs from him or his insurance company it shouldn't affect your insurance at all.
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Thanks guys - I thought the general concesus would be to spill the beans.
If things go a bit pear shaped I can always take the other driver to Small Claims court as my old car was only worth about £2k with the mileage it had on it.
I am concerned that I will still be out of pocket in the end....... it's just so unfair - I make sure my car is fully legal all the time (excepting the velocity sometimes) so why can't everyone else?
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 25/03/2009 at 18:58
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Sorry Gents but aren't you all missing the point of comp. insurance here? Kryten claims from his own insurance and passes all details to his insurer. They pay out under the terms of the policy. It is then up to them to recover their costs from the driver if they so choose. You have no duty to chase the 19 yr old on behalf of your insurer. You're their customer, not their runner! If you lose your no claims, that's the uninsured loss bit that your legal cover (if you have it) chases, or you chase through small claims court. If your NCB is protected your losses are minimised. It matters not who is at fault, you are simply claiming under the terms of an insurance policy.
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If you lose your no claims that's the uninsured loss bit that your legal cover (if you have it) chases or you chase through small claims court.
Assuming the 19 year old has the funds to pay the claim, otherwise you could end up with 50p a week for the next 200 years or something :-/
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What's the point in paying for protection of your no claims discount and then not making a claim? Check the wording of your policy. Mine allows up to 3 claims in the 3 years prior to renewal before my discount is reduced. As for your excess, surely you don't reduce your premium by volunteering to have a large excess and then pay extra for NCD prorection? If so, why?
Claim on your policy and pass any communications (verbal or written) from the other party straight on to your insurer. Trying to get money out of someone else's insurer yourself just isn't worth the aggro.
Edited by L'escargot on 26/03/2009 at 07:59
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Insurance is the way to go. The Police are informed it appears.
Either the chap has valid insurance in which case they'll pay out.
Or he TWOC'd in which case I think the other party's insurance will pay out anyway ?
If he didn't TWOC, then it means mum or dad allowed him to drive w/o insurance. This = charges for mum and dad.
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If he didn't TWOC then it means mum or dad allowed him to drive w/o insurance. This = charges for mum and dad.
It isn't that clear cut from a legal perspective, as jbif pointed out earlier in the thread.
>>Or he TWOC'd in which case I think the other party's insurance will pay out anyway ?
Only if the car has been reported stolen I should think.
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What's the point in paying for protection of your no claims discount and then not making a claim? Check the wording of your policy. Mine allows up to 3 claims in the 3 years prior to renewal before my discount is reduced.
Because while you are correct that one claim will not reduce the discount applied to your future quotes, the fact that your answer to the question 'have you made a claim?' is now yes will increase the baseline quote which the discount applies to.
To put it another way, if you don't protect your no claims, then they hit your twice: You baseline quotation is increased, and the discount applied to it is also increased. Protecting your NCD gets rid of one of those problems, but it still leaves you with a potentially bigger bill after a claim.
They get you going, and they get you coming back.
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Don't forget to claim the cost of increased insurance premiums over the next ?3? years.
Personally I would say nothing. Unless he told you that he is uninsured, you are slandering him if you ring your insurance company and tell them that.
Best of all if you claim against him & his insurance company coughs up.
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I told my insurance company everything yesterday after the general concensus was spiull the beans.
I then had a visit from the parents of the 2 lads involved last night - the father of the lad driving and the father of the lad who owned the car.
They were extremely apologetic and pledged that I would not suffer financially.
This evening I got a phone call from their insurers admitting full liability, and telling me they would negotiate the settlement with my insurers.
This restores my claims record, removes the strike and negates the excess payment.
Result!!
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And incidentally, kryten, very civilised behaviour by the lads and their dads, reflecting your own soft-heartedness.
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I had a claim that turned out was my fault which has to be declared at each insurance renewal,( i had protected ), the difference? 50p per month... i can live with that...
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I concur. Restores faith in human nature.
Now I wonder who the parents are telling the insurance company was driving????
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Perhaps best not to know.... ;)
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Definitely best not to ask or know. It's none of your business; you are merely conjecturing. I do know youngsters who drive big cars - goodness only knows what the insurance must cost their fathers.
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I was in a similar situation quite a long time ago, a car pulled out in front of me and I hit him, and he immediately sped off.
Fortunately I had a witness who took down the drivers registration (I tried but got it hopelessly wrong in the mirror).
I had my car fixed on my fully comp insurance while the police and insurance very slowly pursued the other driver.
I was fairly young at the time so my no claims was £££ important - I had a chat with the insurance company - they said that I had the option to make good their loss (so effectively paying for the repair myself) and then it would not be registered as a claim against my policy.
In the end it turned out that he was insured with the same insurance company as me - they took a dim view of his behaviour and things then were resolved quickly.
Not sure this is entirely helpful in this case but it could be worth a discussion with the insurance company to see what your options are. You haven't stated what the value of your car is which is a major factor.
Personally I would get as much as you can out of your insurance company - thats what its for - and any cash received would help mitigate any increase in premiums if that happens.
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.........the fact that your answer to the question 'have you made a claim?' is now yes will increase the baseline quote which the discount applies to.
Because this appears to be a common opinion, not long ago I queried this with my insurance (The Co-operative, formerly CIS) agent and he assured me that it was not true. I've been insured exclusively with The Co-operative since 1965 so I don't know what other insurers do.
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