When driving legally and paying your way means paying for someone elses F*ck up

[Bazgti]

Evening all,

I havent posted on here for a while. But im hoping to have a bit of a grumble and also hopefully hoping to gain some advice.
I was recently sat at a junction in Rochdale. When some d*ck drove into the back of me because he was to busy waving at his mate in a car in the next lane. After initially declining to give me any details, when i rung 101. He finally showed me ID in the form of a provisional license. His whole demeanour was wrong. He was panicked, edgy and i didnt trust him. He refused to give me his insurance name throughout. He showed me a screenshot from the MID website, that his car was insured. I still wasnt convinced. I asked him to ring his insurance otherwise he wasnt going. Other than his insurance company telling me there was insurance on the vehicle. They was totally unhelpful. I ended taking a picture of him, his car and also a debit card that he had. He finally rung a friend to 'vouch' for him. He became unstuck very quickly when i asked his friend where he lived. It was different to his license. He then sprung a 2nd license, thid time with the correct address. Eventually i let him go. He rung me within an hour and offered to pay for the damage with cash. I told him id think about it over night. The intention was to inform my insurance and get some guidance. I ended up calling at my local approved body shop who gave me a number for a non fault solicitor. After initial searches from the solicitor, they had concerns that he hadnt passed his driving test and was infact driving on learner insurance. This meant that they could not assist. My insurance then took over to make yet more enquires. It has taken 4 weeks to receive a response. He is insured with Collingwood, Who are specialists in learner insurance. They have advised my insurance that they are not willing to cover the accident because he has breached the terms of his insurance. He hasnt passed his driving test and was driving un accompanied at the time of the accident. The company have admitted liability for my personal injury. This is something that has perplexed me. Theyve essentially just opted out of paying out for damage to my vehicle. I have been told by my insurance that they cannot do anything about the problem. I paid for motor legal cover. Could this assist with anything? I have contacted the police, who have said that they will not be pushing for prosecution because they dont have the resources to investigate. Ive rung the DVLA who have said that i cannot refer a law breaker to them. I have rung the ombudsmen who have said that they cannot act against 3rd party insurance. I have applied to MIB who by the looks of it wont act unless i claim on my own insurance, because technically i havent incurred a financial loss. Im apprehensive about doing this because i do not want my premiums to rise and i cant afford to fork out my excess a month after moving into my new home. So im basically in the sh*t. Whilst that c*ck is in the clear. Im having to physically restrain myself from kicking his front door down and tearing a strip or 2 off him. The stress of it all is become a huge problem for me. To the point where im not sleeping. Can anyone offer any much needed guidance on the matter?

Thanks in advance

[Juliand]

Sorry to hear this.

All too familiar.

Will get back later with my experience / thoughts, as no time to do it now. As insurance is a legal requirement, the whole insurance Industry needs some kind of massive review by a government 'commission' or review body to examine its 'fitness for purpose'.

More later....

[Gazza747]

Over the years I can remember at least 6 people have driven in to me and only one occasion when I did things correctly and ended up getting my car fixed. The mad thing about that occasion, the guy was drunk and was caught soon after by the police. His insurance did pay up but it looked like I was going to miss out again on getting anywhere with someone driving in to me. It seams like legal drivers don't seen to drive into you! But I can certainly feel your pain.

I have learnt a lot over the years through these experiences but I'm not completely sure where you stand on this one. From memory on two hit and runs I had where I didn't get the number plate, I was told about the Central Insurance Fund or CIF. I was told that if I had managed to get the number plate and the person driving was not insured, then I could claim from the CIF. Apparently we all pay into this through our insurance so if we need to claim from an uninsured driver then this fund will pay out.

It looks like this guy was insured but just not driving legally at the time so I don't know if you would have any joy with the CIF.

On one of the hit and runs, I decided to fix the car myself so I didn't need to make a claim so I would avoid higher premiums. I have for years had protected fully comp insurance. With hindsight I should have got the car fixed through my insurance as the hassle and cost was a lot more than I first thought it was going to be. I know it's a pain but I think sometimes you have to take the hit.

[Juliand]

Follow up...

Similar incident a long time ago (early 1980's). Insurers refused to entertain a claim against their client, as he had not filled in an accident report form, so as far as they were concerned 'no accident' - despite Police involvement and successful Police prosecution for 'failing to stop after an accident; failing to report accident; and driving without due care and attention = then 3 Endorsements, plus hefty fine.....  The idiot even got his girlfriend's father to attend court to say he was at their house on the night of the incident, but I had witness and police did a very thorough investigation, matching paint, and investigating his 'newly repaired front end etc, enough to nail him (he ran into my rear end, reversed away, and drove off!)

I only had 3rd Party insurance then, as a young lad, so no option of going through my insurance. Advice was to get car repaired and claim back cost via Small Claims Court.......but I didn't have the money to pay out for the repairs in advance (or even the confidence in 'the system' to get my money back), so did a repair job myself (with help of my dad , bless him), and the ar*e who did the damage got away with it (apart from the Police stuff). I often wished that I had followed it through the Small Claims Court, and it is much easier to that nowadays, and knuckled the idiot, but I don't suggest that you follow that route, however tempting it might be, as it can easily get out of hand.

I really thought times and systems had moved on and progressed, but you hear of far too many of these types of story - hence my comments about a complete overhaul of insurance - long overdue.

It sounds like a no win situation to me, but your insurers should really be taking on his insurers; or you go the small claims route?

Please update us

[Black9]

Sorry to hear this mate but u kinda shot urself in the foot when he offered to pay u in cash and u didn't take the offer, from what it sounds like. Sorry to be harsh.

Approach him and ask him to pay for the repairs or at least towards them. Not ideal but best of a bad situation.

[Bazgti]

Ahhhh i didnt put that in. My apologies. I spoke to the 3rd party solicitor to start the ball rolling as a counter measure if he didnt pay up. Their number was given to me the body shop tjat i went to the morning after. They said that the would do all the running work, i just needed to give them the nod to proceed. So i logged it basically, if he didnt pay. I was promised the full sum the following Friday. He dropped a s*it excuse on me on the Friday morming. So i pushed for the claim afterwards.

I had a drive by his address yesterday. The vehicle is parked down the road from the house. In a really odd spot if im honest. The house looks derelict, granted most of Rochdale looks like that. Theres just something not right. Il see what Admiral law can do tomoro. Il get on to the MIB too. See if i can get some guidance on this silly suggestion that i claim 1st before they help me.

[Bazgti]

Update :

Ive been on to citizens advice and drawn a blank. They couldn't even offer basic advice on the matter.

I then got back on to Admiral (my insurance) and fortunately spoke to a chap who was willing to go that little bit further for me and explain how Collingwood (3rd party) had come to their conclusion. Collingwood state in their terms of contract that they will under no circumstances entertain breach of any products they sell. He mentioned that theyve had plenty of incidents with this company and theyre a nightmare. They have supposedly brought his insurance down a level to something called 'article 75'. Where they will cover my personal injuries (estimated 4 month recover and 14 physio sessions) and a potential pay out for the injuries and also any expenses that i occur which includes my excess and hire car etc. Admiral have said its pointless for them to take Collingwood to court as they know the outcome will mean theyll need to pay court fees etc and still not win. The issue is with the driver and not Collingwood. They have suggested that small claims court from person to person may be an option. I asked about MIB (This is the real kick in the bollo*ks) 
MIB only act in the event of being hit by an absolute non insured driver. Technically he has insurance. So im basically lay in a grey area. Admiral have emailed/written to say that they will stand on my 1 years no claims bonus because it wasnt my fault. But if i claim, it will go down as an expense on the insurance Q system of £550 (total minus excess) which will show other insurances that ive claimed but will also show that ive been given my NCB bonus and will insinuate that it was none fault. All very bizarre. Ive done some insurance quotes based as if i was renewing tomorrow. £802 with 10 years no claims and 26 year old Mrs as named driver with a claim. £667 with no claim. Its basically gone up £50 on last year at £802. 
Im still going to pay the little p*ick a visit tomorrow to see if i can extract some sort of payment out of him. Its unlikely looking at the state of his property. Small claims seems pointless as he'll probably end up paying me a pound a week, forever. Claiming on my own insurance and getting out of the way is looking like my only real option. My blood is literally on fire, but im running out of options quickly.

Ive spoken to our fine fine police force at GMP and theyve asked me to basically do their job. If i see him, 999 call them to report him. So they can catch him in the act. The picture of him stood next to my car and his in the middle of the road isnt enough...

[Kujo]

Sorry to hear that, that seriously sucks.

We've just spent 19 months having to go to court because a guy hit my wife's car head on, he was on the wrong side of the road passing parked cars. He tried to claim she pulled out on him. Even though the evidence clearly proved he was in the wrong, his insurance company allowed it to go to court. Ended up costing them way more but was such a ball ache.


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[pudding]

The police didn't have the resources?  So if I told the bank I didn't have the resources to pay my mortgage, they would just take that?

This country is an utter joke. 

I've been hit a few times, and even with witnesses, the claims still went 50/50.  With one of the incidents, the girl who drove into me even tried to leave the scene.  I caught up with her, she apologized, and I even helped move her stricken car off the road.  But rather than just going through the inevitable 50/50 motions......her and her f'ckin man hating insurance company (Diamond!) tried to throw everything they had at me to avoid paying out.  They failed, but it was unnecessary grief that made me livid.

I've been preaching for years about how corrupt the whole insurance / bodyshop / legal aid setup is.  They all get a big slice of the pie each, and the clients get the left over crumbs.  And we have to pay extra for our non-fault accident upon renewal.

Over the years I've learned it's best to just claim off my own insurance and get a good night's sleep.  I can't change how corrupt this country is, and I don't worry about things I can't change.   The only way to make change is by boycotting..... but no one will do it.

Anyway, as annoying as it is, I think you'll need to try and move on from this as best you can.

[andyiseddy02]

I had to deal with an insurance company a few years ago. I agree that the whole system is flawed to say the least.
I argued his insurance company into silence more than once. (Because it was his fault).
After a year of arguing and when it looked like I might be winning, the other driver came up with a mystery independent witness and the insurance company believed him !!!!!!!!! 0NE YEAR LATER.

[garrardrj]

Your insurance company should do more than they are, you are their customer. Surprised thatq Admiral haven’t pursued the other insurance company and have nearly admitted liability by covering your personal injury. I would take the chap to small claims court myself. Keep all documents and costs. Claim for your time too.

[Dogma]

I know this is a little, but you should of called 999. After all he’s breaking the law by refusing to give you he’s details