Motor accident

[FTVS]

A friend of mine recently rolled into the back of someone elses car whilst driving her boyfriends car. She was not insured to drive this car. Both parties inspected the damge and indeed the Tunnel secruity rep also did. All agreed no damage was sustained. However she has now received a letter form his insurers asking for �360. She can ill afford this but feels he is trying it on. However given that she was driving uninsurerd she is worried. They have not even provided proof of loss! Any views?

[smudge]

Very unwise to drive without proper insurance cover. But anyway, couldn't she could get in touch with the Tunnel Security person, who witnessed that no damage was sustained.

[FTVS]

Eactly what I said smudge (inc the unwise bit) but she is woried she may get a summons - she'd get a bit of warning about that though wouldn't she...?

[WoWo]

Was the acident reported to the police (I would assume not). If it wasn't I can't see how they can claim.

[andy hughes]

If the accident was not reported to the police, and no statements were taken from witnesses, it sounds like the insurance company are simply running it up the flagpole to see what the cat licks up. Try toughing it out - write back advising you are prepared to make reasonable reparation for damage, on production of a detailed account from the repairers, stating excatly the damage, cost of parts, labour and so on. I'm tipping they'll back down - if they do produce the details, and the cost is reasonable pay up and avoid further hassle.

[Mattk]

does she have her own car ? if yes,then she should check her own insurance policy as most policies nowadays cover you to drive other peoples cars as long as they are insured by their prospective owners.

[Mattk]

i meant respective not prospective !

[smudge]

But why pay up Andy if there was no damage!

[norfolk boy]

In no way must you accept responsibility for any thing in writing or verbal.Let them provide proof with statements then go from there.

[Maude]

The essence of this matter is how did the Insurers know the name and address of your friend? If truly there was no damage then it was not necessary (and it is positively unwise)to give personal details. If your friend gave her name and address this will be taken as a tacit agreement to the possibility of a claim, and it will be very difficult to escape. If your friend was traced through the DVLA then an entirly different situation arises which is not against your friend (the driving uninsured bit is a red herring and can be totally forgotten).

[BenDToy]

While I tend to agree with all that is said above, I do not think a tunnel security guard is enough of an expert to say whether or not there was any damage. I know of at least 2 incidents where a rear ender caused damage which was not immediately apparent, one of them alot more than �360. But I agree that you should do nothing without seeing some evidence that repair work is/was required. As an addiitonal comment, she should not have been driving without insurance, and is lucky that the damage is only �360 - hardly a fortune these days. Probably less than an insurance premium! Hope she has learned her lesson.

[Maude]

Nevertheless, the implied question by FTVS is can the friend avoid paying. The answer is that if the friend gave her name and address to the damaged driver then it is very unlikely that she can avoid paying, and if she did not then the answer is very likely. The opinions at the time as to damage are worthless, and the driving uninsured is a red herring.

[FTVS]

Thank you all for your very helpful answers. i am going to advise my friend to press for details of the damage and hopefully we can try and negotiate a settlement!

[Dagman]

Hang on here, this friend of yours wasn't insured? Sorry, but she didn't giva a damn about anyone else. What if she'd hit another car, a pedestrian, a family, or even crashed killing the person beside her?. She's willing to 'try it on' with everyone else on the street though by driving illegally!