Car Insurance Claim Gone Legal, Help!

[Bud82]

Desperate to seek advice on a mounting insurance claim against me.

I was involved in a minor accident a few years ago (went into the back of someone at the lights

[bobbinwales]

Just pass it all on to your insurer at the time

[ToraToraTora]

what's the problem? Your insurer should be dealing with it.

[bhg481]

If you didn't inform your insurance company at the time because you thought it was trivial you will have broken the terms of your policy and your insurance company is entitled to be upset.

[bobbinwales]

Ifyouronly named additional driver hand the papers over to the person whose insured as policy owner

[ToraToraTora]

bud we can only help if you give us the full picture.

[bobbinwales]

Theres a parallel thread tora which does complicate things

[ToraToraTora]

"I wasn't the named or registered keeper of the car,family member owned it I was insured on it, went into the back of someone at the lights " - are you a named driver? or are you driving under the "driver other cars" clause on your own policy? How exactly are you "insured on it"?

[Bud82]

Sorry, first time on this site.. I was not named as registered keeper, but was insured, as a result my insurer refused to pay out and held me liable for damage, personal injury and legal costs. In effect for going into the back of someone at less then 10mph I'm being whacked with a £14k bill. During the correspondence, documents showing her personal details hadn't been redacted sufficiently either. Don't know if this contravenes data protection? Either way I need advise moving forward.

[bhg481]

You need to tell us exactly how you were insured. If you were a named driver on someone else's car which you were driving, you should have the full cover of their policy. If you were driving someone else's car relying on the cover from your own car policy then the cover will be Third Party only and you will be responsible to repairs for the car you wee driving; any claim from the other driver should be covered.

[ToraToraTora]

bud, as bhg says, we need to know the nature of how you were insured or at least what makes you believe you are insured. It sounds to me like your insurer is trying to wash their hands of the 3rd party liability, they'll only do that if they believe you are not insured. Are you saying that you had an insurance policy on the car but are not the registered keeper? Are you the owner of the vehicle?

[Bud82]

I had insurance on the car, the car was not owned by me, or registered in my name, it was still registered in my mother's name at the time of the incident. Essentially I think the insurance company are using that to defer payment to me.

[Peter Pedant]

you say you are insured - X co lets say
you write to X co and say you were insured by them and they must handle it. then if they say no you go down their complaints procedure

I kinda feel it isnt that straightforward

[Peter Pedant]

I dont think the co ( X ) is trying to defer payment

I think X think you are coming it and trying to claim on an insurance that doesnt cover you

[bhg481]

I am getting the feeling that the car belonged to your mother and you were driving it after her death. Is that correct? If so, under whose policy were you driving it?

[Bud82]

I was driving a car owned by my mother, insured by myself, though I'd stated on the insurance policy that I was the registered keeper (as I thought that'd been soeted - it hadn't).

[ToraToraTora]

ok so you have a policy with your name for the correct registration, yes? However you do not own the car and are not the registered keeper, right? Therefore you do not have an insurable interest and whilst the policy will probably be enough for you to avoid a prosecution for no insurance, they will not pay out on it because as far as they are concerned the policy is invalid, thus they will by now have voided it completely. The third party therefore have no choice but to pursue you personally. I know that is not what you wanted to hear but that's how it looks to me.

[Bud82]

Essentially tora, yes that's the situation, the original incident happened in 2018. I've buried my head with it all, £14k is what they're chasing for an incident i know didn't cause that damage or personal injury. I just want to understand if there's anything I can do.

[Arrods]

Isn’t it about time you engaged a solicitor/other professional advice, if only to validate the size of the claim against you?

[ToraToraTora]

ok, well, all you can do is ask for their figures and challenge them. Since 2018 they will have added all the legal fees and other costs on. They probably claimed for a hire car and gawd knows what else. You'd have come out much better if you'd have done this at the time. What you do depends on whether you have the money or not, intend to pay or not, etc. You should be able to get a reductions for full and final settlement. Has this been to court?

[Bud82]

Tora, i completely agree I should have addressed this at the time, although I was advised they were waiting on a final amount depending on the outcome of a personal injury claim, yes they added car hire etc... I received the requested information surrounding the damages from a garage inspection etc.it was on those documents her information hadn't been sufficiently redacted also. I think it's absolutely extortionate compared to the offence. No way did she legitimately suffer personal injury or damage to the car to that amount. If i can settle at a reasonable amount il pay it off of course. But £14k is not an option in my world