Friend in drunken accident

Quatre Mains

Hi
just got a call from a friend of mine who (don;t ask me why) decided the other night to take his new car out around the estate after a few beers and managed to crash into a parked car. Cops were called etc. etc. the usual. He's accepted his own fate as regards endorsement/ban etc., but my question is this; what is the insurance situation as regards payment for the damage of the other vehicle (which looks like it'll be 3k)? At present the insurance company know he was in an accident (the other driver called them next day) but AFAIK don't know he was over the limit - also he's only on his 2nd provisional and was unaccompanied at the time. Will he realistically be able to claim or will they seek a full accident report from the Garda giving all the gory details? During his last conversation with them they said they would pay the money up fron and that if he paid them back over 12 months his no claims wouldn't be affected(big whup when he has an endorsement coming i know) - should he chance his arm or should he just start looking for a loan from the bank? Would appreciate any helpful input on this, and please no moralising, as it wasn't me!

Cheers

mike65

I just know I would'nt lie as they may well want a full report from the Guards or the other car owner may simply decide to tell the insurance compnay that he (your friend) ws intoxicated.

Mike.

D!ve^Bomb!

your friend is a



Amen brother!!!

D!ve^Bomb!

just out of curiosity, how did he crash into a parked ****in car??!! how pi$$ed was he?


i hate scumbags

test999

Let the insurance company pay, because he's gonna have some seriously huge premium next year. Actually, it'll probably put him off the road.

Glad he hit a car and not a man or woman.

Quatre Mains

the reason the thick hit a parked car is because he can barely drive in the 1st place - this is his 1st car and he only has it abut 2 months. I had to drive it home for him when he bought it! He has only been taking it out once or twice a week driving it round the estate AFAIK(sober usually!). Anyways, what's done is done - no-one got hurt thank ****. He knows it was stupid and is v unlikely to do it again I would say. He;s only 3rd party so he already has to pay for his own car, solicitor for court case etc. and is going to be screwed for getting to work so at this point I'm just looking to see if there's any way to minimise further costs, but am just looknig to see what the insurance stance is around 3rd party claims in this type of incident.

D!ve^Bomb!

unless he's a rich man i doubt he'll be driving anythin for quite a while.. how old is he?

Quatre Mains

nearly 30! He'll get a ban alright

seamus

I dunno, he'll certainly get a large fine. If it's a ban, it'll probably be a short one though, since the only injured party is really only him (i.e. no-one was injured, and the neighbours will be adequately compensated), and the judge might deem that he's gained a bit of cop on. 30 though. Jesus, how immature is this guy?

At the very least, that's probably one less potential drunk driver on our roads (even when he starts driving again, it's unlikely he'll drink-drive again).

What the insurance company is proposing sounds a bit iffy. I can see him paying back all the money, and them still increasing his premium for "previous claims in the last 5 years". His NCB will be intact, but not his driving record. In any case, it's probably not in his interests to pay back the money to the insurance company. From what you say, he has either no year's or one year's no claims. The increase through loss of no claims will be negligible compared to the increase for having a conviction and endorsement. He can pay back €3k or get a few hundred euro increase on what will already be a huge premium. I know which makes financial sense.

The insurance company will cover him for all 3rd party claims against him, they're legally obliged to. Tell him to be 100% honest and upfront with the Gardai.

echomadman

also he's only on his 2nd provisional and was unaccompanied at the time.

this is perfectly legal, unlike everything else he did

heggie

it's idiots like that that give the companies that have me payin such high insurance a justification.

Zaph

A mate of mine got his licence back earlier this year after being banned for drunk driving. He said that when he rang around for quotes most companies told him they wouldn't quote him for 10 years. There's one company (I think it's called St. Paul's/Peter's) who specialise in previously banned drivers, but the cost of the policy they quoted was so high he didn't bother getting back on the road.

kdevitt

My mate (who was an alcoholic) did something almost identical - his ban was limited to 12 months because he'd gone to get help about his drinking and is now off the stuff completely....

There are almost no companies who'll quote him once he gets the licence back because of his endorsement, so I'd tell your mate not to bother repairing his car - just try and sell it as it and get used to public transport again.

Quatre Mains

thanks for the mostly helpful replies lads, especially Seamus - you've been a big help. I will let him know the story

rander00

At least, thats 1 more useless skanger off the roads.
useless (30 and cant drive?).
skanger (drink-driving).

Tell, him to get his mother to drive him around.