Uninsured Driver

beeno67

Not sure if this is the right forum but perhaps someone could help he.

A friend of mine (yes really not me) was in a very minor crash. Other driver was totally at fault and admitted liability. However my friends car will cost to be repaired. Problem is my friend (who was not at fault) did not have valid insurance. Does that make a difference. As I said other driver has admitted liability.

-Corkie-

Were the guards called.

tommy21

beeno67 wrote: »

Not sure if this is the right forum but perhaps someone could help he.

A friend of mine (yes really not me) was in a very minor crash. Other driver was totally at fault and admitted liability. However my friends car will cost to be repaired. Problem is my friend (who was not at fault) did not have valid insurance. Does that make a difference. As I said other driver has admitted liability.

Yes, it makes a huge difference unfortunately. (edit) Your friend may be reported to the authorities for driving without insurance and prosecuted, though they can still claim. And rightly so in my opinion. While not wanting to have someone get off for this type of offence, for the sake of argument the only way around this would be if the guards were not called and you agreed to settle outside of insurance. However, most people would refuse this if they knew the other person had no insurance. The question you should ask your friend though is why he was driving without insurance? If you had been in the car and badly injured, what then?

mathepac

tommy21 wrote: »

... And rightly so in my opinion.

+1

beeno67

tommy21 wrote: »

Yes, it makes a huge difference unfortunately. Once the other driver's insurance company figures this out, not only will they likely not pay, your friend may be reported to the authorities for driving without insurance and prosecuted. And rightly so in my opinion. While not wanting to have someone get off for this type of offence, for the sake of argument the only way around this would be if the guards were not called and you agreed to settle outside of insurance. However, most people would refuse this if they knew the other person had no insurance. The question you should ask your friend though is why he was driving without insurance? If you had been in the car and badly injured, what then?

Thanks for reply. I absolutely agree with you about the need for insurance but there wasn't much point me saying this to her. The guards were not called by the way.

tommy21

beeno67 wrote: »

Thanks for reply. I absolutely agree with you about the need for insurance but there wasn't much point me saying this to her. The guards were not called by the way.

Actually I just asked my father who is former solicitor. I was wrong in that your friend can still rightfully claim according to him from the other person's insurance if they have admitted full liability However this may lead (if it has not already given I presume they exchanged insurance details, even out-of-date ones) to a prosecution for driving without insurance if the person tries to claim. Not to be interpreted as legal advice, just an opinion. Ask a practising solicitor for clarification.

subway

it wont affect a claim if you are uninsured,
jesus some of the ****e that gets posted on here without any thought behind it

beeno67

subway wrote: »

it wont affect a claim if you are uninsured,
jesus some of the ****e that gets posted on here without any thought behind it

Thanks. And is their any risk in making a claim? Will she be reported for driving without insurance or is that beyond what insurance companies do?

MagicSean

I think its disgraceful that she can still claim. She shouldn't have been on the road. If she tries to claim the other insurance company will probably look for an abstract from the garda who went to the scene which would need her insurance details. It will probably come out that she wasn't insured. If she has any sense she will forget about any claim and take it as punishment for her irresponsible behaviour.

Atlantic Dawn

She shouldn't have been on the road and if the person she hit has a brain in their head they will have checked she doesn't have insurance and tell her to go and fcuk. It's low lifes like this that have decent folks insurance so high. I hope she doesn't get a cent and has her day in court with the max €1500 fine and 6 points for no insurance. Most likely when she gives the guy the quote for repairs he will decide to go through his insurance and that's when the fun will start as they will need to contact her non existant insurance company

Barr

The fact he was uninsured makes no difference in this case. The third party was liable so it comes out of his insurance.

Our man in Havana

To be safe from prosecution she can wait for 6 months to run then the Gardaí can do nothing.

She can delay claiming for long enough to allow the no insurance charge to go statute barred. Even if the other sides insurance try and report it to the Gardaí they will be powerless to act as it will be outside the statute of limitations. She will still be in time to claim for damage (6 years) or personal injury (2 years).

cml387

Surely,outside the wrongs and rights of the matter,if the OP's "friend" was totally blameless for the accident,if the other driver has admitted responsibility,and has agreed to pay for damages,then the guards will not be involved and your friend is home free and gets her car repaired etc. etc.

However if the other driver exchanged insurance details or whatever, they either
a)Discovered that the op's friend had no insurance and might go along the lines of "see you in court hah hah"

b) Will eventually find the insurance is invalid and leave it up to the insurance company to decide.

Incidentally, accepting full liability for an accident can be a dangerous move, your insurance company will not be happy.

slimjimmc

beeno67 wrote: »

Thanks. And is their any risk in making a claim? Will she be reported for driving without insurance or is that beyond what insurance companies do?

Very likely, if not by the insurance company then hopefully by the other driver. Many people, including myself, don't have much tolerance of uninsured drivers, especially considering the loading it puts on everyone else and the view that these chancers are really taking the p155.

Admission of liability at the side of the road is generally considered meaningless by ins. comapanies because some people tend to say anything when stressed.

Henry Ford III

2 totally separate issues here:-

1/. Civil issue. OP's pal is no responsible for damages as liabilty has been accepted by 3rd prty.

2/. No insurance issue. Not a good idea, wholly irresponsible.

Issue 2/. has no bearing on issue 1/. however.

firefly08

Your insurance is there to cover damage and injuries you cause to 3rd parties and their property, with your car. Not only do those 3rd parties not need to have insurance in order to claim against you, they don't even need to have a car. If you damage someone else's property or injure them with your car (by accident, while sober) your insurance pays. (As usual: not to be interpreted as legal advice etc.)

Greenmachine

You friend should be utterly ashamed for putting a claim in light of the circumstances. I hope they get nought.

2yung2adm

Barr wrote: »

The fact he was uninsured makes no difference in this case. The third party was liable so it comes out of his insurance.

Barr is totally right here.
Driving a car in a public place without a certificate of insurance is an offence under the Road Traffic Act.... unless of course you are a mega rich person and can afford a certificate of exemption.
Not holding a valid certificate of insurance cannot in any way affect a civil case for damages against the erring driver.

Also some posters here have stated that they should wait six months until the process through the courts for the criminal offence of Driving without insurance to be statute barred.
There is no need to wait six months.
If it is alleged to a Garda that a particular person was driving a MPV in a public place without the required cover, or where the Garda himself saw the person driving, the Garda has ONE MONTH from the time of alleged driving to make the demand.
There is no offence without the demand being made and there is no need to wait six months.
I really do not know how some people can post statements as fact when it is so incorrect and cannot be shown to be correct.

jimmycrackcorm

Greenmachine wrote: »

You friend should be utterly ashamed for putting a claim in light of the circumstances. I hope they get nought.

Why should they get nothing? I they are blameless in this accident? Having no insurance is a seperate legal issue. If you were to climb down the very steep ladder off your horse then you might have suggested that the person should be prosecuted as well as getting compensated for the damage done.

CiniO

k_mac wrote: »

I think its disgraceful that she can still claim. She shouldn't have been on the road. If she tries to claim the other insurance company will probably look for an abstract from the garda who went to the scene which would need her insurance details. It will probably come out that she wasn't insured. If she has any sense she will forget about any claim and take it as punishment for her irresponsible behaviour.

Why disgraceful?
Driving without insurance is an offense, the same as million other things that almost every one do on the road - even driving with fog light on during good weather.

It puts driver on huge risk, in case if he/she will cause some serious damage, he/she might have to pay off for the rest of his/hers life.

But in this particular case, fault was at others person which had insurance.

She should definitely claim, for a damage that the other person caused to her.

And also she should be prepared to be penalised for driving without insurace.

Andrew33

beeno67 wrote: »

Not sure if this is the right forum but perhaps someone could help he.

A friend of mine (yes really not me) was in a very minor crash. Other driver was totally at fault and admitted liability. However my friends car will cost to be repaired. Problem is my friend (who was not at fault) did not have valid insurance. Does that make a difference. As I said other driver has admitted liability.

The best thing your "pal" can do is keep their head down and say nothing,
if "she" tries to claim against a legitimate insured driver, all I can hope is that your "pal" gets prosecuted for no insurance. The laws in this country need to be changed to protect law abiding citizens fom your "pal".

Ireland needs to adopt a Swiss style arrangement where the person is reg'd and insured to drive any vehicle.

CiniO

Andrew33 wrote: »

The best thing your "pal" can do is keep their head down and say nothing,
if "she" tries to claim against a legitimate insured driver, all I can hope is that your "pal" gets prosecuted for no insurance. The laws in this country need to be changed to protect law abiding citizens fom your "pal".

Why would she keep her head down and say nothing?
She had an accident not at her fault, so she should be compensated for it.
It's really straight forward.

Our man in Havana

All she needs to do is lay low for 1 month and then claim. No risk then.

2yung2adm

Andrew33 wrote: »

The best thing your "pal" can do is keep their head down and say nothing,
if "she" tries to claim against a legitimate insured driver, all I can hope is that your "pal" gets prosecuted for no insurance. The laws in this country need to be changed to protect law abiding citizens fom your "pal".

Ireland needs to adopt a Swiss style arrangement where the person is reg'd and insured to drive any vehicle.

If the demand by a garda to produce the insurance or certificate of exemption is not made within a month of the time of the alleged offence no prosecution can be initiated

johndaman66

2yung2adm wrote: »

Driving a car in a public place without a certificate of insurance is an offence under the Road Traffic Act.... unless of course you are a mega rich person and can afford a certificate of exemption.

I was of the understanding that this particular option has not being available for some considerable time in Republic of Ireland regardless of how mega rich you are but I stand to be corrected.

Our man in Havana

johndaman66 wrote: »

I was of the understanding that this particular option has not being available for some considerable time in Republic of Ireland regardless of how mega rich you are but I stand to be corrected.

The option exists still. Many public bodies such as CIE etc still self insure.

Andrew33

CiniO wrote: »

Why would she keep her head down and say nothing?
She had an accident not at her fault, so she should be compensated for it.
It's really straight forward.

Why should she be compensated?? She has NO right to be on the road, this is not a case of a pedestrian getting knocked down, what if your "friend" had a collision with a pedestrian? would you be on here "boo hoo'ing" abut uninsured pedestrians? You need to seriously cop on and join the human race. its people like her that has insurance in this country so high, I sincerely hope she gets everything due to her.

Our man in Havana

I sincerely hope she gets everything due to her.

The compensation she deserves then.

2yung2adm

johndaman66 wrote: »

I was of the understanding that this particular option has not being available for some considerable time in Republic of Ireland regardless of how mega rich you are but I stand to be corrected.

Haddockman has answered this and he is correct. The gardai do not hold certificates of Insurance. Another company was John A. Woods.

Andrew33

Haddockman wrote: »

The option exists still. Many public bodies such as CIE etc still self insure.

CIE no longer exist but I know what you mean, DUBLIN BUS/BUS EIREANN/IRISH RAIL/GARDAI can not get cover from existing companies(they're not fools) so its us the tax payer who picks up the insurance tab.

johndaman66

The time somebody ran into the back of my car I made a claim myself from their insurance company without getting my insurance company involved at any stage. The other party admitted responsibility straight away and I took his insurance details but all the same he took my insurance details also. I rang for the Guardi and was told they should be on the scene in the next few minutes. Low and behold they arrived an hour and a half later. They took a statement from both parties and both our particulars. Again other party admitted liability at this point. I assume Guardi were not called in the case of your friends accident.

Even though I fully made the claim myself I was of the understanding at the time that I could have left my own insurance company make the claim on my behalf. For all intents and purposes the insurance company I made the claim from never needed or requested my insurance deatails at any stage whatsoever.

On a side note I suggest you tell your friend to cop her act on and stop driving without insurance. Such carry on makes insurance more expensive for the rest of us and can make life very difficult if such a driver were to hit us. I don't have much time for it really. For that matter its unlikely she would last too long on the road until the long arm of the law would catch up with her and the penalties are quite extreme and rightfully so. Hopefully this might be a wake up call.