Car Accident with potentially uninsured driver

Stonypockets

Hi all! I'm hoping for some advice.

A car drove into the back of me two weeks ago and caused approximately 1000 euro worth of damage to my car. He accepted fault at the scene, gave his first name and phone number, and we took a photo of the car damage and position and his insurance disk etc. Although he didnt admit it, I know the driver was delivering fast food at the time of the accident, he was wearing a uniform and I have seen him on the premises of said business in uniform with his car parked outside on two occasions since the accident.

My insurance company told me I did not need to report to the gardai as it was a straightforward claim from his insurance. Unfortunately since I got the quote for damages the driver has stopped responding to messages and refusing to take calls. About a week after the accident I called my insurance company to find out what was going on and was told his insurance company do not believe he was named on the policy and have been attempting to liaise with the policy holder for over two weeks without success.

After a lot of messing on the part of my insurance company, and wrong information from the gardai, I have now reported the incident to the gardai who will try to follow-up with the driver.

In the meantime neither my insurance company nor his insurance company have a policy on how long they will continue to try to get in touch with the driver before escalating with the gardai and/or referring to the motor insurance bureau of Ireland. Furthermore, the insurance company will not divulge whether or not he was insured to be delivering fast food (something which would expedite my claim as it would be a black and white case of being insured or not being insured!).

My insurance company have given me two options, either claim on my insurance, or ride it out in my banged up car for however long it takes for his insurance company to decide he is or isn't insured. No matter what way I do it I will be out of pocket in the short / medium / long term depending on when the company decides to stop pursuing him. They will speak with the other insurers on my behalf as a courtesy, but will not actively do anything to speed up resolution.

My issues are:
1. I cannot afford to make a claim on my insurance as I will lose my no claims bonus, furthermore I do not WANT to claim on my insurance as I was not at fault.
2. According to my insurance company I cannot pay for the damages and seek reimbursement from his insurance or NMBI when it is established whether or not he was insured.

I am grasping at straws at this point to try and reach a resolution, so my query is do his employers have liability if he was driving for work at the time of the accident and he wasn't insured? If not is there anything else I can do?

I would greatly appreciate any help or advice from someone better informed than I.

metroburgers

Stonypockets wrote: »

2. According to my insurance company I cannot pay for the damages and seek reimbursement from his insurance or NMBI when it is established whether or not he was insured.

This doesn't sound right to me, you should be able to repair the damage yourself if you have the funds available and seek reimbursement at a later date. Clarify this position in detail with your insurance company in relation to the other insurer/ and your insurer handling MIBI.

Stonypockets wrote: »

I am grasping at straws at this point to try and reach a resolution, so my query is do his employers have liability if he was driving for work at the time of the accident and he wasn't insured? If not is there anything else I can do?

While it sounds likely he was working, its impossible for you to prove this, and waste of time/money if he wasn't.

Sorry to hear you're in this limbo, it sounds sh*tty.

roadsmart

I had a delivery guy demolish part of a wall outside our house while delivering. He left a number with my wife, but refused to answer for the next week, so I called to the food place and spoke to the manager who was extremely cooperative when he realised that the company could be dragged into it. In the end the delivery guy paid up or would have lost his job.

Pat Mustard

Stonypockets wrote: »

2. According to my insurance company I cannot pay for the damages and seek reimbursement from his insurance or NMBI when it is established whether or not he was insured.

Your insurance company is telling you that you can't claim from either the insurance co for the guy who crashed into you or the MIBI? Was the reasoning behind this explained?

You should get advice from a solicitor now, in any event. And I would say that you should make a complaint to Gardai also, as they will investigate the matter and get to the bottom of the insurance situation.

metroburgers

Also, it's very likely that the company isn't liable as they will have got their driver to sign a waiver that stating they are fully insured to drive their car for business purposes, when they aren't.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

No Pants

Fred Swanson wrote: »

Get your solicitor to issue proceedings against the driver and the MIBI.

And assuming that you don't still have an open claim at the time, change insurance companies at the first opportunity. This sounds amateurish.

Stonypockets

Thank you everyone for your responses!

Essentially, I can't claim from MIBI as it hasn't been proven that the driver was or wasn't insured. The name given doesn't match the insurance policy, but all other car details do. The other party's insurance company are trying unsuccessfully to get in touch with the policyholder to establish who was driving the car. They have tried to call him on numerous occasions and he's not answering. A claim form was issued to him about a fortnight ago which hasn't been returned. I know his insurance is due to expire in the next 3 weeks, so my concern this wont be resolved is only heightened.

I'm left in limbo until his insurance company either get in contact with him or decide he's gone off the grid. I can't believe insurance companies don't have protocols in place when they can't get in touch with the driver. I asked to speak to a manager in my insurance company as I felt I was being pressured into making a claim on my policy. During my conversation with the manager I tried to get a clear understanding of my options and was told categorically:

1. I could not repair the car myself as my insurance company would not recoup the costs on my behalf after the fact.
2. I could claim on my comprehensive insurance, but I would have an outstanding claim on my insurance until the matter was resolved (no timeline given but manager mentioned up to a year or more). In the meantime my premium will go up as my no claims bonus will be lost.
3. I could keep driving the car as is and make a claim from my insurance when it is established that he is or isnt insured and my insurance company would seek to recover costs from his insurance company of the MIBI (depending on the outcome).

I feel so frustrated as I feel his insurance company don't give a s**t whether or not they get in touch with him and will be happy to let it drag out, and my insurance don't give a s**t unless they can jack up my premium.

I can't issue proceedings against the driver as he only gave his first name and a mobile number, and MIBI have told me I can't go to them directly to make a claim. It has to be through my insurance company. I have reported it to the gardai, but got the impression they can only ask him was he involved and he may say he wasnt. I am at the end of my rope at this stage, as my insurance company are impossible to deal with and I really cannot afford the cost of fixing the car.

Stonypockets

No Pants wrote: »

And assuming that you don't stillborn have an open claim at the time, change insurance companies at the first opportunity. This sounds amateurish.

I would love to do this at my next renewal, except thats coming in June and I have a feeling I'll be lucky if my care is fixed in the next 12 months, let alone by June!

michael999999

Go to your mates house, and order take away from the company using your mates name. Wait for it to be delivered and take a photo of him, if its the same guy that hit you!

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

RGS

If the other driver is not properly insured then he is uninsured and the MIBI agreements take over. This means your own insurance company must deal with your repairs and not affected your bonus. MIBI will only be interested in uninsured losses.
Section 4.4 of the 2009 agreement is the reference.
log onto the MIBI website and review the agreement.

You should get your comp insurers to repair the vehicle. they can then chase recovery and establish if the other driver is properly insured, thats why you took out comp cover to cover circumstances like this.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Stonypockets

RGS wrote: »

You should get your comp insurers to repair the vehicle. they can then chase recovery and establish if the other driver is properly insured, thats why you took out comp cover to cover circumstances like this.

I agree, but in the meantime I will lose my no claims bonus and my premium will go up. I am on an extremely limited income and can't afford to go down the route of making a claim and paying the premium increase while my insurance company wait for his to decide whether or not he was insured - hence my utter frustration.

If it was as simple as making the claim and them forwarding it to the MIBI then I would have no problem. But my insurance company have made a big deal out of how long it could take to resolve, therefore I am extremely hesitant to put myself in that position.

No Pants

RGS wrote: »

You should get your comp insurers to repair the vehicle. they can then chase recovery and establish if the other driver is properly insured, thats why you took out comp cover to cover circumstances like this.

This. Your insurance company are paid quite handsomely to sort this kind of thing out. Also contact the other driver's insurance company. Don't forget to let the company that he was driving for know that if you need to engage a solicitor and it goes to court, you'll drag them into it.

tayto lover

So is that guy still driving and delivering in an uninsured car ?
I'd go down to where he works and have it out with him privately.
If he doesn't cough up then i'd inform his employer and the garda.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Stonypockets

Yeah, well we're 10 days away from that deadline. I'm so frustrated with my insurance company as they told me on two occasions I did not need to involve the Garda. Since the Insurance company cant get in touch with the policy holder, I doubt the Garda will have any better luck. I'd say its getting hard for him to decide which calls to answer and which calls to avoid between myself, his insurance company and the Garda.

No Pants

You know he is still working and you know where. Tell the Gardai that he is still driving around and they can catch him in the act. I don't know what the policy holder (the other guy) has to do with it if the dude actually driving the car has no insurance.

delta1980

the gardai will go to the registered owner of the car, they have to tell the gardai by law who was driving at the time of the incident or they will be prosecuted. if driver is not insured you can claim from the motor insurance bureau of Ireland. I cannot understand in this day and age why someone would not call gardai to the scene of an accident it would have made things a lot easier

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Stonypockets

I would have called the gardai, but I spoke to the insurance company and I was told not to, primarily because was a straight forward claim and he admitted liability at the scene - he drove into the back of me and gave me his information. When I found out he may not be insured (10 days aftet the accident), I called the Gardai and the Garda I spoke to told me I did not need to file a report as it should be handled by the insurance company. My insurance company told me they would do this, and 5 days later when I called to follow up told me they hadn't and wouldn't because I was not filing a claim on my insurance. I walked into the garda station that evening to file a complaint, and was told I could make a report but they gave me the impression he could deny it.

So here I am almost three weeks later, all insurance companies and the garda know his reg number, policy information and where he works, and it seems no one is able to do anything about it because they cant contact the person who owns the car or holds the policy. I can only hope the Garda can catch him on duty, but I'm sure they have plenty more to be doing than staking out the local takeaway in the hopes of catching him.

I was just hoping someone might know whether or not these places insure their drivers. Thank you to everyone who has responded and offered advice.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

the_syco

delta1980 wrote: »

I cannot understand in this day and age why someone would not call gardai to the scene of an accident it would have made things a lot easier

Because if no-one is injured, they won't come out.

=-=

OP; as has been said, pop down to the takeaway he delivers for, and see if he turns up in his car. If he does, ring the police, and have them pop down to get his insurance details.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Stonypockets

the_syco wrote: »

OP; as has been said, pop down to the takeaway he delivers for, and see if he turns up in his car. If he does, ring the police, and have them pop down to get his insurance details.

I did this last week after I reported it to the Gardai, they didn't get out to him, and to be honest I'm sure they have more to be doing than staking out the takeaway - thank you though!

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

The driver did give his details, so there really wasn't a point in calling the Gardai. When I eventually rang the Gardai they said you shouldn't call them in situations like that - unless someone is injured or its a very serious accident.

delta1980

the gardai will come out weather or not someone is/ is not injured

Stonypockets

delta1980 wrote: »

the gardai will come out weather or not someone is/ is not injured

No disrespect, but both of the Gardai I have spoken to told me they wouldn't have come out to the accident even if it was reported.

They will attend in a case where he wasn't providing details or if someone was injured and an ambulance had to be called.

I was told by the Gardai in the situation of someone driving into the back of a car, you swap insurance details and report it to your respective insurance companies. My insurance company told me not to contact the Gardai as it was unnecessary.

When it became clear that there would be an issue, 10 days after the accident, I called my local Garda station and was told my insurance company should have contacted the local superintendant with the relevant information; but they didn't (after they told me they would). So hence the huge delay in reporting it.

Anyway - I will be making a complaint about my insurance company's handling of the situation both to the company and to the financial ombudsman, as the whole thing has been handled very badly, I have received conflicting information every time I have spoken to them.

RGS

Stonypockets wrote: »

Anyway - I will be making a complaint about my insurance company's handling of the situation both to the company and to the financial ombudsman, as the whole thing has been handled very badly, I have received conflicting information every time I have spoken to them.

The biggest problem is that you wont claim off your comp so your insurers are at no financial loss and therefore have no outlay to recover.

Just get the vehicle repaired by your comp insurers and let them investigate the matter of insurance for the driver.
Based on your comments to date i would suspect that the MIBI agreement applies then your bonus will not be affected on renewal.