Uninsured driver woes.

ZENER

Last November a friends mother was driving her 3 month old Audi Q5 on a local street when a car pulled out from a parking space to her right and hit her drivers side wheel arch and bumper. Cosmetic damage only and the car was still drivable and no-one was hurt thankfully.

The male driver of the other car was accompanied by a lady who was in the passenger seat. There were plenty of witnesses including an off-duty Garda and several locals who were on the street at the time. The son of the Audi driver runs a shop just yards away from where the incident took place and was almost first to the scene to assist his mother.

Gardai took statements and the other driver admitted liability so all was sorted - or so it seemed. The Audi driver contacted her insurance company to report the accident and gave the insurance details of the other car which the Garda gave her along with the drivers name etc. The car was booked in for repairs at the garage where it was bought. The insurance assessor came and checked the damage to the Audi and the repairs were authorised and the car booked in. Shortly before the repair date the insurance company contacted her to tell he she would be liable for the first 300 euro excess. I though at the time that this was odd as the other cars insurance should be paying everything but I wasn't really in the loop at the time so left her to it.

The car was repaired in April this year and in early June the owner received her insurance renewal notice which is due July 5th. The documentation listed a claim of almost 3,000 euro against her policy and her premium had increased by almost 400 euro. She has NCD protection on her policy. We called the insurance company straight away to query the claim thinking the other driver had claimed against her policy. We were informed that the other driver didn't have insurance at all and that the repairs were carried out by her own company who were now penalising her.

The passenger in the other car was the person insured to drive and the driver was a friend who she allowed to drive the car on the day. She was in the car with him ! She denied responsibility and claimed the Audi hit her car - this of course went nowhere as there were so many witnesses.

So the situation now is that my friends mother has a policy increased by almost 400 euro, has a claim against her and can not get reasonable quotes from other companies as she has to disclose this claim even though she was not at fault !! The system sucks in my opinion but what's more annoying is that the owner of the other car knowingly allowed an uninsured person to drive her car and then gets to walk away scott free from this !! The driver also seems to have walked away but we believe he is to be charged with driving with no insurance ! There's a good chance he won't be in the country when it comes to court as he's a Lithuanian national so pointless chasing him for reparation. Surely the car owner has some responsibility here ? After all she was in the car and gave permission.

We have been advised to claim from the Bond fund that is set up to compensate victims of uninsured drivers but the info is that she would be way down the pecking order and it could take years to get results ! Has anyone been successful with this ?

Another annoyance is that the insurance company doesn't seem to have informed the Audi driver that the claim was being made against her own policy, if she had been told so then she could have opted to get it fixed privately without involving the insurance company and enduing up with this mess.

How do people in countries where insurance isn't compulsory deal with these situations ? Is there any way to claim back off the owner of the other car ? How long will the claim remain on the insurance policy of the Audi driver ?

This was more just a rant than anything so apologies for the detail.

Ken

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

slimjimmc

The motor insurance industry have a fund for victims of uninsured vehicles, it may apply to uninsured drivers too.
If you get a suitable award from MIBI you could use the award to offset most or all of what your insurer paid out. If you refund your insurer the full amount they paid they will usually remove the claim from your record.

http://www.mibi.ie/uninsured-unidentifi.html

djimi

slimjimmc wrote: »

The motor insurance industry have a fund for victims of uninsured vehicles, it may apply to uninsured drivers too.
If you get a suitable award from MIBI you could use the award to offset most or all of what your insurer paid out. If you refund your insurer the full amount they paid they will usually remove the claim from your record.

http://www.mibi.ie/uninsured-unidentifi.html

That only applies before renewal. By the sounds of it it is too late for that.

OP if it were me I would be seeking legal advice, and asking some serious questions of the insurance company as to why they paid out when it was clear as day that the other party was to blame? Im not a legal expert but I would be seeking advice as to what I could do to pursue the insurance company in this matter. It also might be worth contacting the financial ombudsman to see what they reckon.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

ZENER

djimi wrote: »

That only applies before renewal. By the sounds of it it is too late for that.

She hasn't renewed the policy yet so there's still time. Thanks for the heads up !

OP if it were me I would be seeking legal advice, and asking some serious questions of the insurance company as to why they paid out when it was clear as day that the other party was to blame? Im not a legal expert but I would be seeking advice as to what I could do to pursue the insurance company in this matter. It also might be worth contacting the financial ombudsman to see what they reckon.

The insurance company accept the Audi was the innocent party in this but because she had fully comp and was chasing it up with them they seem to have taken it on themselves to repair her car.

Ken

djimi

ZENER wrote: »

The insurance company accept the Audi was the innocent party in this but because she had fully comp and was chasing it up with them they seem to have taken it on themselves to repair her car.

This is what I would be pursuing. When the weight of evidence clearly shows that you are not at fault then you do not expect your insurance company to take it upon themselves to repair your car at your expense. The ombudsman would be a useful first call to make; explain the situation and see if they reckon there is anything wrong with how they acted.

Its a bit late now obviously but it really pays to make it abundently clear to insurance companies that you do not wish for them to proceed with any claims without your knowing, and to keep on top of them on a near daily basis until you know exactly how they intend to proceed.

BigEejit

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Indeed ... unbelievable that her insurance company took that action without informing her.

mullingar

Very very odd that her insurance did pay out as its not in their interest to pay out.

@ OP, go talk to a solicitor about it. Suggest lodging a civil claim against the other party

bazz26

Sounds to me like the Audi driver's insurance company took the easiest and quickest route of just loading their own client which means they cannot move insurance companies until the claim is recovered, rather going through the more drawn out process of the MIBI.

I'd also look into the possibility of suing the owner of the other car for allowing an uninsured driver take charge of their vehicle which resulted in damaging your property.

ebbsy

Solicitor time.

No Pants

ebbsy wrote: »

Solicitor time.

Gardai too.

I can't believe that the insurance company acted without any paperwork being generated at all.

oldyouth

Can't believe some of the answers here. The insured contacted her insurance company and advised of the accident. She had fully comp cover. Are some posters here saying they should not have processed her claim and left her with a damaged car??? They paid their clients bills in an efficient manner. Should they have refused to do so and let the insured go through a long legal battle with the MIBI? Nonsense.....

Trust me that her insurers will have recovery of their outlay scheduled for recovery against the MIBI and, if approached, will be more than happy to include the insured's premium loading in their action. When they recover their outlay, any excess premium paid as a result of the claim will be refunded. I would also doubt that her insurer did not send some form of correspondence advising what the settlement ended up as.

Right or wrong doesn't always come in to it. The insured was compensated by her insurers because she had the right cover

robtri

oldyouth wrote: »

Can't believe some of the answers here. The insured contacted her insurance company and advised of the accident. She had fully comp cover. Are some posters here saying they should not have processed her claim and left her with a damaged car??? They paid their clients bills in an efficient manner. Should they have refused to do so and let the insured go through a long legal battle with the MIBI? Nonsense.....

Trust me that her insurers will have recovery of their outlay scheduled for recovery against the MIBI and, if approached, will be more than happy to include the insured's premium loading in their action. When they recover their outlay, any excess premium paid as a result of the claim will be refunded. I would also doubt that her insurer did not send some form of correspondence advising what the settlement ended up as.

Right or wrong doesn't always come in to it. The insured was compensated by her insurers because she had the right cover

but it is wrong, they have no right to pay the insurance claim without first notifying the policyholder that they are doing so and that it will be a claim against her till the full claim is resolved.... to do so otherwise is wrong on their behalf.


It should have been explained from the start that they where fixing her car under her policy as they try to recover from the other party or MIBI... during that period she should be told it will be treat as a claim on her policy and expect premium hikes...

oldyouth

robtri wrote: »

but it is wrong, they have no right to pay the insurance claim without first notifying the policyholder that they are doing so and that it will be a claim against her till the full claim is resolved.... to do so otherwise is wrong on their behalf.


It should have been explained from the start that they where fixing her car under her policy as they try to recover from the other party or MIBI... during that period she should be told it will be treat as a claim on her policy and expect premium hikes...

Seriously???

That is not how the system works. Let's just forget for a moment that the other driver was uninsured. You are obliged to notify your insurer when you are involved in an accident, whether you are in the right or wrong. If you DON'T want them to pay out under the comp aspect of your policy and let them seek recovery, YOU must pursue compensation from the 3rd party YOURSELF. Your insurance company will not pursue your claim for you when they have no financial interest in it.

In this instance, who did the insured think paid the bills to fix her car? If you think your insurer will bear all the costs without any effect on the policyholder until recovery is made, you are very much mistaken. Luckily, recovery can be achieved quickly where the other party is insured and, depending on timing, it can be all sorted before the next renewal comes around.

Henry Ford III

The policyholder should have been aware their comp. was paying for the damage the moment the word "excess" was used.

slimjimmc

djimi wrote: »

That only applies before renewal. By the sounds of it it is too late for that.

Perhaps not. AXA will restore your NCB and refund you any premium increase. The latter indicates this can be done after renewal. I seriously doubt they would take the hit themselves considering they're already paying into fund for this very purpose. The OP should check if their insurer will do the same.

Our uninsured driver promise If you make a claim for an accident that is not your fault and the driver of the car that hits you is not insured, you will not lose your no claims discount. Your excess will have to be paid.
Conditions:
We will need: ¡ the vehicle registration number and the make and model of the car, and ¡ the driver’s details, if possible. It also helps us to confirm who is at fault if you can get the names and addresses of any independent witnesses, if available. When you claim, you may have to pay your excess. Also, if when your renewal is due investigations are still
ongoing, you may lose your no-claim discount temporarily. However, once we confirm that the accident was the fault of the uninsured driver, we will restore your no claims discount and refund any extra premium you have paid. This promise is for comprehensive policyholders only.

ZENER

As far as she was concerned the other party was covering the costs of the repairs to the Audi, as I said - talk of excess initially concerned me but I wasn't in the loop with the whole thing so didn't comment. I wasn't until the renewal quote came that she realised the car was repaired on her own policy.

They have told us that if they recover the costs from the other side they will clear it all up but admitted they couldn't see this happening, no mention of MIBI at all. The company she is insured with is not 456.ie if that matters.

Ken

Del2005

ZENER wrote: »

As far as she was concerned the other party was covering the costs of the repairs to the Audi, as I said - talk of excess initially concerned me but I wasn't in the loop with the whole thing so didn't comment. I wasn't until the renewal quote came that she realised the car was repaired on her own policy.

They have told us that if they recover the costs from the other side they will clear it all up but admitted they couldn't see this happening, no mention of MIBI at all. The company she is insured with is not 456.ie if that matters.

Ken

They are only brokers and aren't dealing with her claim, the underwriter is the one who deals with the claim.

She can take the owner of the other car to court for allowing an uninsured driver damage her car. But it could be a long process with no real result in the end as even with a judgement you still have a drawn out process if the other party doesn't want to cooperate.

Henry Ford III

I had a hit and run damage claim through MIBI a few years ago. Took 12 weeks all in. My NCB was fully reinstated before renewal too.

You just need to keep on top of the process.