Car Insurance. Involved In An Accident With An Uninsured Driver?
Uninsured drivers are ten times more likely to drink and drive and three times more likely to be convicted of driving without due care and attention. They also cause one accident every six months. In fact one in twenty motorists regularly drive without insurance. Its therefore not perhaps surprising that, one in ten of all motorists have been involved in accidents with uninsured drivers. The question is what to do if youre involved in an accident with one?
At the time of the accident youre unlikely to realise that the other driver is uninsured so youll have to react in the normal way. Take a note of the other cars make, model and registration number. Also note the other drivers name and address but whether hell give you his correct details is perhaps unlikely! Nevertheless, always record what the other driver says. Unless you have this information youll have no leg to stand on when it comes to getting some of your money back.
Also take notes about the damage to the other car and the accident scene. Remember to note road markings, road signs, light and weather conditions and whether the other car had its lights on in fact as much detail as possible. Then if youre lucky enough to have an independent witness get their full contact details. And if you happen to have a camera in the car, take lots of pictures and try and get one with the other driver clearly in the picture. The police might like that one!
If your policy is comprehensive, your insurer pay for your car to be repaired but you could lose your no claims discount unless youve paid to protect it. But then theres the issue of your excess payment thats the first part of the repair cost you have to pay for. Youll have to pay that unless youre lucky enough to have a policy that waives the excess payment if youre hit by an uninsured driver.
For those of you with third party car insurance, youre in for a hard time. Your insurer wont pay for your repairs and, as the other driver is uninsured, youre not going to get any money off him unless you can trace him and succeed in a court action. Even then theres no guarantee that hell pay up! Your only guaranteed solution is to make a compensation claim to the Motor Insurers Bureau but youll still have to pay the first ?300 of the claim.
The Motor Insurers Bureau insists that have the other drivers car registration number and you must first report the accident to the police. Always ask the police for a copy of their accident report as the Bureaus likely to ask to see it. The Bureaus telephone number is 01908 671681 or you can e-mail them on enquiries@mib.org.uk.
At the moment The UK Law is being amended to crackdown on uninsured drivers. Not before time. Anyone keeping, not just driving, an uninsured vehicle now faces a fixed ?100 fine and can also have their car seized and crushed. Currently the average fine for driving without insurance is just ?170 and thats hardly a punishment when car insurance costs many times more. Losing the car plus a fine of ?100 is much more realistic. Lets hope that the courts fully implement the crushing sanction!
A police spokesman said recently, Uninsured drivers are often guilty of many other driving related offences, such as having no driving licence or MOT certificate. Were doing everything in our power to get these dangerous and illegal drivers off our roads.
We say, go to it blues and twos!