Accident, insurance voided, RTA insurance question,

[S8QUATTRO]

Afternoon, short version

1. Cab driver did a late brake on me and I avoided most but hit the corner of his 2017 Bmw.
2. Cab driver Claims loads of injury etc as expected. £7k total claim value.
3. My trade insurance policy won’t cover me and that’s after the financial ombudsman have been involved. Was driving a family members car and genuinely thought we had cover. £6k policy.
4. Family members insurance are acting as I think an “RTA insurer”
5. They want £7k from me for the claim payout. The insurance co is esure.
6. Happened in June 2020, ombudsman only just made a decision.

Does anyone have any genuine experience or knowledge here? I’m totally in the dark with knowledge on this subject and hopefully someone on here can advise me.

Thanks

[porterpainter]

FOS has spoken. It’s the end of the line unless you can want to dispute in a court of law (which I doubt would end up with a different outcome).

£7k for vehicle 2 x repairs, hire cars and an injury claim is cheap when insurers are involved.

Pay the bill, ensure that it is the full and final cost of the claim.

Move on with life (and possibly be happy you’ve not also ended up with 6 points for driving without valid insurance).

[paintman]

S8QUATTRO said:

Afternoon, short version

1. Cab driver did a late brake on me and I avoided most but hit the corner of his 2017 Bmw.
2. Cab driver Claims loads of injury etc as expected. £7k total claim value.
3. My trade insurance policy won’t cover me and that’s after the financial ombudsman have been involved. Was driving a family members car and genuinely thought we had cover. £6k policy.
4. Family members insurance are acting as I think an “RTA insurer”
5. They want £7k from me for the claim payout. The insurance co is esure.
6. Happened in June 2020, ombudsman only just made a decision.

Does anyone have any genuine experience or knowledge here? I’m totally in the dark with knowledge on this subject and hopefully someone on here can advise me.

Thanks

[S8QUATTRO]

I’ve spoken to esure, they will allow me to pay the 7k in instalments. So all seems standard then.

Dodgy cabby also lives in the same area as me! My friends his neighbour And said he’s done it several times. Bloody shocking it’s that easy to get away with

porterpainter said:

FOS has spoken. It’s the end of the line unless you can want to dispute in a court of law (which I doubt would end up with a different outcome).

£7k for vehicle 2 x repairs, hire cars and an injury claim is cheap when insurers are involved.

Pay the bill, ensure that it is the full and final cost of the claim.

Move on with life (and possibly be happy you’ve not also ended up with 6 points for driving without valid insurance).

[MuscleSedan]

A trade policy usually states any vehicle in the care, custody or control of the insured. If cover provided is for business and SDP what is the reason given by the insurer for denying the claim ?

[porterpainter]

Yeah, sorry if a bit blunt but insurers will look to recover their costs from the at fault party which is you, or your insurer if it had been in place.

Maybe you can charge your business the cost if you were test driving your family member’s car with a view to buying it for your business

[S8QUATTRO]

MuscleSedan said:

A trade policy usually states any vehicle in the care, custody or control of the insured. If cover provided is for business and SDP what is the reason given for the insurer to deny the claim ?

Exactly this, they said family members cars are not covered.
Doesn’t say it in the small print but the ombudsman has sided with the insurer saying I can’t prove I was test driving the vehicle.

[S8QUATTRO]

porterpainter said:

Yeah, sorry if a bit blunt but insurers will look to recover their costs from the at fault party which is you, or your insurer if it had been in place.

Maybe you can charge your business the cost if you were test driving your family member’s car with a view to buying it for your business

Sadly not, during the lock down We bought and sold a few older cars and took out a £6k policy to make sure we had proper cover. Not something we are doing now.

Guess I’ll take is as an expensive lesson and pay the bill. And fit a dash cam...probably doesn’t make much difference

[S8QUATTRO]

Appreciate the replies

[Geffg]

Wouldn’t it be a shame if when the dodgy cab drivers car is repaired something happened to it that would cost him. I’d feel better in myself if it was me.

[Canon_Fodder]

MuscleSedan said:

A trade policy usually states any vehicle in the care, custody or control of the insured. If cover provided is for business and SDP what is the reason given by the insurer for denying the claim ?

Perhaps it means 'any vehicle in the care custody or control' but only in the course of the insured person's trade activities?

Seems to be what the Ombudsman thought if they wanted the OP to prove he was test driving it

[MuscleSedan]

Canon_Fodder said:

Perhaps it means 'any vehicle in the care custody or control' but only in the course of the insured person's trade activities?

Seems to be what the Ombudsman thought if they wanted the OP to prove he was test driving it

That's what is seems to amount to. Basically not having SDP cover.

[unident]

How is the cab driver the dodgy one here? You’re the one who didn’t have insurance.

[Gary C]

unident said:

How is the cab driver the dodgy one here? You’re the one who didn’t have insurance.

This bit maybe ?

S8QUATTRO said:

Dodgy cabby also lives in the same area as me! My friends his neighbour And said he’s done it several times. Bloody shocking it’s that easy to get away with

[Tyre Smoke]

Chancer maybe, but dodgy?

You were uninsured, you hit him. It's black and white.

Yes, he might have braked late, but you still failed to stop in time.

[S8QUATTRO]

unident said:

How is the cab driver the dodgy one here? You’re the one who didn’t have insurance.

He’s done this trick several times.

We a paid fair amount for the policy, so genuinely thought we were covered, even to drive a family members car on a test drive.

[S8QUATTRO]

Pretty much the case.

So just make the deal with esure and pay the 7k.

Canon_Fodder said:

MuscleSedan said:

A trade policy usually states any vehicle in the care, custody or control of the insured. If cover provided is for business and SDP what is the reason given by the insurer for denying the claim ?

Perhaps it means 'any vehicle in the care custody or control' but only in the course of the insured person's trade activities?

Seems to be what the Ombudsman thought if they wanted the OP to prove he was test driving it

[KungFuPanda]

S8QUATTRO said:

unident said:

How is the cab driver the dodgy one here? You’re the one who didn’t have insurance.

He’s done this trick several times.

We a paid fair amount for the policy, so genuinely thought we were covered, even to drive a family members car on a test drive.

He lured people into driving behind him without maintaining a safe braking distance?

£7k in full and final settlement of a third party claim is cheap considering you would have had vehicle repairs, credit hire, personal injury and third party solicitors costs.

Stop feeling aggrieved and get it paid.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

S8QUATTRO said:

MuscleSedan said:

A trade policy usually states any vehicle in the care, custody or control of the insured. If cover provided is for business and SDP what is the reason given for the insurer to deny the claim ?

Exactly this, they said family members cars are not covered.
Doesn’t say it in the small print but the ombudsman has sided with the insurer saying I can’t prove I was test driving the vehicle.

There's no such thing as small print in UK insurance polices. Just normal sized print you never read or did read but failed to understand. And it is in the policy. The insurer can't refuse a claim, and have the ombudsman side with them, on a whim. It's because you didn't comply with the contract.

As said, no pleasure use, and you say you were test driving the vehicle? Surely you could produce the evidence to say you'd just serviced it? Or were you thinking of buying it, in which case did the accident happen during working hours, has the car owner given a sworn statement saying he'd asked if you'd be interested in buying, etc, etc. Had they brought the car to your garage for you to evaluate, and did you have the accident in the vicinity of your workplace? I suspect I already know the answer to those questions.

Just cough up. You got off lightly.

[Sheepshanks]

Canon_Fodder said:

MuscleSedan said:

A trade policy usually states any vehicle in the care, custody or control of the insured. If cover provided is for business and SDP what is the reason given by the insurer for denying the claim ?

Perhaps it means 'any vehicle in the care custody or control' but only in the course of the insured person's trade activities?

Mate of mine, covered on his brother's trade policy, got caught by that last point. He was using a people carrier that was for sale to go to the cash and carry for stuff for his own shop. Got stopped by the police as it pinged up as uninsured. He told them what he was doing as he thought he was insured. If he'd said it was stuff for personal use or even for the garage shop he'd have been OK.