Insurance legal question

[TOPTON]

I would be grateful for some advice and information on the following situation.

Someone I know (A) was stationary at the entrance to a roundabout when a car from behind ran into the back of them effectively writing off 'A's car. The driver behind (B) admitted full responsibility at the scene to everyone, including the police/ambulance service when they arrived and to their own insurance company.
'A' was taken by ambulance to hospital and was released later that day with severe whiplash and bruising. 'B' was fine

All sounds cut and dried so far. 100% 'B''s fault.


'A' was driving a friends car (F), and had been added by 'F' onto their insurance policy. But as it turns out, 'F' wasn't 100% truthful to the insurance company and didn't disclose 'A's points on their licence.

Now, 'B's insurance are refusing to pay out, (circa £6k) even though they've acknowledged it was their insured party's fault. Using the excuse 'A' was uninsured.

Can they do this????

I don't need told how stupid they were, or they should be hung etc. I know this and so do they now.

[dacouch]

Just claim for the damage to your car and injuries from the driver that hit you

[marshalla]

Have F's insurers said that A was uninsured ? Did A have his/her own policy which included driving other cars ?

[anonymous-user]

TOPTON said:

I

Now, 'B's insurance are refusing to pay out, (circa £6k) even though they've acknowledged it was their insured party's fault. Using the excuse 'A' was uninsured.

Can they do this????

Sounds like a cynical and poorly thought out attempt to avoid liability.

Say B ran over a pedestrian. Peds aren't insured, so is that a reason for B not to pay? No.

"Ah, but" B's insurance says, "motor insurance is a legal requirement. A should not have been on the road. So we don't have to pay".

So if the ped had just escaped from jail, it would be ok to run them down like a dog, would it? No.

If all else fails, A can sue B, make B pay the claim out of his own pocket, and then B can deal with the problem of his own insurers declining him cover.

[TOPTON]

marshalla said:

Have F's insurers said that A was uninsured ? Did A have his/her own policy which included driving other cars ?

First point, I think so. As they initially recovered the car, then said it had to be removed from recovery yard.
Second point, 'A' doesn't have other car cover as they are under 25. ( I think that is usually the case for driving other cars on a policy.)

'F' had bought the car with a loan through the garage where it was bought from, loan company now want the value of the car paid ASAP as there is no longer a car. So 'F' has to pay the loan company £6k.

'A' has had a letter from the police saying no further action will be taken regarding the incident.

As far as I can google the answer, 'B's insurance cannot refuse to pay for damages. If so, how can they be pushed into it. Insurance ombudsman ????

[Retroman]

This doesn't sound right at all.

The other party caused damage & injury through negligence. The victim being uninsured is a separate problem / issue

[LoonR1]

It doesn't matter one jot that A wasn't insured. B was in the wrong, that's it as regards this matter. In fact I doubt very much that an insurance company is suggesting not paying out for this.

The Police may want to have a chat with A about driving uninsured and that could be where it'll hurt him more than the whiplash, but his injury and the damage to F's car are all covered by B's crap driving.

Edited by LoonR1 on Thursday 22 January 18:15

[marshalla]

LoonR1 said:

The Police may want to have a chat with A about drinking uninsured amd that could be where it'll hurt him more than the whiplash, but his injury amd the damage to F's car are all covered by B's crap driving.

The industry's gone mad.

[LoonR1]

marshalla said:

The industry's gone mad.

Edited. It was the police who were upset about uninsured drinking anyway

[Aretnap]

TOPTON said:

As far as I can google the answer, 'B's insurance cannot refuse to pay for damages. If so, how can they be pushed into it. Insurance ombudsman ????

You mean the Financial Ombudsman. And no, they'll be no use as you can only make a complaint to the ombudsman about your own insurer - not about someone else's insurer.

Ultimately the only way to force a third party's insurer to pay out would be by going to court. Though I would be surprised if they let it get that far - unless there's something more to the story than you've said.

[TOPTON]

Well it seems the story wasn't as first told to me be my old man. He's old so he got it a little bit mixed up

It is 'F's insurance that are refusing to get involved, as 'A' wasn't insured by them at the time. Now that I do agree with.
So 'F' has got an AMC involved to fight their corner to get the value of the car paid out from 'B's insurance. The car has been given a cat c.

An expensive and important lesson learnt by 2 stupid young people (hopefully)

Thanks to all above for comments and suggestions