Insured, crashed, uninsured yet maybe insured after all
Discussion
Genuinely asking for friend.
Friend cancelled her full insurance and took out a 24 hour policy on her car as she was due to part ex it the next day. On her way to the garage she was involved in an accident; she hit the car in front which in turn had braked late and hit the car in front of him. I'm not here to ask who is liable for what.
Going through the motions of insurance and details, it turns out her policy ran out 1 hour before the accident, so she was uninsured. The guy she hit is a mechanic and was driving the works pool car, a 250,000 mile Corsa. She offered to cover his costs, repairs etc and he said don't worry about insurance, we can settle this. Her car is a definite right-off.
Mechanic got in touch today to let her know that according to his insurers, the car she was driving was covered at the time of the accident, albeit with a different company. After a bit of head scratching, she realised that her ex (who she bought the car from months ago) had forgotten to cancel the policy once he bought a new car. Potentially she would be covered for third-party costs, was my thought. She checked and yes, the car was still covered on a policy he forgot to cancel.
She contacted her ex (who is an idiot and they didn't part on good terms) and his reaction was that he's just written off his new car and doesn't need this extra claim on his policy and he'll tell the police that she stole it - amongst a load of other ranting.
My opinion is through his coke-addled forgetfulness she may actually have third party cover after all, irrespective of his threats and complaining.
Can others shed any light on the above?
Friend cancelled her full insurance and took out a 24 hour policy on her car as she was due to part ex it the next day. On her way to the garage she was involved in an accident; she hit the car in front which in turn had braked late and hit the car in front of him. I'm not here to ask who is liable for what.
Going through the motions of insurance and details, it turns out her policy ran out 1 hour before the accident, so she was uninsured. The guy she hit is a mechanic and was driving the works pool car, a 250,000 mile Corsa. She offered to cover his costs, repairs etc and he said don't worry about insurance, we can settle this. Her car is a definite right-off.
Mechanic got in touch today to let her know that according to his insurers, the car she was driving was covered at the time of the accident, albeit with a different company. After a bit of head scratching, she realised that her ex (who she bought the car from months ago) had forgotten to cancel the policy once he bought a new car. Potentially she would be covered for third-party costs, was my thought. She checked and yes, the car was still covered on a policy he forgot to cancel.
She contacted her ex (who is an idiot and they didn't part on good terms) and his reaction was that he's just written off his new car and doesn't need this extra claim on his policy and he'll tell the police that she stole it - amongst a load of other ranting.
My opinion is through his coke-addled forgetfulness she may actually have third party cover after all, irrespective of his threats and complaining.
Can others shed any light on the above?
If he had a still active policy on the vehicle (and assuming all the info about her policies both having expired at that point is correct) then yes they will be liable to cover* third party damages (also if she is a named driver in all likelihood her damages if a comprehensive policy), this will be a claim against him as his insurer is having to pay. She will also need to declare it regardless of payout.
.*they could possibly then pursue him for the costs depending on the exact facts of the transfer of ownership to her due to his failure to notify them of the sale.
This is why people should always inform an insurer of a sale as soon as possible and not mess around debating cancellation fees and NCB.
.*they could possibly then pursue him for the costs depending on the exact facts of the transfer of ownership to her due to his failure to notify them of the sale.
This is why people should always inform an insurer of a sale as soon as possible and not mess around debating cancellation fees and NCB.
E-bmw said:
Grumps. said:
My insurance always runs from midnight, and if cancelled, to midnight. It seems odd that an insurance company would terminate a policy during the day?
The clue was in the name "24 hour policy".Grumps. said:
E-bmw said:
Grumps. said:
My insurance always runs from midnight, and if cancelled, to midnight. It seems odd that an insurance company would terminate a policy during the day?
The clue was in the name "24 hour policy".You just have to be careful that it covers you for the time you need cover.
Grumps. said:
E-bmw said:
Grumps. said:
My insurance always runs from midnight, and if cancelled, to midnight. It seems odd that an insurance company would terminate a policy during the day?
The clue was in the name "24 hour policy".
I've used cuvva to insure me on a car I'd just bought. You can buy F/C for various periods from a few hours (I bought 6 hrs to get me home and to go to the shops 
) up to any length really. Uneconomic for a long period of course, and is much cheaper at weekends and outside peak period obviously. It was under £10 for an Alfa GT. Big excess of course.
) up to any length really. Uneconomic for a long period of course, and is much cheaper at weekends and outside peak period obviously. It was under £10 for an Alfa GT. Big excess of course. Was she a named driver? If not then usually you'll need your own valid insurance policy running at the time to be covered in someone else's car and even if she is a named driver then if she's changed address since then the insurance may argue it's a material change.
The ex's insurance company is likely to consider it fronting at the very least so I doubt either of them will come out of this very well if they aren't on amicable terms anymore.
The ex's insurance company is likely to consider it fronting at the very least so I doubt either of them will come out of this very well if they aren't on amicable terms anymore.
2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:
alscar said:
I’m just curious why she cancelled the policy before she picked up the new car.
Maybe she'd insured the new car so she could drive straight away. (i.e. transferred rather than cancelled?)
Ultimately then, she is guilty of driving whilst uninsured - obviously the police may not become aware/be interested. The car she was driving won’t be paid out by anyone. The third party losses will be paid as a minimum by the insurance policy which was on the vehicle at the time (if the third party chose to claim), but those costs could be attempted to be reclaimed from the ex who failed to cancel the policy.
Grumps. said:
My insurance always runs from midnight, and if cancelled, to midnight. It seems odd that an insurance company would terminate a policy during the day?
Two of my current policies run from Noon.I wonder if it's to avoid confusion as to which day they mean by 12:00am?
My third policy started at 12:01am.
Edited by cologne2792 on Tuesday 24th January 18:26
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