My car was written off by an uninsured driver - why was this recorded as a 'fault' claim against me? | Ask Honest John

My car was written off by an uninsured driver - why was this recorded as a 'fault' claim against me?

I'm a 60 year old IAM F1RST and ROSPA Gold qualified driver. Whist driving my daughters car to work, I was T-boned by a vehicle with a cloned reg plate that didn't give way on a major junction. The police attended, and I have three witnesses and video footage of the incident sent to my insurers. My car is a total loss and we got paid out, but because the insurance company could not recoup the money from the third party they recorded the accident as a "fault" accident against me and my daughter (she is a learner driver, policy in her name with me as a named driver). If the person that hit me had been insured it would have been 100 per cent his fault, and therefore a "non-fault" accident on my record. Surely this cannot be right or fair. I have other cars and my premiums have become much more expensive because of this and my clean driving record is ruined. I received my excess back from the motor insurers bureau, and the insurance ombudsmen are looking into it. Can you help in any way?

Asked on 15 January 2018 by Ray Waker

Answered by Honest John

The issues lie in the complication and the cost. You need the police to prosecute the driver, and you need the previous insurer of the cloned car. Claim under the 1988 Road Traffic Act section 8, third party claimants and duties of previous insurer. However, the probability of success is very low. I would suggest it's not financially in your interest to pursue your losses from the driver though. If he is driving a cloned vehicle, he clearly has no money. You could easily spend a lot with no return.

Tags: insurance claims insurance excess insurance write offs uninsured drivers cloned registration ombudsman accident no fault claims

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