Brother Had An Accident In My Car While Un-insured And He Was At Fault. Read On..?
Sorry about the essay to follow but want to fill in all the details.
Basically what happened last month when the weather was really bad with snow and black ice, my elder brother’s car wouldn’t start in the morning and he had to take the little ones to school but because they were getting late he didn’t jump start his own car but he took mine without me knowing, the problem here is that when I renewed my insurance I removed his name from the named drivers as he hardly ever drove my car and it was an easy way to reduce the cost of the insurance.
During the way to the school there’s a hill which you have to go down to get to the school, so my brother was going down that hill following a red VW Passat then while approaching a sharp bend, past the bend there was a gold Kia Sedona that had skidded and turned sideways blocking 75% of the road of both sides, my brother was unaware of this has it was past the bend. Even though my brother was going slow and steady, he noticed the Passat braking and so did my brother, but my brother skidded lost control of his car and hit the Passat which went forward and hit the Sedona that was blocking the road before all the cars came to a halt.
The damage on all cars was minimal, the Sedona had 3 kids unsure if seatbelts were worn and the Passat had 1 kid in it. I informed my insurance and they said they will deal with all the claims but then recover that money from my brother. They were un-sure on whose fault it was. But the problem now is that the Passat is claiming for damages and personal injury, they claim their car is heavily damaged and they also saying there were 3 children and 1 adult passengers whereas the Sedona is claiming for personal injury for 6 passengers also. The Insurance have estimated the claims to be in excess of £60000 which they plan to claim of my brother who can’t afford that sort of money.
The insurance company is saying because they will re-claim all the costs of my brother that is not in their interests to dispute the claims. Please advice on every aspect of this accident and claim. Was the fault entirely my brothers, will it be worth it go legal? I been to the CAB who told me I need to speak to insurance again but they not interested.
May 9th, 2010 at 6:22 pm
I’m afraid your brother is up the creek without a paddle. First of all why didn’t you tell him that you were going to remove his name from your insurance due to costs? This is why he drove your car as he thought that he was covered.
Anyway, he was illegally driving your car as he had no insurance and therefore wasn’t covered. Your brother needs to speak to a solicitor now and explain everything to them and ask for their help in investigation the claims of the other people.
Good luck.
KD
May 9th, 2010 at 10:58 pm
Your brother better get a lawyer. It is out of your hands now. There is really nothing you can do. You did not give him permission to take your car and you have contacted your insurance company.
May 10th, 2010 at 3:41 am
its simple your brother has insurance on his own car so there he can claim from his insurance surely he has his insurance.
May 10th, 2010 at 7:33 am
This isn’t a good place to ask legal questions – you need to speak to a solicitor.
May 10th, 2010 at 1:23 pm
best thing to do is say your brother took the car with out your consent.
he will get afew points and a fine of a few hundred quid and maybe even a short ban, if he does this im pretty sure he wont be chased for the 60k
it will then mean that the other cars were hit by an uninsured driver making it impossible to claim off your insurance.
eg: if somebody stole your car “t.w.o.c” and had a smash you would expect o have to pay the bill would you.
i know its a bit shite for your bro, but a few point and a fine are better than paying 60 grand!
there’s a 2 billion pound pot of money for unisured drivers
May 10th, 2010 at 7:54 pm
You had given him permission to use your car and then not told him that you had then taken him off the insurance which means he was under the impression he still had permission and insurance. had you kept him informed the insurers would have dealt with this and not be coming after him. Some would say because of that you are legally liable – I would say that you are definitely morally liable for your brother getting sued son for every penny he does have.
The accident was unfortunate but even in snow the blame lies with the one at the back and nowhere else.
If you are letting your insurers deal with it then you must leave it to them to sort out. fact is the cost has arisen due to definitely you not changing the arrangement with your brother and perhaps partly him for not checking.
May 11th, 2010 at 1:26 am
Any claims against your brother are against him and not your insurer.
If your brother has agreed to allow the insurer to act on his behalf then they are not doing a good job for him!
If the cases against him go to Court the MIB uninsured drivers agreement would not kick in as the vehicle did have insurance – your insurer would have to pay the claims if judgments were created and remained unpaid.
I cannot understand why the insurer would say it is not in their interest to defend the claims – if they stump up £60000 they will know they would have difficulty recovering it from your brother.
It would be cheaper to buy insurance.
Your brother should stand up for himself rather than letting the insurer do it.
Since the Defence will include allegations of fraud due to “ghost” passengers the legal case would be complicated and expensive so brother needs a lawyer.