Free Traffic Legal Advice
General discussion => The Flame Pit => Topic started by: AliBen800 on January 10, 2026, 04:06:19 pm
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As a general rule of thumb, your insurer (if you were insured at the time) do not work for you, they work for themselves. They would have been likely to try to rip off both the other party's insurer and you.
Claiming through your own insurance, rather than directly through the other party's insurance, is generally only advised when claiming directly is not viable - e.g. the other party's insurer is being overly obstructive, you need an alternative vehicle while yours is being repaired, and cannot afford to hire a car and claim back the cost (or buy another car, sell it afterwards and claim for any costs/losses in doing so if duration of hire period id likely to result in excessive cost - injured party has a duty to take reasonable steps to mitigate any consequent losses he will be seeking to recover.
Favourite tricks include settling 50/50 on your behalf because they CBA to risk going to court and multiplying the true costs through their own claims management company and then pinning the costs on you in the event that the other party's insurer avoids paying them on the grounds that they were not properly and necessarily incurred costs.
Short of resorting to blackmail, the other party's insurer cannot use the fact that you were not insured to leverage any arguable dispute regarding liability if there is no arguable dispute - in other words, if the facts and evidence are clear-cut and undisputable. Not being insured is not a causal factor in the collision (unless you were on the phone trying to get cover when the collision occurred).
The other party's insurer will either be approachable, or they won't. Some initially refuse to deal with individual third parties, whereas others will bend over backwards to avoid the injured third party claiming through their own insurer (with a greatly 'inflated' claim) - once there are satisfied that the liability lies with them.
Technically, your claim is against the other driver, but his insurer is obliged to pay out if you successfully claim against him in court. Insurers generally like to avoid court where possible as it adds to the costs. In practice, in most cases, the injured party claims through their own insurer (mostly due to ignorance) or the guilty party's insurer, and the matter is settled without going to court.
Claiming directly against the other driver is your backstop. Your first port of call is to contact the other party's insurer. They are likely to ask for the details of your insurer. If they think you are being evasive, they can readily check whether there was insurance in place at the material time, but the main point is that you are not claiming through your own insurance, so you, rather than your insurer (if you had one) are the point of contact and the decision maker.
If they won't entertain a claim from an individual, you can either claim against the driver yourself, or instruct a claims management company to do so on your behalf. Claims management companies, and their grossly inflated claims are a large part of the reason that some insurer will bend over backwards to look after injured third parties directly, and also the reason you should be wary and do your homework before instructing one.
This is a bridge to cross if we get there (if the other party's insurer refuses to entertain a direct claim).
The Financial Services Ombudsman enforces some fairly strict rules regarding how your own insurer (if you had one) treats you, but you cannot complain to them about another party's insurer as you are not their customer.
I am not aware of any legal mechanism that would force the other party's insurer to engage with you prior to a court claim (or a Letter Before Action) being issued.
At this point, don't overthink things. Contact the other party's insurer. Understand that if they want to know whether you were insured, it would be trivial for them to find out. Understand that it is not a material/causal fact/factor. Don't go out of your way to tell them something that you are concerned might potentially complicate matters, but most definitely don't lie if directly asked (particularly as the conversation will be recorded "for training purposes"). Understand that if they refuse to entertain a direct claim from the injured party, that merely makes the process more long winded.
It would probably be helpful to get across the strength of your evidence succinctly - you have video of the aftermath, position of the vehicles and damage, single lane exit, changing story 3 times - also witness who saw the collision and prior near misses.
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Obvious first question is whether there is any dispute regarding liability.
What happened?
Are there any witnesses?
Did the other party admit liability?
In my experience, when someone seeking advice leaves out large chunks of the story, filling in the gaps often puts a very different perspective on it...
Hi sorry about any details missing.
They attempted to blame me, and divert my attention by shouting and yelling, I ignored it and starting filming as I got out of my car and they changed their story 3 separate times on the side of the road (all on video)
Just a quick recap of events. I am in (the correct) lane 1 of a 3 lane roundabout taking a single lane exit, they are in lane 2 just a bit behind me, then suddenly change lanes and crash into me whilst attempting to take the same exit. The damage on my vehicle is from the middle of the drivers door all the way to rear door. Their vehicle sustained damage on the left bumper all the way to the left passenger door and their left alloy wheel was pushed into the engine bay. At this stage we are both 20 meters in the exit lane on the side of the road.
One of their changed 'stories' includes apparently attempting to exit at the PREVIOUS exit and that I had whipped around on the outer lane and that the accident actually unfolded at the previous exit which leads into a dual carriage way (but some how we ended up in the single lane exit where I was at) --- I have a suspicion they where drunk but when the police were called for assistance they said as long as there were no injuries that require an ambulance, they will not be attending.
I have the number of a witness who was stationary up the road who saw what happened. In fact he even pointed out that there was at least 3 other near misses right there as people suddenly change lanes to take the exit (so it appears to be a common problem exit.)
They also attempted to leave in a hurry after getting out saying they where late to their destination. Crazy because the left side wheel was completely blown into the engine bay and jammed so they couldn't if they wanted to.
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Obvious first question is whether there is any dispute regarding liability.
What happened?
Are there any witnesses?
Did the other party admit liability?
In my experience, when someone seeking advice leaves out large chunks of the story, filling in the gaps often puts a very different perspective on it...
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Hey there,
Not sure how to begin here. Driving for almost 20 years no issues no points no accidents etc.
A vehicle collided into me, causing significant damage to my vehicle, possible write off (all cosmetic but that’s just insurance for you)
I found out quickly afterwards that my insurance had expired a few days prior and the new policy I had taken out with another provider started the following day (my error)
As I have no policy in place, how do I go about dealing with the other parties insurance company? I have never been in an accident before so I have no idea how to deal with this issue as I have never dealt with insurance companies before.
Should I reach out to them as the registered keeper/owner of the vehicle or as the driver of the vehicle? What would be my best course of action to minimize my exposure as much as possible? I have a suspicion they will attempt to take full advantage of me knowing I have no legal body fighting in my corner.
All the advice I can get is appreciated, many thanks!