I took out an insurance policy early hours of the morning and then got up nice and early for work, during my lunch break my car was hit by motorcyclist and accident was deemed not my fault by police. I then receive a phone call the day after from insurance company saying the deposit payment was not able to be taken from account (even tho I knew there was money in the account). At this point I suddenly had a gut feeling they were going to tell me I hadnt been insured for the previous day and guess wot..my worst nightmare came true!! This all happend in May of last year and in november last year I received a summons for court for the offence of driving without a motor insurance poilcy. Please can anyone help me,I feel i am the victim here as the guy who hit me got away without any charges or penaltys at all! Im the careful driver who now has been punished for something which I did not intentionly do. Oh and Im still within my 2 year beginers period to make things worse. PLEASE HELP ME!
2007-01-09 13:10:23 · 12 answers · asked by adam H 2 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Insurance & Registration
Honestly, you need to get a lawyer. They can look over your policy and give you the best answer on this. Anyone who knows the answer for certain (aka a lawyer) can't give you legal advice anyway.
2007-01-09 13:14:50 · answer #1 · answered by hawksocc8 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I'M SURE YOU WONT LIKE THIS ANSWER BUT...
I think you will loose this case. You can make a plea to the Magistrate for mitigating circumstances, this might involve you getting printouts from the phone company to show you made the call or bank statements to show you had the money.
However, to be honest, most magistrates will consider that you have actually committed a crime. They will probably be of the opinion that it is totally your responsibility to ensure that your vehicle is insured before it is used, that responsibility cannot be assigned to anyone else. They will take the stance that you should have waited to be sure that the money was paid and the car was insured before you used it.
You see there is a real risk here and its not about minor knocks on your bumper. If you killed or maimed a pedestrian on the way to work, they or their families would have no way to sue for damages except against you personally. So if you put someone in a wheel chair for the rest of their life, but you are not wealthy enough to sue, they are stuffed.
It is absolutely vital to get the Insurance 100% correct and sound on a vehicle.
A good lawyer would probably get you off, because they would find a way to defeat the system, but that will cost you a fortune anyway.
2007-01-10 04:00:48 · answer #2 · answered by Victorf 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You should be covered with no problems. When you signed up for your policy...you were given a receipt for your payment...this is called a binder and it 'binds' you to the coverage. The coverage can still be bound even if your payment didn't intially clear so long as you eventually made good on the payment.
This means the insurer is obligated to pay the claim.
Unfortunately it sounds as if you didn't follow through to make sure the insurer was paid properly and if that's the case...then it is your fault that you didn't pay properly and you won't have coverage.....
You needed to take care of it immediately and not walk away from your obligation to pay for your policy.
Regardless of this....if the accident was truly the fault of the other driver....you shouldn't even be dealing with YOUR insurer....you should be dealing with HIS insurer. At that point....your insurance and whether or not you even have it is irrelevant.
They are obligated to pay your claim. Your insurer (if you have one) is not obligated to pay anything.
2007-01-09 22:34:07 · answer #3 · answered by markmywordz 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well if you are being totally honest about this all .... ( I just wonder why a new policy needs to be taken out 'in the early hours' .... ) then you need to prove that you agreed a contract between you and the insurer prior to the accident. Did you take this policy out on the internet? If so, do you have an email agreeing receipt of your application and agreeing cover? My understanding that a cover note does not always require money but on that I am not sure. If you insurer is declining cover on the basis of non payment, then you must prove that they had the means and opportunity to collect payment and if so, they may be in the wrong. But please be honest with yourself .....
2007-01-09 21:21:10 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
without all the information it is hard to say.. Was your car moving or parked when it was hit? If parked then there is no way the police can determine how long it was parked there. If it was moving then I would get a good lawyer. If it was parked then the other guy should have gotten a ticket. usually a no insurance ticket is only 100 dollars but you could also be sued by the person who hit you for repairs to their vehicle also.. Get a Lawyer
2007-01-09 21:17:18 · answer #5 · answered by r w 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Get a solicitor cause if you don't and get convicted you will receive a fine and 6 - 8 points on your licence, and since within your 2 years a re-test, and on your licence a IN10 and your insurance premiums will increase. I know it seems I'm making it worse but it's the truth and that's why I recommend a solicitor ASAP.
2007-01-10 01:36:09 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
the only way you can make this work,,is to be able to prove that there was money in the account,,and that the error was the banks fault because the money was there then you can get this dismissed,,but you,ll have to have proof that the money was there for sure like a bank statement,and also proof that you did have it before the accident,,if you can get this dismissed ,but that's the only way you can do this,,good luck hope this help,,the reason i know this will work,,been there and done it,,good luck with it.
2007-01-09 21:20:00 · answer #7 · answered by dodge man 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you need to do 3 things
1. collate all the paper work to prove that you attempted to take out insurance on the date in question
2. get hold of your bank and find out if there was a problem with your account on the day in question and what it was,
3. Take your evidence to a solicitor and take his advice
2007-01-11 06:03:12 · answer #8 · answered by The Fat Controller 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The nature of insurance......
You do have the recepit for payment?
that should suffice for court and in addition the insurance agent will have to show where your payment was denied by bank!
You need to show bank statement where no payment was denied...
and you need to pray payment was not denied or you are in a jam.
2007-01-09 21:17:59 · answer #9 · answered by cork 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Don't matter mate, your going to get a ban. They can't bang you up for driving without insurance but the will if you drive on a ban. Tough luck but it happens. Oyster card?
2007-01-09 21:20:48 · answer #10 · answered by Mighty Hammer 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋