What to do if you’ve been hit by a driver who is not insured?
It is against the law to drive without insurance on UK roads. However there are still many people out there who still drive uninsured. Most of us do not realise the problem these drivers causes until we find ourselves in a situation where we are involved in an accident with a driver who does not have any insurance cover.
If are hit by an uninsured driver and it was not your fault, the claim side of things will be very promising. For someone with comprehensive cover, you can expect your insurance company to make repairs to your vehicle at the expense of you first paying out your agreed excess and second losing your no claims bonus which will eventually raise your future premiums. If you have unfortunately third party cover, then the insurance company will back out and you will have to fork out the money to do the repairs yourself.
Having to pay for an accident which is not your fault in the first place is harsh and dealing with the trauma can be dreadful as well but there are things which you can do to ease the pain.
What can victims of an uninsured driver do?
The very first thing you should do is get all the information about the driver and the vehicle he’s driving – name and address, vehicle registration number, witnesses details, pictures of accident etc. Then you need to report the accident to the police (for personal injury claims, you need to report it within 14 days and for property damage claims within 5 days).
If you have been injured in any way, you need to go to your GP or the hospital so that the medical notes can be used as solid proof of injury.
Even though insurance companies will refuse any claims arising from uninsured drivers, you can still make a claim to Motor Insurer’s Bureau (MIB) but only if you’re claiming for accident injury. The MIB will not pay to repair your vehicle; however it will give out compensation to victims if their cases are successful. And to make sure you have a solid case, it is best to seek advice from specialist personal injury lawyers.
