Oh my god Im going to prison!!

MikeUK · Post by **MikeUK** » February 3rd, 2005, 3:25 am

Back on the 27th October 2004 I had a horrid accident o the M6, was driving late at night and the car slipped on what I thought may have been either black ice or water. I slammed into the central reservation and the car was totally trashed. The barrier came off quite well, just one lenght looked crooked in a part. Being only 22 I can only afford 3rd party fire theft as fully comp all the companies ask for 3 times what the cars worth. Stupid or what.

So after taking out a loan from my parents I go out and buy another MAZDA MX-3. Because I cant claim on my insurance. Debts not good.
Today I recieve a letter from some motor way company saying I owe them £3,400 due to damages the the barrier. I have to pay this in the next 28 days, or I could face prison. WTF am I to do, I dont have that kind of money. Im buggered. I thought we paid taxes so that s--- like this got sorted by the goverment.

Grants · Post by **Grants** » February 3rd, 2005, 3:53 am

You'll be covered under third party by the sound of it - your policy for third party covers damage to other peoples property. The fire or theft part covers your car. Thats what third party means - your not covered in an accident (caused by you) but you got other people's property covered. (Third party "personal" should be part of the motor vehicle registration and is compulsory but doesn't apply here anyway.) Thats how it works in Australia anyway. Call your insurance company. If that fails (which they might try to tell you) call a lawyer to check out the policy.

They won't lock you up in a hurry either - then they never get their $$$ and you just cost the prison system a swag of cash. Nobody wants that.

IanL · Post by **IanL** » February 3rd, 2005, 4:20 am

You should have reported the accident to your insurance company - maybe you wanted to keep it quiet, but you really should not try that trick - they can invalidate your insurance if you fail to disclose anything THEY think affects their risk.

Grant is right - your insurance is liable for the damage to third parties. You are the first party, the insurance company is the second, and everyone else is a third party.

Ring them and tell them everything - just say you didn't understand or something. Then fill in their form and send them the bill. It will probably result in them loading your next premium, but that's life

Grants · Post by **Grants** » February 3rd, 2005, 4:42 am

Hey thats good to hear Ian - maybe us guys and the old country still have some procedures in common

Except maybe cricket, or should we say ability to play it??? You guys reckon your got a shot this year? Hope so! It would be good to have a close series...

IanL · Post by **IanL** » February 3rd, 2005, 9:22 am

Grants wrote:Hey thats good to hear Ian - maybe us guys and the old country still have some procedures in common Except maybe cricket, or should we say ability to play it??? You guys reckon your got a shot this year? Hope so! It would be good to have a close series...

I believe we did quite well in S Africa, so you never know

MikeUK · Post by **MikeUK** » February 3rd, 2005, 2:55 pm

Im not going, yey!!. I shat my load when I got the letter demanding the money. Phoned insurance company up and told them about the letter. They said dont worrie and they will take care of everything. I did tell the insurance company when I had the crash, but they didnt prep me for this happening.

Grants · Post by **Grants** » February 3rd, 2005, 2:57 pm

Lucky you got that third party! Lesson for everybody!

MikeUK · Post by **MikeUK** » February 4th, 2005, 1:10 pm

Yea Lesson for every one. If your gonna crash, dont hit the central reservation.

They told me they are gona take 2 years no claims off me. Ouch! I wonder what Im gona be paying next year.

Thunderstorm · Post by **Thunderstorm** » February 8th, 2005, 10:17 am

Sorry bout your poor MX-3. At least you walked away from the accident thank goodness. Just upgraded my insurance from 3rd Party to Fully Comp barely 2 weeks ago to increase my level of protection (Curiously my insurance premium dropped from £660 to only £431 - but then I did switch insurance companies - and I am over 40 years old <wheeze>). Things COULD happen when you are out in an MX-3, it doesn't even have to be your fault so maximum protection is paramount.

Did you have any "protected" No Claims bonus status?
Just curious, cos even when I was on 3rd Party, I always had it - just to protect me from situations similar to this.

As soon as you build up your No Claims status again you must make it "protected". I suspect that way, you don't get scalped in event of an incident later on.

And if there is anyone out there who ever wondered what "protected no claims bonus" was for - I strongly suspect this is it.
If you haven't got it, consider it - could save the pennies later on methinks.

Oh, and if I got something wrong in my analysis above someone please point it out so we all get the right jist of how insurance works but please don't flame me. I'm only trying to help, OK?

Safe driving, .....sorry, flying everyone.

MikeUK · Post by **MikeUK** » February 8th, 2005, 1:40 pm

I think you hit the nail one the head there. I had five years no claims bonus, if it would have been protected I would have kept the five years no claims bonus. However as I am quite an idiot I didnt have the protection, so they are taking two years off me. At least I still keep some.

Cheers, yea at least I walked away from it ok thats the main thing.

If I could afford it I would go fully comp, however even with my no claims I was still being told between £2.5-£3.5k. Robbing buggers

Grants · Post by **Grants** » February 8th, 2005, 3:40 pm

Wow you guys pay a lot for insurance....

IanL · Post by **IanL** » February 9th, 2005, 5:11 am

Grants wrote:Wow you guys pay a lot for insurance....

It can vary a lot, depending on age, sex, driving record, area (that's probably the theft risk! ), the prejudices of the company's underwriters......oh, and the car

I'm also on the old side, and I'm paying £274 fully comp with NCB protected for life, provided I stay with the company - it's More Than. Worth a try when you come to renew.

MikeUK · Post by **MikeUK** » February 9th, 2005, 1:44 pm

I think im gona have to shop arround for my insurance next time. I feel I wont be able to afford the next year at tesco. My god I wish I was paying what you guys are paying.