Worried, as car insurance has been made void - any advice?

[buttercup30]

I have been insured with Sheila's Wheels for 2 years. Having made one small 3rd party claim in December, I had a more serious crash a few weeks ago. The police happened to be at the scene, and everything was dealt with accordingly. The 3rd party's car was a write-off, while mine had approx £1400 worth of damage (as estimated by the garage at the time). The insurance company decided that it was too much, as the vehicle was only worth £1600, and so decided to scrap mine too. However, an unfortunate error on my part is that the vehicle is still registered in my dad's name, and I had insured it as being registered in my name. The address it was registered to is a property I own, while the insurance is for the property I rent because of living away for work.

As the V5 is in dad's name with a different address to my insurance, the company have now decided to void my insurance from when it started. They stated that this is becuase it is my father who has the financial interest in the vehicle (even though he is incapable of driving it, and it has never been kept at the property). All premium paid is going to be used to offset the costs of the 3rd party claim, but it means I receive nothing.

My worries now are: What happens about fixing the car? I assume I do it all myself, which is fine, but then the next step... what happens about insuring the car again? Will my no-claims be completely gone, or only those years I was with the insurance company?

Also, what happens if I wish to insure a different vehicle while getting mine fixed?

And the two biggest worries - am I still liable for the costs from the 3rd party?

Are the police likely to be informed and I recieve a fine for driving without insurance, points on my licence etc? The initial accident happened 3 weeks ago, and I had presented all my documents without any problems. The police were fully aware that the vehicle was registered to my father.

 

Can anyone help settle my mind, or make my worries greater?

[unclebulgaria67]

My reading on this.

 

If a policy is made void, it is treated as if it never exisited in regards to offering you any protection. But the Insurers under the Road Traffic acts, still have to pick up the 3rd parties claim. The Insurers have used the premium to offset some of the claim from the 3rd party, but they can come after to you for the difference.

 

In regard to your no claims discount and obtaining cover. In theory you would have had the no claim discount that you used when applying for the policy. But if you approach a new Insurer with this evidence and details of the recent claims, they will reduce the discount by 2 years for each claim you were at fault for. Obtaining cover where you have had a policy made void is more complicated and expensive. There are niche brokers and Insurers that specialise in this area. Find using BIBA

 

My advice on this is to challenge the Insurers decision to make the policy void, as you are potentially liable for a large sum i.e. 3rd party claim payout. You should write to the Chief Executive of the Insurers, setting out the position and ask for consideration of your situation.

 

This will not only affect Car Insurance. For any Insurance that you arrange, you will have to declare the voidance, meaning you are probably restricted to niche (expensive) Insurance providers.

 

In regard to the Police, I have never heard of them being advised and of any proceedings. You had Insurance at the time of the accident, it is just that there was a problem about the ownership of the car, as registered in official documents with DVLA.

[M'n'M]

Just an observation but doesn't the V5 show just details of the registered keeper not the owner, I bill of sale reciept proof of purchase if you still have one, or maybe a signed statement from your father stating that he has no finacial intrest in the vehicle but merely the registered keeper because of your work/travel situation.

 

I have heard before that V5 is not proof of ownership. it is worth checking out.

[unclebulgaria67]

This is a link to a site confirming the position of the registered keeper and owner of a vehicle.

 

https://www.askthe.police.uk/content/Q743.htm

 

I think the advice is still to take this up as a complaint with the Insurers Chief Executive, if there is a reasonble explanation to be given about the siuation.

[buttercup30]

Hi again.

Thanks to those who gave me advice first time round. I know it's been a while, but there has been another problem occur, and wondered if anyone could suggest the way ahead?

 

I tried to appeal with Sheila's Wheels, but they upheld their decision. I decided not to go to the ombudsman, as Sheila's Wheels implied in their correspondence that they would cover 3rd party costs. While they would not refund the storage fees incurred for my vehicle when it was at the garage, they did cover the cost of the initial recovery of the vehicle, so I left it at that.

 

In September I moved house, but made sure my mail was forwarded for 3 months. On the 15th September I received a letter stating that Shiela's Wheels had been 'unable to reach agreement over the settlement of 3rd party claims' and that 'the claimant's solicitors have issued prceedings against them'. The letter said that Sheila's Wheels' solicitors were 'attending to proceedings'. I did not bother to contact SW as I felt that this also inferred they were taking care of 3rd party costs.

 

I heard nothing more from SW, and assumed that the matter had been dealt with. That is until last Friday...

My father, who was originally the registered owner of the vehicle (which I rectified as soon as I realised the error), received a recorded delivery letter from Direct Line. This stated the name of the other driver, the date of the accident, and that dad has 14 days to pay a £1400 bill! If he does not, solicitor proceedings will start against him.

 

I can understand how they got hold of his details, but should Direct Line be coming after him for 3rd party costs? Surely this should be Sheila's Wheels trying to reclaim them from me? Do they have the right after all this time, and with such little notification, or justification, for such a large sum?

 

My father is retired and living on a state pension; the last thing I need is for him to face such proceedings due to an issue I have caused. Likewise, it is impossible for me to gather such an amount of money together in such a short space of time.

 

I will update again tomorrow after dad has spoken to Direct Line, but I have a feeling we will need to get solicitors involved. Any advice or guidance would be gratefully received...

[unclebulgaria67]

Yes Direct Line as the third party Insurers can issue legal proceedings against your Dad. As Shielas Wheels had agreed to deal with the third party and their Insurers, I would let them deal with it. Just send the letter on to SW and send a letter to DL to confirm that SW's are dealing with the claim.

 

Your Dad may receive a court claim at some point. He should send this to SW by recorded delivery and ask for written confirmation from them that they will be dealing with it.

[buttercup30]

Thanks for your prompt response, Unclebulgaria

 

The latest is as follows:

Dad rang Direct Line, who said the claim was not for repair of the claimant's vehicle (£550 which has been paid), but for the cost of the hire car while it was being fixed (£1400 seems an expensive hire car!). When Dad said that Sheila's Wheels were dealing with this already, Direct Line asked him to ring them back with my vehicle registration number, and my insurance reference number at the time of the incident. Why would they need these? Surely they already have them to be getting in touch in the first place?

I then rang Sheila's Wheels. Their response was to tell us to ignore Direct Line, who they say shouldn't have got in touch with us. Sheila's Wheels said that while my insurance had been made void, they still had an obligation to meet 3rd party costs, but that the reason this was not paid was that they were questioning the amount involved. They are therefore meant to be drafting a letter to send to Direct Line to say that they shouldn't have contacted us, and that all discussion should be through the nominated solicitor.

Part of me is relieved, but am cautious that there could easily still be costs that I am unaware of. The other thing I forgot to do was update my details with Sheila's Wheels (new address) and ask for a copy of the letter they were sending to Direct Line.

Fingers crossed it's more sorted!