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#Post#: 105314--------------------------------------------------
Another vehicle collided into me, turns out my insurance had exp
ired, how to proceed?
By: AliBen800 Date: January 10, 2026, 10:06 am
---------------------------------------------------------
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!
#Post#: 105320--------------------------------------------------
Re: Another vehicle collided into me, turns out my insurance had
expired, how to proceed?
By: andy_foster Date: January 10, 2026, 10:46 am
---------------------------------------------------------
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...
#Post#: 105346--------------------------------------------------
Re: Another vehicle collided into me, turns out my insurance had
expired, how to proceed?
By: AliBen800 Date: January 10, 2026, 4:42 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=andy_foster link=topic=9441.msg105320#msg105320
date=1768063592]
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...
[/quote]
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.
#Post#: 105356--------------------------------------------------
Re: Another vehicle collided into me, turns out my insurance had
expired, how to proceed?
By: andy_foster Date: January 11, 2026, 2:09 am
---------------------------------------------------------
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.
#Post#: 105453--------------------------------------------------
Re: Another vehicle collided into me, turns out my insurance had
expired, how to proceed?
By: AliBen800 Date: January 11, 2026, 4:43 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=andy_foster link=topic=9441.msg105356#msg105356
date=1768118977]
...[/quote]
Many thanks Andy, that's been great help. It's helped me
understand things more clearly.
So during the conversation with the insurance company, I will
eventually have to either tell them I will be filling a Letter
Before Action or instructing an accident management company on
my behalf? Would that be the correct stance?
Judging by the accident damage I have described, would you at
any point put any blame on me (as an insurer?) Would the damage
sustained on both vehicles make it obvious who was at fault? It
looks cut and dry error on their part but I'm just wondering
what attempts they will make to shift blame.
(Their left front bumper wrapping around to the license plate,
alloy wheel pushed in, and passenger door smashed in -- For me,
right side damaged on both right doors, plus single lane exit.)
Many thanks!
#Post#: 105455--------------------------------------------------
Re: Another vehicle collided into me, turns out my insurance had
expired, how to proceed?
By: andy_foster Date: January 11, 2026, 4:53 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=AliBen800 link=topic=9441.msg105453#msg105453
date=1768171406]
Many thanks Andy, that's been great help. It's helped me
understand things more clearly.[/quote]
Your questions bellow suggest otherwise.
[quote]So during the conversation with the insurance company, I
will eventually have to either tell them I will be filling a
claims court or instructing an accident management company on my
behalf? Would that be the correct stance?[/quote]
Drugs are bad, m'kay?
Issuing a court claim, or instructing a claims management
company are the last resort if the other party's insurers refuse
to entertain a claim from you directly - as I already explained
in the post that allegedly helped you understand things more
clearly.
[quote]Judging by the accident damage I have described, would
you at any point put any blame on me (as an insurer?) Would the
damage sustained on both vehicles make it obvious who was at
fault?[/quote]
Judging by the accident damage alone, and ignoring your witness
and your video evidence, would be an absurdly pointless thing to
do. Unless there was some compelling reason why you could not
rely on your video evidence and your witness.
#Post#: 105457--------------------------------------------------
Re: Another vehicle collided into me, turns out my insurance had
expired, how to proceed?
By: AliBen800 Date: January 11, 2026, 5:12 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=andy_foster link=topic=9441.msg105455#msg105455
date=1768172039]
[quote author=AliBen800 link=topic=9441.msg105453#msg105453
date=1768171406]
Many thanks Andy, that's been great help. It's helped me
understand things more clearly.[/quote]
Your questions bellow suggest otherwise.[/quote]
Thanks for the reply.
Sorry I should have been clearer, I mean if they decide to not
want to entertain me, I should just proceed to tell them I will
send a LBA or instruct a AMC?
A good point you have just reminded me is to back up the videos
I have on my phone to my laptop just in case. I will try to call
the witness tommorow and see if they will be able to provide me
a written account of things before calling them just to have
that in my corner too.
I will keep this thread posted with updates!
Many thanks!
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