Car I switched insurance to wasn't insured by owner at time of accident

positivenote

Hi all,
i was involved in an accident a few months back in my mother in laws car. I had temprarily switched my insurance at the time I was driving but It has now transpired that my mother in laws insurance had run out and she hadn't renewed it, by a week or two. My insurance company are looking for the deatils of her insurance policy at the time as there is a personal injury claim going in agaist me for the accident, which was my fault.
any advice on this, is it a major issue as the car had tax and NCT and was registered to its owner at the time. I had notified my insurer and switched my insurance.
cheers

Sue Pa Key Pa

They're checking to see if her policy can provide you with any cover for the incident. Shouldn't be a problem when they find out none was in place

coylemj

positivenote wrote: »

Hi all,
i was involved in an accident a few months back in my mother in laws car. I had temprarily switched my insurance at the time I was driving but It has now transpired that my mother in laws insurance had run out and she hadn't renewed it, by a week or two. My insurance company are looking for the deatils of her insurance policy at the time as there is a personal injury claim going in agaist me for the accident, which was my fault.

When you say you had temporarily switched your insurance, was it on to the mother in law's car? If not then you'd have been relying on the 'driving other cars' clause of your own policy and if you are insured with Aviva, they make it a condition of covering you to drive a borrowed car that that car has a current policy of it's own, whether that covers you or not.

If you had temporarily moved your own policy on to her car then there shouldn't be a problem with the claim but what they may try to do is see if her policy also covered you in which case they may try to get her policy to pay but as she had no cover, it will fall back on your policy to cover you.

BigCon

If you switched your insurance to your mother in law's car then her insurance is irrelevant in your case and your insurance provider shouldn't be asking about it.

Marcusm

BigCon wrote: »

If you switched your insurance to your mother in law's car then her insurance is irrelevant in your case and your insurance provider shouldn't be asking about it.

Not necessarily true; if the m-i-l's insurance had been in force and he had been a named driver or open driving applied, both insurers would be on the hook. The OP's insurer is seeking to establish, in circumstances where the car was not owned by the driver, whether it needs to carry the can alone or whether it can spread the pain.

Lemlin

positivenote wrote: »

Hi all,
i was involved in an accident a few months back in my mother in laws car. I had temprarily switched my insurance at the time I was driving but It has now transpired that my mother in laws insurance had run out and she hadn't renewed it, by a week or two. My insurance company are looking for the deatils of her insurance policy at the time as there is a personal injury claim going in agaist me for the accident, which was my fault.
any advice on this, is it a major issue as the car had tax and NCT and was registered to its owner at the time. I had notified my insurer and switched my insurance.
cheers

They are checking to see if you were a Named Driver on her policy (if she had one).

They would have attempted to get 50% of the third party claim back off her insurer if you were as it'd be dual indemnity - two insurances covering the same risk.

positivenote

thanks for the replies... Just to clarify I rang up aviva and switched my insurance across as I knew I would be driving the car for a week or so. It is only recently that i have relaised that she had let her own insurance run out as she hasnt been heathy enough to drive since january

wonski

positivenote wrote: »

thanks for the replies... Just to clarify I rang up aviva and switched my insurance across as I knew I would be driving the car for a week or so. It is only recently that i have relaised that she had let her own insurance run out as she hasnt been heathy enough to drive since january

You were insured, that is all that matters now.

Tell them that was the only policy in place at the time of the accident.

mickdw

You therefore have no problems. You were legit on the road driving under your own insurance which you had switched onto the car you were driving.
As mentioned above, they are likely checking to see if they can share the claim and penalise 2 policies with higher premium in future.
This is a side issue and not something that you really have to concern yourself about.

positivenote

just an update on this guys, seeking further advice also. My mother in law, the owner of the car I was driving at the time, has received a letter to her personal home address from the Personal Insurance Assessment board regarding the passenger in the car I collided with, demanding that she pays 600 euro to have this womens injuries assessed. I am also cited in the letter but my contact details are noted as c/o my insurer, whereas my mother in laws home address is stated. My mother in law had nothing to do with this accident apart from owning the car that I was driving. She is up the wall over this and doesnt need the stress as she goes through her cancer treatment. Any advice would be welcomed.
Additionally, i didnt receive a letter as i presume it would have been sent to my insurer rather than my personal address.
thanks

MissShihTzu

Give the letter and any other correspondence received straight to your insurers. Do not acknowledge or answer any correspondence written or otherwise in any way. Refer all enquiries to them.

Did you admit liability?

ETA: Of course, you should keep a copy before forwarding the letter. And I would also keep a log of any calls - Name, date, time what the call was about. Refer all calls to your insurer.

Del2005

Your mother in law needs to contact a solicitor. You can't deal with this as they are chasing her and due to data protection she'll have to chase it up. She cannot rely on your insurance company as they are looking out for themselves not you or her.

Makes you worry about loaning a car if this is the sh1te that happens.