Any car insurance experts around? TW Suicide

[Upsetforfriend]

A friend was in an accident earlier this year. Someone made a suicide attempt by jumping in front of her car, and fortunately they survived, but with life-changing injuries. A thorough investigation found that my friend was not at fault and could not have done anything to change the tragic course of events.

Now my friend’s car insurance is up for renewal. Her broker said that she is not insurable as the person received a big insurance payout. Despite a previously clean driving record and the accident not being her fault. Driving is essential for her job and she’s terrified that she will lose it if she cannot resolve this.

Please can someone with knowledge of the industry advise? She was slowly rebuilding her mental health after this happened and is in pieces about this latest development. Thank you for any advice you can offer.

I don't understand how she is uninsurable if she was not at fault?
Why is she using a broker?
I have 3 accidents on my insurance history in the past 5 years (one at fault, the others not) and I had no issue getting insurance on the comparison websites.
Has she tried putting all info into them?

Also, this must have been a horrific thing to experience all round. I do hope she got/is getting support for this

How awful for your friend to go through this. If no blame was apportioned to your friend in the civil proceedings (different investigation to a police investigation) then unless she made a claim against her policy for the damage to her car, there shouldn't have been a pay out. The broker may mean that their panel of insurers will not insure her at renewal, but that doesn't mean that she will be refused insurance by all insurers.

Do they just mean they've chosen not to renew her policy? That's quite common and doesn't mean she's not insurable.

I don’t understand it either. I hoped that someone might be able to explain what that is about. She was warned that her premium would probably go up but not this.

I am not sure if she has tried a price comparison site, I will suggest that. Some people use a broker because they can search the whole market on your behalf but it’s not something I have ever done.

She has some support, and I am trying to help her with this practical thing. Thank you for your reply.

Why did her insurance pay out if she wasn’t at fault?

I would contact her current insurers claims department and ask them. She needs to be able to understand what has happened with the liability aspect and what, if any payments have been made.

Also there are various insurers out there that specialise in 'uninsurable drivers'. So tell her not to lose hope

Not an expert

How did someone manage to get money from an insurance company if the investigation showed the person tried to kill themselves and the driver would have been unable to do anything, so they weren't negligent in any way.

Is someone else suing on their behalf?

Thank you this is helpful to have that distinction. It makes me realise that I am not clear enough about what happened, and how this payout to the injured person came about.

The police investigation was extremely thorough and was clear about it not being her fault. Would her insurer really have accepted liability despite this?

In any case, I am encouraged that she might find an insurer who will offer her cover if we keep trying.

I am going to encourage her to contact her existing insurer tomorrow morning. Thank you so far everyone.

Not in the same league I know, but I hit a wild deer about 7 years ago, it just jumped over a hedge from a field and shoulder charged the side of my car. Although the collision wasn’t my fault the insurance people said it would go down on my policy as an ‘at fault’ because they wouldn’t be able to claim their costs back off anyone. I think the amount they had to pay out had an impact too, when I was searching for quotes I had to state how much it all cost, and you have to declare it for 5 years after.

Yes, liability in a criminal matter is completely separate to civil matter though the decision in criminal proceedings can influence the civil matter if an involved party is found guilty.

In such a sensitive instance, your friends insurance company should really have gone through this with her in detail when taking statements etc. I would absolutely advise her to get in touch with them for more information and explanation as to the outcome of the claim against her policy.

There's an important but subtle difference between someone being refused insurance and an insurer choosing not to renew that person's policy for some reason.

The former means you will struggle to find insurance in the future as it's something that you always have to declare. The latter is no different from you putting you details into (say) CompareTheMarket and company X choosing not to offer you a quote.

It could be that her current company has decided it's not worth the risk to keep insuring her, but that doesn't mean she can't go to company B and just get a policy as normal.

Yes, this is true. The same goes for if you're in an accident with an uninsured driver unfortunately, or if you (say) drive into a ditch.

If you report an incident, which you are supposed to do, even if no claim is made, it increases your premium. Ours went from £360 to over £1000.