I just reversed into a car which has no insurance, tax or MOT. What happens now?

[notthisnowaswell]

driving home, residential streets with lots of parked cars obstructing views...edged out of a t-junction to turn left. there was a car coming down the road, so I reversed back....into the car which had followed me out of the junction.

his car is scuffed over the passenger wheel arch (mostly paint transfer from my car) and I have quite a crunch to the right back corner

he was really cross and wanted me to bank transfer him money to repair his car. which I declined and said I want to go through insurance (as I'm skint), gave him my name, number and registration. I have his registration and phone number.

I have checked online and the vehicle tax expired in march 2024, MOT expired march this year. so he has no insurance. what will happen now?? I am not planning on telling my insurance company unless he makes a claim because I am financially really really struggling and don't want my premium to increase

You would be surprised ! And 100% wrong

If this was true, everyone would just say they don’t accept liability and there would be no payout. Do some thinking…

This.

This also

is the askMID site working for anyone else?

You damaged his property. You have to pay. Whether he is legal or not and how annoyed that makes you is irrelevant. If you were both insured, yes the insurance companies would communicate, but your insurance can communicate with him. Him not being insured is not going to make it anymore difficult for you therefore don't try and use it as an excuse when it isn't relevant.

You CAN say that you will only go through your insurance not just the two of you. He might drop the whole thing if he thinks your insurance will ask questions about why he is dealing with it himself and report him for not being insured. You could report him to the police for not being insured, as well as getting your insurance to go to him about fixing the damage you caused.

You could ask him to go through the police to get you to fix the damage, and you might get away with doing nothing, because he may think that risking the police finding out he isn't insured is way worse than paying to get the damage fixed and dropping the whole thing. However if he decided to go to the police, you could get in trouble for damaging his property and refusing to pay.

ok, it's working...he is not insured

When you have a collision you are supposed to exchange insurance details and not to admit liability. Then you report the accident to your insurers - you might want to tell them the MOT and tax status of his car. If he has insurance (which is unlikely) it will be invalid if the car has no MOT (I believe).

Wow. What poor ethics and morals.

Glad I’m not such a lowdown, scurvy liar as would do that.

Op you're going down rabbit holes trying to sneak your way out of dealing with this. It's very very simple. You drove without due care and attention and reversed into a car that was behind you. His car and insurance status is completely irrelevant, I don't even understand why you felt the need to check his mot/tax status anyway, it's almost like you were hoping he was driving illegally? It's up to you whether you go through your insurance or pay him in cash. If you have decent no claims then it's likely cheaper for you to pay cash. Yes you should tell your insurance any way but lots don't. You should have given him your insurance details at the time along with your contact details. He doesn't have to go through his insurance, as he wasn't at fault for the accident. He can choose to claim directly from your insurance. I would also bet money that he's now taxed the car and even if he didn't have insurance at the time he may have taken a new policy today. £200 is actually very reasonable for that damage on that type and age of car.

OP do NOT tell your insurance company about this if you can possibly avoid it. If you tell them about an incident, even if you do not claim, the accident goes on your record and affects your premiums for years, even when you shop around. Any insurer in the same group as your current insurance provider will see it on your record. This is what happened to me when I dutifully reported a minor collision I had with someone, where the other driver was at fault. Boy did I regret it.

Think a bit , it’s much harder to prove someone reversing onto you because the norm is those behind the car are to blame . And you can actually say you accept no liability and fight it with your insurance . I do have a legal profession so I don’t give up easily but a few years ago I had a crash for cash accident where the guy in front of me slammed on the breaks .he assumed it was a win not realising it wasn’t that easy and 8 months after I won’t that claim and paid nil for his or my vehicle or any hip-lash claim he made . It wasn’t a easy battle but was a withy one

It's pretty easy when the damage is on the side of his car rather than the front, and it's on the back quarter of ops car.

I am offering him a reasonable way to claim against my insurance. the reason that he is unable to do this is because he is driving illegally 🤷🏼‍♀️

You reversed into him, so you should pay for the damage. £200 is getting off cheaply. If you go through insurance you'll lose through increased premiums so you may as well pay up. Don't use the fact that he wasn't insured as an excuse not to take responsibility for your mistake, that would be very mean.

I am taking responsibility, by having car insurance

Your example is a really common one. That’s why it even has a name - crash for cash. I’ve worked in claims specifically, not a legal profession. The insurance will take all the stories and make the most logical and cost effective decision based on this.

OP is coming across as an awful person and it’s minimal understanding of how things work and just wants to weasel out of it. Two wrongs here don’t make a right.

You don't have the right to tell him he has to go through his insurance. You should have provided your insurance details to him at the time. You can pay him, or you can provide your insurance details. Those are your choices.

I do have very limited understanding of how car insurance works, understandably ,because I don't work in insurance and I haven't made a claim before. I don't think that makes me 'an awful person'

I am offering him to claim against my insurance. I have insurance because it's a legal requirement. but I also have insurance for lots of things, house, pets etc so that I don't have to fork out to cover the costs if/when they arise

I will tell my insurance company to meet my legal obligation and then block him

how do you provide insurance details 'at the time'?? they are at home. I will need to find them. he has my registration number. that is what his insurance company needs to pursue a claim isn't it

he has the same legal obligation to report to his insurance company, that I do surely. even if he just wants me to give him £200?

OP, do not under any circumstances follow this advice.

He is a complete knob for driving his car illegally, but that doesn’t absolve you of your portion of the blame. He can claim from your insurance, he probably won’t, but that’s not for certain. Even if it goes 50-50, you will still have to pay your excess and your premiums will still increase, you will also lose any no claims bonus unless you have it protected.
Don’t even think about telling the insurance company that you didn’t reverse into him, CCTV and dashcam could well be available, and you will then have a fraud marker put on your name, which all insurance companies will see. Also, if he is a dodgy git, he might not take too kindly to finding out you’ve lied about the accident, and may cause more probs for you than it’s worth.

I have 25 years NCB, it is protected

You tell them who you're insured with? He doesn't need your policy number!! You tell him your name, contact details, who you're insured with and your car reg. he can then contact your insurance and give them you name and car reg tell them what's happened, you'll have (hopefully) already told them then they'll deal directly with him.

Why do you think he will be unable to do that? He can claim directly from your insurer.