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

Tw@

So being a responsible person, you’ve already notified your car insurer that you reversed into another vehicle and that they may receive a claim? Or have you been too busy posting on MN?

It’s a legitimate reason for not having MOT, but it’s still an offence to have no insurance.

You don’t have to provide your insurance details at all.
All he needs is a car reg.
Then he contacts his insurance company and they can find who holds insurance for that car.
No one has to give anything other than car reg.

This happened to me in a garage. I reversed into a tin can van covered with rust holes. There was no damage but the driver tried to intimidate me into paying there and then. I gave him my details and a few days later he rang up and asked for £200. I asked him for his insurance details and told him I would report it to my insurance company and I never heard from him again.

I don't think people think that at all. More a case of, instead of all the posting about how HE's done the wrong thing means he shouldn't expect recompense of any kind, just give him the insurance details and leave it at that. No need for drama, no need to lie, just leave it with the insurers. Easy.
He'll either claim, or he won't, but it's far more useful and time effective to follow the proper process 🤷‍♀️

You should always have a copy of your insurance paperwork on your car. Come on. That is adulting 101.

Quite honestly, if he rings again I’d be saying “look, you’re not insured, no mot, no tax .. most I’ll do is buy you a bottle of t-cut”

no it really isn't. I don't know anyone who carries their car insurance documents with them. even in the days of police issuing producers, all over the place

Actually, I do. I have a copy of my Certificate of Motor Insurance printed out and keep it in my handbook in my car and I also have a copy downloaded to my phone. But I'm the "belt and braces" type! 😂

I work in the motor trade and deal with people every day that have had no MOT for over a year (and think there is a grace period), don’t have a clue if they have breakdown cover, have no idea what a service is and don’t know how to put washer fluid in

the general public aren’t carrying around copies of insurance paperwork. I don’t but I could tell you who it was with and the policy number as I keep a screenshot

I'm the baler twine type tbh 🤣

Baler twine fixes everything. if you have that and WD40 they’re you’re fine
pretty sure I could still make a head collar and haynet out of it!

Is that because you generally don't report accidents, lie about who is at fault and shift blame to weasel out of things?

Pretty much every car insurance policy will have a duty of disclose clause, requiring you to report any accident within a stated time frame even if you don't intend to make a claim.
If you don't do so and your insurer finds out about the accident, they can cancel your policy. One of the things you need to admit when applying for insurance is if you have ever had a policy cancelled.
Unless you are absolutely CERTAIN that the other driver will not report this accident I think you need to advise your insurer about it, or down the line you could find yourself refused insurance or paying a huge premium as you will be considered an increased risk.

Legally you may be guilty as sin but there is NO WAY I would be giving him any details of anythging, if there are no witnesses and he doesn’t have anything other than your plate. You will end up paying through higher premiums and he will suffer precisely …. nothing. He’s a shit who doesn’t tax or MOT his car. He’s not going to be pursuing the approved redresss route!

What’s not always widely appreciated is that just notifying your insurer of a gnat’s fart will put up your premium substantially, even if neither party makes a claim.
This dude is surely, surely not going to initiate any kind of action if he has no insurance. Sod doing the right thing: he didn’t, don’t you pay good hard-earned money to pacify this total scrounging waste of space!

He is quite unlikely to have (valid) insurance if he is driving a very expensive car with a long-expired MOT and no road tax. Not because not having those invalidates insurance, but because the type of person to try and flush money out of a lone woman all the while suggesting avoiding going through his insurance is … highly suspicious.

I agree but that’s really his problem

OP doesn’t have to give him her insurance provider. In fact she doesn’t even have to get out of the car.
Many people recommend this these days as long as you can get
a picture of the other cars reg,
possibly a photo of damage and
a pic of the inside of the car to identify if there are any passengers.

Wow.

what a mentality to go through life with.

We were raised to conduct ourselves with integrity.

Either way. Everyone who’s behind the wheel should be able to produce that information within 60 seconds.

Reading this thread, I’m really wondering how some people stumble through an average day. So grifty and ill-prepared .

I would tell him to contact his insurance and not engage further with him.
As he doesn’t have a valid MOT, even if he did have insurance ( which seems extremely unlikely) the insurance company can reduce or nulify his claim.
Personally I would not admit fault either. It’s his word - as a driver of an untaxed, unMOTed and probably an uninsured car against yours.

You can look up if someone is insured , I did it last year.

You should pay, you caused the accident.

ok ok, so this IS what I did. I only gave him my first name and mobile number and obviously he has my registration. when he asked for other details, I said that he needs to pass my name/reg/phone number to his insurance company who will communicate with my insurance company.

But he doesn’t need to claim via his insurance. He can claim from you and you need to pass his claim onto your insurance. So, it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t have insurance.

That’s pretty common where I am. Many people who drive older cars have what’s known as bomb insurance. They have the compulsory green slip (required to register your car, and is for injuries for yourself or other party sustained in a vehicle accident), then third party, which means if they run into a brand new Ferrari they are not out of pocket for fixing the Ferrari, however they are out of pocket for damages to their own car. However, if the Ferrari hits them then they are covered because the Ferrari must pay to fix the damages to their car.