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

How is it crash for cash when it was OP who reversed into him because she pulled out before she was ready and wanted to go back?

Selective nonsense.

OP is the one who reversed without checking and crashed into the other guy.

And she has openly started more than once on this thread that she has no qualms about lying to her insurer.

🤦‍♂️

Good lord, all the people saying his insurance status doesn’t matter!! Of course it does!

I think the rules are that you MUST report (tho obvs many many don’t…) - in this case, and esp given protected NCB I def would. It’s totally up to him to deal w your insurers.

police since conservatives came in really have given up pursuing the uninsured - at huge cost to the rest of us. They used to run stings near me, and had a queue of car transporters handy to take off the many many many uninsured cars… Time for that to happen again I think!

I haven't read every post but I assume someone has suggested that the OP should hand her licence in at the nearest police station as someone always says this on a crash thread no matter how minor.
I feel like I know this junction - you have to nose out slowly as visibility is so poor, then you realise there are three cars coming forwards and you have to reverse back slowly. Preferably not into another car though.

I would tell your insurance the basic truth (the position of the damage might show if the other car was moving), tell the other driver who your insurance is and not engage any further with other driver. I wouldn't block the other driver as I would want any evidence if he became abusive, etc. but I would not respond again.

Your premium will most likely go up (but maybe not if your NCB is protected) but it's the right thing to do.

I’ve heard of a few cases over the years where people haven’t reported minor bumps and have then been stung when they do actually have to claim in the future - so for me it depends whether you want to take that risk or not.

In terms of insurance - the car may not be insured but he could be insured on his own policy to drive it - I’m not sure how that works in terms of a claim but again it’s up to you whether you take the risk.

I’m too anxious not to report things like this - for me, once it’s reported it’s then off my conscience and I don’t need to worry about it anymore.

Report it to the police! Or just tell him you will report it to the police.
If you’re uncomfortable doing that then ask for his insurance details; tell him you’ll exchange details - once he gives you his!

Yes, he can report directly to your insurer.
Depending on who your insurer is will depend on how they action.
I work in insurance although not specifically car insurance.

The OP has paid for insurance so she should use it and let them deal with the issue. Premiums go up every year anyway and this claim might well turn out to be one that has no effect on hers.
Even though the other driver will be keen not to do it I’d tell him to deal directly with my insurance company and then have no further contact with him.
Whilst I don’t deny that usually if you reverse into someone you are to blame, all the comments about her having a moral obligation to pay for the damage don’t sit well with me. He was a driver out on the road without tax and insurance, who obviously wasn’t concentrating on what was happening ahead of him. Had he been reading the road he wouldn’t have moved forward leaving the OP with no room to move back
I may be adding up 2 and 2 to make 5 but someone who is happy to drive a car without insurance and tax is not the most law abiding of citizens - yes the OP caused him some damage, but he shouldn’t have been on the road, as such should fund the necessary repair himself.

Are you joking? I don't know anyone who does NOT carry a copy of the insurance documents in their car. You are obligated to offer those details to anyone you're involved in an accident with. I would not let you leave the scene without providing insurance details, and, if you had tried to, I would have called the police on you.

I don't..the main details needed are on the disc

I don’t know anyone who carries a physical copy of their insurance docs. All someone needs is your registration number anyway, they don’t even need the name of your insurer.

Legally you only need to provide your name and address and registration number so the police won’t do anything.

What disc ?

That's simply not true these days.

You dont need to provide your address to a stranger you have an accident with.

You must give your name, address and registration number to anyone with reasonable grounds for requiring them after an accident causing damage or injury. A third party involved in the accident definitely counts as “reasonable grounds”.

No you dont. I was involved in an accident earlier this year. Number plates and names was all that was required. If the accident involves injury to people, if a car is stuck in a dangerous place and not moveable, or if there is damage to private or public property e.g a building, you have to contact the police before leaving the scene, otherwise you both move on.

While technically that’s true, the police are never going to pursue someone for not giving their address when they’ve given a phone number and insurance details.

There is no way I’d be giving my address to a strange bloke who was aggressive - I’d give him my insurance details and tell him to speak to them!

The legal requirement is to provide name, address, registration number and the name and address of the owner if different. Practically, the name and registration will get the job done but legally you need to provide the lot if asked.

Jesus. Why so confident when you’re wrong?

lack of MOT or tax does not invalidate insurance. Not sure how many times I can say it!

I can see the correspondents from the 1950’s have joined the thread. In England, (not sure about the rest of the UK), it has never been a requirement to carry insurance documents, only to provide details to the other party. And in the real world, I suspect most people are paperless and don’t bother to print copies.

Yeah, not a huge surprise tbh (and unrelated to the mot and tax position). Doesn’t change anything for you though. His illigal actions don’t remove your liability.

In 1987 maybe. This century not so much

absolutely zero chance that I was going to give him my address. I wouldn't give it to anyone but especially an angry aggressive man. he has my registration plate and his insurance company can obtain my address with that. why does he need to know my address??

OP has confirmed this particular vehicle isn’t insured, but genuine question - can you buy insurance for a car thats’s road tax expired over a year ago? (And also doesn’t have an MOT at the time of the proposal?).

Because the law requires you to provide it if asked? Obviously he was quite happy with just your reg and contact details.

I'm providing my address to his insurance company. I am not required to give it to him. what would be the purpose of him having my address? why would he need it?