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

I don't know where you live but I called the police because I found a man coming up my stairs at 3am with me and my daughter's asleep upstairs. I beat him until he left and called the police. they came 3 days later and said there was nothing they could do about it because I didn't have CCTV. they would not be interested in this🤣

In driving threads the OP is always wrong - reckless, thoughtless, shouldn't be on the road.
Even so, I am still surprised that driving uninsured raised so little ire, people must know loads of people driving without insurance.

You beat a man coming into your house? I’ve changed my mind, you’re an idol 😂

or, they are driving without insurance themselves? 🤪

haha, thank you thank, I'll take a bow 😁. I didn't know what the hell to do, I just wanted to keep him getting into my girls bedrooms. there was a curtain pole in my room because I was decorating, so I hit him with it and used it to push him down the stairs and screamed at him as loud as I could, hoping that neighbours would hear. It really surprised me that my reaction was 'fight' but there you go, you never know. I now sleep with a hockey stick by my bed, which I keep meaning to upgrade to a baseball bat, but it's just what I had in the house

Rubbish

I didn’t miss it. I just didn’t comment on that part.

I haven't seen much in the way of anyone supporting the other person to drive without insurance/ MOT / tax.
Most people seem to be trying to point out to you, that just because he is in the wrong, it doesn't make you any less at fault.

If you reverse into another car / object / person etc, you are at fault and are responsible for the damage.

His road positioning is largely irrelevant, it is fine to be on the wrong side of the road, it is common for drivers to need to do this to get around obstacles like parked cars, or even to overtake slower moving vehicles. And it sounds like there was an obstruction to the left.

If a driver (you) reverses into another vehicle, I'm struggling to think of a scenario when that wouldn't be their fault.

People driving without insurance puts insurance premiums up for everyone else, and people lying to their insurance increases the claim cost for the non fault driver.

I'm sorry to hear you are having a hard time in life at the moment OP.

As a side note, I have paid for damage and received payment for damage outside of insurance before.
On the time I paid out, I sent a message confirming I was happy to pay for the damage (£500) and if they accepted that was the end of the matter. So I had a paper trail.
On the time someone paid me, they had knocked off my wing mirror when my car was parked, and left a note, I was so blown away by their honesty, I only asked for the cost of the part and got my husband to replace.

Just go through your insurance and let them deal with it. Know nothing. You’re insured, you were at fault and that’s the end of it. Whatever problems he’s got are not yours.

Utter rubbish. Take no notice of drivel like that.

But they were interested when you called to report the man that you reversed into had no tax or MOT and possibly no insurance? How strange your local police are.

they weren't particularly interested, no. they sent me a link to an online form which I filled in. they sounded marginally more interested that he had been aggressive and phoning me asking for money.

It wouldn't. I work in criminal law.

He's clearly a dickhead BUT for future reference and anyone else reading the thread, legally the only things you are required to provide following an accident are name and address of the driver and owner (if the not same person) and your reg. Alternatively you can refuse to do so and instead give that information to the police within 24 hours (e.g. if you are injured, feel threatened or are unable to give the information).

Legally you do not need to provide your insurance details but personally I feel happier giving them.

If the accident involves an uninsured driver (regardless of fault) you have a legal duty to inform the police.

You have a duty to inform your insurance company regardless of fault or intention to claim.

It's all information easily available on the .gov website. No need for debate.

https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-insurance/if-youre-in-an-accident

if you don't want to tell your insurance company, then you pay for the repairs from your own pocket. You damaged that car, you are responsible for fixing it. btw, this is what insurance is meant for.

The police do not want to be involved in minor scrapes like this one. They would be more interested in the person driving without insurance if anything.

Hope you are ok @notthisnowaswell.
What a strange world we live in, as some of the responses on here show!
I am 100% on your side.
I would be furious if my insurance had to pay out to fix some idiot’s car - who didn’t want to pay for tax, MOT and insurance, like the rest of us. I would hope there was some central register who informed the police that he was illegally on the road and his car was seized and crushed. I would absolutely not pay him £200 - he will definitely come back for more. Very glad to hear you informed your insurance and the police. I think he will quietly disappear after being approached by either of them.
This is what Google/A1 says:
Yes, in the UK, an uninsured driver can make a claim against an insured driver if they are deemed at fault in an accident. If the insured driver is found liable, their insurance company will be responsible for covering the uninsured driver's damages. However, the uninsured driver will also face penalties for driving without insurance, which can include fines, points on their license, and even vehicle seizure.

Just because you're skint and don't want your insurance to go up, is not a reason to avoid your responsibilities in the eye of the law. It's best to ring your insurance people, report it yourself, and ask for their advice. And at least then, if you do need police help with him, you will be able to call them

50% of the cars in London have no tax insurance etc.

Don't pay him a penny. If everything is legit then he'll go through insurance and you'll hear shortly. (you won't)
All the people defending the numpty without insurance/tax/mot you do realise it's partly because of these numpties insurance is so high?

Absolute nonsense

Terrible person. I can not believe the people who agree with you. You have no idea what his situation is but you would lie to get out of something if your creation. No dignity. No honour. No self worth. The worst kind of behaviour

Would love to know where this "statistic" came from!

There’s a guy in our town who was driving without a licence and without insurance who killed his son in a driving accident (no other vehicle involved) still getting loads of sympathy locally and on Facebook. He shouldn’t even have been driving! I can only assume lots of people don’t think that illegally driving without insurance nor licence is a problem! Maybe lots of people ignore driving/vehicle laws and it’s becoming normalised?

Surely not 😱. If this is true, they should all be seized. That would certainly help with traffic congestion and pollution 🤔