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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think she did the best she could?

81 replies

QuestionableMouse · 12/07/2021 17:05

Just had a friend on the phone in an absolute flap because of something she did last night.

As she described it to me:
She drove without insurance. She got a taxi to pick her new used car up from a dealer on an industrial estate. Dealer closed at 3, she got there for about 2:40 due to work. By the time she realised she hadn't switched the insurance over, the dealer was closed. She didn't have a phone on her (left it at work in the rush) and nowhere was open so she could find a phone to ring anyone. So she was basically stranded.

So she drove home (a 40 minute trip)

She's absolutely convinced that the police are going to bash down her door and drag her off to jail. Not sure what else to say to her (she has form for both being forgetful and a drama queen)

I swear this isn't a reverse or me!

OP posts:
Essentialgarage · 12/07/2021 19:49

@Hopdathelf

I don’t drive so it’s a genuine question. Would a dealer really allow someone to phone and arrange insurance from their own phones? IKEA wouldn’t let you into the office to arrange a man and van to pick up.
Yes I would, Independent garage, I want to help my customer.
nameychange · 12/07/2021 19:55

But you need insurance to tax a car which is no longer transferred between owners. So for the dealer to tax the car the car must have had insurance this is why lots of places give the 7 days cover because then they can tax the car in the new owners name

thenewduchessofhastings · 12/07/2021 19:56

@Thekormachameleon

Unfortunately she wouldn't have been covered on the vehicle under third party driving other cars as she is the owner of said car.

@QuestionableMouse

She could have called her insurance to do either a change of vehicle or added it under temporary cover to her existing policy.

What she did was really irresponsible and hopefully she'll have learnt her lesson from this and simply not do it again.

TroysMammy · 12/07/2021 19:58

I picked up a new used car last Saturday. I phoned my insurance company on Thursday to switch insurance from my old car to new car on Saturday at 0.01 hours and they said I could drive my old car until I picked up my new one. The garage didn't need to see I had insurance or my driving licence but once I'd paid for it it was my responsibility to ensure it was taxed, insured and MOT'd before driving away.

Original poster
QuestionableMouse · 12/07/2021 20:02

@Imnothereforthedrama

You usually get temporary insurance so you can Drive home is she sure she didn’t get that? Also if she was that worried she could of rang her insurance before she drove off . Honestly it’s done now nothing to be done , the police won’t call round, if she’d had a accident then it’d be a different story . I remember a few years ago I gave my insurance wrong reg ( typo) so was driving round unbeknown a few weeks without insurance .
She didn't have her phone.
OP posts:
toastantea · 12/07/2021 20:04

@Hopdathelf

I don’t drive so it’s a genuine question. Would a dealer really allow someone to phone and arrange insurance from their own phones? IKEA wouldn’t let you into the office to arrange a man and van to pick up.

Any business may or may not. The point is the option wasn't there, it's irrelevant whether they would have let her or not.

Blossomtoes · 12/07/2021 20:08

@ithoughtisawapuddycat

I thought most cars from dealers came with 7 days insurance on the dealers cover. It's basic but enough in case something happens.
I thought so too. We’ve had 48 hours cover from the dealer every time we’ve bought new cars.

She’ll be fine. I inadvertently drove around for three months with no MOT. Nothing happened.

warmfluffytowels · 12/07/2021 20:27

@sparepantsandtoothbrush

I doubt anything will happen but I'm really surprised the dealership let her drive away without seeing valid insurance. Every car we've ever bought hasn't been released until proof of insurance
I've never been asked for proof of insurance when buying a car before. In fact, they've never asked for proof of anything lol. I only buy used cars though.

I go and have a look around, do a test drive and if I like it, pay the deposit. The garage then go and do an MOT and service, sort anything that needs sorting, and then a few days later, I go and pay the balance, get the key and drive off.

nokidshere · 12/07/2021 20:33

Third party only covers you if the vehicle you are driving has its own insurance surely? For instance my friend borrowed mine at the weekend so her insurance covered her for third party only on my fully insured one.

Daffodil123456 · 12/07/2021 20:58

@PurpleDaisies

She will most likely get away with it. She was really lucky not to get in an accident.
How often do you get into accidents?
Corrag · 12/07/2021 21:12

Agree with other posters. People often get caught out by the "driving other vehicles" cover because they don't realise that...

A) It isn't always automatically included on policies, sometimes you need to specifically request it. People often assume they'll have it with comprehensive policies. Not always the case.

B) It only covers vehicles you don't own.

C) The vehicle needs to be insured elsewhere.

bluegreygreen · 12/07/2021 22:57

It's not like it was 8 pm on Friday evening - you're talking three o'clock on Monday afternoon. Of course she had other options.

IceLace100 · 12/07/2021 23:01

It was daft and she was lucky she wasn't in an accident.

But it's done now, she learned from it. She can't go back in time.

I'd forget it!

CalliopeCat · 12/07/2021 23:22

@bluegreygreen

It's not like it was 8 pm on Friday evening - you're talking three o'clock on Monday afternoon. Of course she had other options.
I read it as happening at 3PM on Sunday and the roads are usually very quiet then.

I personally make sure I always have a phone with me as I'm not physically up to walking huge distances due to a bad knee. Yes, maybe she could have walked to find a phone but some of these trading estates can feel very creepy when you're alone and there's been a lot of press lately about women being murdered or attacked in areas where they should have been safe so I can understand the friend not wanting to walk alone for miles with no means of communication.

CalliopeCat · 12/07/2021 23:24

Can't remeber who said it, but the last car I bought, I picked up in about ten minutes. I'd been a couple of days before and put a deposit down, done a test drive and all that stuff. Just needed to pay and collect and then was free to go.

Original poster
QuestionableMouse · 12/07/2021 23:29

@Hopdathelf

I don’t drive so it’s a genuine question. Would a dealer really allow someone to phone and arrange insurance from their own phones? IKEA wouldn’t let you into the office to arrange a man and van to pick up.
Every time I've picked a new car up, I've been taken into an office where there's a phone. Even in Covid times (took my sister to get her new car)

I'm guessing she wanted to ring her partner who could have either sorted some cover out or driven out to meet her with a phone so they could sort it out with that. So a short call for help rather then one to actually put the insurance in place.

OP posts:
bluegreygreen · 12/07/2021 23:30

@CalliopeCat you're right - I misread 😳

Cocomarine · 12/07/2021 23:47

How can you be bothered with this level of shit over nothing? 🧐🤷🏻‍♀️

She shouldn’t have driven the car, end of. I don’t believe that any car dealership was so far from “civilisation” that she couldn’t have found somewhere within walking distance to ask to make a call from. Most car dealerships i drive past are on business parks with a McD very nearby! She just needed someone to collect her, or call her taxi, and to go home and come back next day. Would most people do that instead of risking it? Who knows - but the option was there.

She was disorganised.
She didn’t sort insurance.
She didn’t bring a phone.
She didn’t walk someone to fix it.
She didn’t have an accident.
She probably didn’t trigger ANPR.
She can do nothing about if she did.
She’s not going to have a major consequence if she did.

So… she needs to grow the fuck up for all of that.

I could NOT be doing with her attention seeking drama llama seeking shite, and I’m surprised you can.

Tell her to call you back when she has a real problem 🤷🏻‍♀️

FatOaf · 13/07/2021 00:16

Are we to also assume that she also drove it off with no road fund licence?

Fairly likely, given that road fund licence hasn't existed since 1936.

Dogvmarmot · 13/07/2021 00:25

@ithoughtisawapuddycat

I thought most cars from dealers came with 7 days insurance on the dealers cover. It's basic but enough in case something happens.
this.
Recessed · 13/07/2021 01:30

Bizarre she's still fretting?! I can see why she'd be nervous on the journey but once she made it home safe and sound it's obviously going to be completely fine now.

TreeSmuggler · 13/07/2021 01:46

I don't get what she thinks could happen now. She didn't get pulled over. It's like someone posting that they may have driven over the limit after a night out, back in 2018. Unless the police have time machines now, you got away with it.

Then OP posts a screenshot of her meal planning app to prove it isn't her? This is the weirdest thread!

PyongyangKipperbang · 13/07/2021 02:13

I have been pulled over twice for having no insurance. Both times I did have insurance and it was within a few hours of renewing (I live in a small town....) and all was fine.

If she wasnt pulled over then she will be fine. There is reg recognition on police cars now which is how most people who are not involved in an accident get "done" for no insurance.....Katie Price got caught that way a few years ago. I have a friend who got pulled too, also insured but for some reason it wasnt on the system.

She'll be fine.

Original poster
QuestionableMouse · 13/07/2021 02:40

@TreeSmuggler

I don't get what she thinks could happen now. She didn't get pulled over. It's like someone posting that they may have driven over the limit after a night out, back in 2018. Unless the police have time machines now, you got away with it.

Then OP posts a screenshot of her meal planning app to prove it isn't her? This is the weirdest thread!

No idea what a meal planning app is - that's my clocks (aka shift times) from work. I don't like being called a liar. @treesmuggler
OP posts:
Original poster
QuestionableMouse · 13/07/2021 02:41

@toastantea

Completely irrelevant but what in earth is that picture
It's my clocks from work. The knife and fork are to show what time the break should be.
OP posts: