I'm in trouble

[drintrouble]

Changed name as don't want to be found out.
I'm in trouble. Can anyone give me some encouragement/advice how to go about it.
Last winter I have passed my driving test. And 2 weeks later crashed my car into somebody else- totally my fault. Came out, gave the other driver, a woman, my details, all the info. She did not give me anything of hers, except, her husband's telephone number. I took a video and few pictures of her car. The only damage that I could see was broken plastic on the taillight. Rang her husband same evening, we spoke about the damage, but, strangely, he kept repeating that he was driving at the time of the accident! There were no other people in the car, just the woman driver. In the phone conversation the man said that the damage was not bad, he could buy light on ebay and, if I gave him the money, we could do it privately. I wasn't sure about it, but agreed. He rang me next morning and demanded £4,000. I was absolutely certain that that was over the top and asked if he could take his car to my mechanic. He refused. Then I said I prefer to go through my insurance.
When I checked my insurance documents, I found out it ran out literally 2 days before the accident. Totally my fault, but because if lockdowns and instructor shortages and tests not being available for months, I have bought insurance just for a month before my test, and completely forgot about it.
I have panicked, rang the man, told him that I am refusing to pay £4k and asked him to come with realistic price. Never told him that I did not have insurance.
Nothing happened for a year and yesterday my husband, who is registered on this car, have received a letter from an insurance company asking him to answer questions about the accident, mentioning the female driver- me.
I know I am in trouble BIG TIME, but how would you act? Tell the truth, but insist that the other car was driven by the female- letter doesn't say who the other driver was. I know that something dodgy is going on (from my side as well!), but what to do now? I have a female driver after the accident on a video, when she was talking to her husband. She couldn't leave the site of the accident fast enough.
Please, don't kick me for what I did, but I have thought £4k is excessive and have panicked about the insurance.
What would you do?

@Ursuala

Most uninsured drivers don't have insurance companies

Their partners may well though! 😐

I think this is good advice. Xx

Actually You could tell them that’s what you’re going to do before you do it - that might call their bluff and they might shut up. If not then you’ve been honest and I doubt you’ll have any repercussions! X

I’ve now read all your comments.

You, uninsured driver, crashed into a parked car and you’re trying to somehow pin this on her? Whether she had insurance or not is utterly irrelevant. You crashed into a parked car. She was not driving it. The insurance company doesn’t require her to be insured if you crashed into it parked. It doesn’t require anyone but the vehicle owner to be insured. At this point it’s clear that you’re grasping at straws trying to get yourself out of a hole. Your stuffed.

@Testina you're aware it’s illegal to drive without insurance right?

I would make sure they know you have evidence that the woman was driving, that she was the only person at the scene and you have evidence of her talking on the phone to her husband who is claiming to have been there and driving.
I would bet that she is not insured, possibly doesn’t have a driving licence or was banned at the time and should not have been driving that car.
As much as you are 100% in the wrong for not having valid insurance, and frankly there is no excuse to forget, there is not a chance that they are not trying to cover something up.

@csigeek she wasn’t driving. She was in the shop.

Where was her car?

Where did this accent happen?

After the accident, how quickly did you get added to your DH's insurance as a second driver? Does the letter have an exact date for the accident?

I know a pp said the cost was excessive for a tail light but I know someone ran into my friend's car and the only visible damage was a light. When it went to the garage, the car was written off because the bump had damaged the suspension, etc.

*accident

you need to report any accidents to insurance, even if you don't want to make a claim

Well someone drove the car to the shop….

How does she have an insurance company if she was uninsured ?

OP is the letter from the other persons insurance?

Just to clarify. Their insurers won't ring the police to tell them you weren't insured.
So don't worry about that.

Not read the full thread but are you sure the letter from the insurance company is genuine? It sounds like a scam to me.

exactly this!!

I would do fuck all other than report her to the police cos I would wager she is a banned driver.

This is what I would do if I were you

There was no driver, the car was stationary. If she was driving uninsured or whatever it has no relevance to the claim as she wasn’t in the car at the time. Just be honest.

Is it definitely from an insurer? I'm thinking it's probably more likely to be a credit hire company, that way they wouldn't have to inform their insurers.

She was either

1. Driving while disqualified or not yet passed her test.

2 driving under the influence

1. Wasn't insured

Or he's a cross dresser

OP, what did you do to arange insurance cover for future driving after you realised that you had none?

Did your husband call up and have you added as a second driver on his policy?

At that point, were you or he asked any questions about whether you had ever had any accidents? If yes, what did you/he say?

(I am assuming you told him everything about the accident as you said that there was a dent that “we” got fixed ourselves)

I suppose if she wasn’t insured she might have been anxious that reporting the accident would flag up that she must have driven the car to the place where it happened, and expose her to a criminal penalty.

As others have said, I would go down this route and be honest.
It's clear that the other party are lying - I'm wondering if:
-the man is insured himself
-the woman has a driving licence or disqualfied from driving.
Admit it to yourself, the demand for £4k is way over the top, and this doesn't feel right does it?🤔