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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

I'm in trouble

324 replies

drintrouble · 13/01/2023 11:15

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?

OP posts:
CurlyhairedAssassin · 13/01/2023 19:38

Batshit thread. Op has given few solid details about the incident itself, and there are holes all over the place in her story with the OP hardly posting or addressing anyone’s replies. Insurance threads always get loads of people posting. But usually the incidents are described every clearly. I think OP might be having have other reasons for posting - is OP doing research for uni or something about dishonesty?

Dibbydoos · 13/01/2023 19:43

You must force this through their insurance company. You have all the evidence etc and that she was driving - is she in any pics? It's likely she wasnt insured to drive, so see what happens once you contact their insurer. If she wasnt insured, they could still ask you to put right the damage which you can do at a garage of your choice as long as the garage will do a good job.

Talk to citizens advice. Explain you dont want it to go via your insuranxe as its low cost. But tgat you will tell your insurer because you must do this when you renew.

Good luck, OP.

GreenFingersWouldBeHandy · 13/01/2023 19:47

For everyone saying Im a twat (thanks); I might have got the technical details wrong, but at least I'm not stupid enough to drive without insurance. Then crash my car into someone else's.

How they hell do you 'forget' to renew your insurance during your first month of having a licence? You deserve a ban and everything thrown at you.

GreenFingersWouldBeHandy · 13/01/2023 19:48

Last winter I have passed my driving test. And 2 weeks later crashed my car into somebody else- totally my fault.

Licence recall immediately.

Newnamefor23 · 13/01/2023 19:50

Is there a chance that the insurance, that you thought had expired, had autorenewed?

The other car’s insurance contacting your OH a year after the event should also ring alarm bells. A few weeks maybe, a year though?

We were contacted a couple of weeks after a car we’d traded in was involved in an accident.

Againstmachine · 13/01/2023 19:50

GreenFingersWouldBeHandy · 13/01/2023 19:47

For everyone saying Im a twat (thanks); I might have got the technical details wrong, but at least I'm not stupid enough to drive without insurance. Then crash my car into someone else's.

How they hell do you 'forget' to renew your insurance during your first month of having a licence? You deserve a ban and everything thrown at you.

Exactly that is the time when you make sure everything is order, you inform the insurance you passed your test.

Fair enough lapses years in but right at beginning come on.

Againstmachine · 13/01/2023 19:51

Dibbydoos · 13/01/2023 19:43

You must force this through their insurance company. You have all the evidence etc and that she was driving - is she in any pics? It's likely she wasnt insured to drive, so see what happens once you contact their insurer. If she wasnt insured, they could still ask you to put right the damage which you can do at a garage of your choice as long as the garage will do a good job.

Talk to citizens advice. Explain you dont want it to go via your insuranxe as its low cost. But tgat you will tell your insurer because you must do this when you renew.

Good luck, OP.

Does a uninsured driver really want to play this game.

keepareaclean · 13/01/2023 19:54

Newnamefor23 · 13/01/2023 19:50

Is there a chance that the insurance, that you thought had expired, had autorenewed?

The other car’s insurance contacting your OH a year after the event should also ring alarm bells. A few weeks maybe, a year though?

We were contacted a couple of weeks after a car we’d traded in was involved in an accident.

No. Because that means midrange was for a provisional driver and would have ended when OP passed her test.

keepareaclean · 13/01/2023 19:55

That insurance

strumpert · 13/01/2023 19:56

If the car was empty, how do you know her husband didn't drive to the shop?

thislittlehouseofmine · 13/01/2023 19:57

Your whole post OP stated "woman driver" this and "woman driver" that - that there must be this great fraud / dodgy behaviour going on on her and her husbands part but it turns out she wasn't even in the car! So you hit a stationary car with no one in it is that what you are saying? Your post is very confused and it makes you appear guiltier than you may be

Algor1thm · 13/01/2023 20:01

Twokidsanddone · 13/01/2023 11:42

Honesty is the best policy. But for the purposes of being honest, check the learner driver insurance you had for the lead up to your test, because if you were continuing to drive on that policy after passing you may not have been covered at all as learner driver insurance doesn't usually transfer once you pass. After passing my test In my own car I couldn't drive away, I had to sit and fiddle about taking out new insurance as a full driver.
More people than you think make mistakes like that so don't beat yourself up too much and just accept that there may be consequences, then move on.

This. You can't carry on driving on the same insurance once you pass your test! So your insurance wasn't 2 days out of date... it was invalid from the moment you passed your test 😬

TipsyAndTommy · 13/01/2023 20:01

I love that as the absolute guilty party you are trying to make out that the other couple are in some way dodgy.

You are an uninsured driver, you crashed into a parked car with no one in it and you can't even get your story straight across 2 posts, but still trying to pick holes in the other persons story.

If the car was empty you have no idea who drove it. Husband could have driven both into town, went to different shops, wife first on scene witnesses it and calls husband who is in another shop. Husband could have dropped wife off to go shopping, met up with a friend and agreed to meet back up in a few hours to drive home. You have no idea!!

You are the one in the wrong. So get your story straight if you are going to talk to an insurance company as it will seem more dodgy if you keep changing it or making up stuff about the other party!

FrozenTodger · 13/01/2023 20:35

TipsyAndTommy · 13/01/2023 20:01

I love that as the absolute guilty party you are trying to make out that the other couple are in some way dodgy.

You are an uninsured driver, you crashed into a parked car with no one in it and you can't even get your story straight across 2 posts, but still trying to pick holes in the other persons story.

If the car was empty you have no idea who drove it. Husband could have driven both into town, went to different shops, wife first on scene witnesses it and calls husband who is in another shop. Husband could have dropped wife off to go shopping, met up with a friend and agreed to meet back up in a few hours to drive home. You have no idea!!

You are the one in the wrong. So get your story straight if you are going to talk to an insurance company as it will seem more dodgy if you keep changing it or making up stuff about the other party!

I assumed she saw the woman drive away. Didn't think of what you suggested, but could well be the case.

Original poster
drintrouble · 13/01/2023 20:50

lieselotte · 13/01/2023 14:33

even though in her first post she said "There were no other people in the car, just the woman driver".

OP, get your story straight please.

Sorry, didn't write it clear enough it seems. Woman came out of the shop, we exchanged details and she drove off, there were no other people in her car with her.
Regarding my lapsed insurance: had paid for insurance for a month only, as got driving test by chance on 15 February when I downloaded app for nearer driving test- after the lockdown it was almost impossible to book a driving test because of the backlog. I got myself an App for faster dr tests (it cost I think about £20-30 for a year) and got dr test. The App is set in such way that it automatically books test for you if there is a cancellation in your chosen test centre BEFORE THE TEST YOU HAVE BOOKED 'normal' way, through DVLA website. When you accept the App's booking, your test and money paid for the test, booked through DVLA's website, transfers to a NEARER test, booked through an App.
So, I bought myself an insurance for a month, went and passed my dr test, assumed I still had insurance for another couple of weeks, and that was that.

OP posts:
strumpert · 13/01/2023 20:54

Your learner insurance will have been voided the minute you passed your test.

You've committed an offence by driving without insurance

strumpert · 13/01/2023 20:55

The whole flim flam over booking the test sooner is irrelevant and I don't know why you're so fixated on it

Againstmachine · 13/01/2023 20:56

drintrouble · 13/01/2023 20:50

Sorry, didn't write it clear enough it seems. Woman came out of the shop, we exchanged details and she drove off, there were no other people in her car with her.
Regarding my lapsed insurance: had paid for insurance for a month only, as got driving test by chance on 15 February when I downloaded app for nearer driving test- after the lockdown it was almost impossible to book a driving test because of the backlog. I got myself an App for faster dr tests (it cost I think about £20-30 for a year) and got dr test. The App is set in such way that it automatically books test for you if there is a cancellation in your chosen test centre BEFORE THE TEST YOU HAVE BOOKED 'normal' way, through DVLA website. When you accept the App's booking, your test and money paid for the test, booked through DVLA's website, transfers to a NEARER test, booked through an App.
So, I bought myself an insurance for a month, went and passed my dr test, assumed I still had insurance for another couple of weeks, and that was that.

Show quote history

I'm not sure why you keep using them in your post dr
But you inform insurance company when you passed your test, this wasn't an oversight it was neglecting your dutys.

Can you imagine any other. Time to make sure your paperwork is in order at time you do your test.

I hope you lose your license as you are irresponsible.

OhMonDieux · 13/01/2023 21:00

But what have you done in the 11 months since the accident re. insurance?

Are you driving?

Has your H added you to his insurance as a named driver?

Has he changed your details to full licence? And the date of when you passed the test?

Has he informed them you had a prang?

I assume not. So he's surely complicit in fraud which will also make his own insurance invalid and he should not be driving.

strumpert · 13/01/2023 21:01

OhMonDieux · 13/01/2023 21:00

But what have you done in the 11 months since the accident re. insurance?

Are you driving?

Has your H added you to his insurance as a named driver?

Has he changed your details to full licence? And the date of when you passed the test?

Has he informed them you had a prang?

I assume not. So he's surely complicit in fraud which will also make his own insurance invalid and he should not be driving.

All these questions too

keepareaclean · 13/01/2023 21:02

So, I bought myself an insurance for a month, went and passed my dr test, assumed I still had insurance for another couple of weeks, and that was that.

Why did you assume that?

RoseslnTheHospital · 13/01/2023 21:04

Right, so your husband is the registered owner of the car, but you are the only driver and you have your own insurance now? Which you got for yourself after the accident when you realised your learner insurance had expired? But you didn't tell the insurance company about the accident when you got full insurance? Is all of that correct?

strumpert · 13/01/2023 21:05

So you had learner driver insurance in your own name on your DH car.

You weren't a naked driver on his policy?

strumpert · 13/01/2023 21:05

*named
Assume you wore clothes

Againstmachine · 13/01/2023 21:09

strumpert · 13/01/2023 21:05

*named
Assume you wore clothes

With this crazy post who knows.