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?

I dont buy your story!You haven't made a mistake. You were chancing it
You were previously a learner driver, you know full well I pu need to take out a different ( more expensive) insurance policy when you pass your test.

Your insurance company will find out if you're lying and then you will Get done for fraud.
I've worked in insurance for over 10 years. They always find out.

was the reason for the 2 day no cover your fault? Did you renew with a new provider or automatic renewal?

When I spoke to driver's husband that same night on the phone, he told me himself that he will try to buy taillight himself on the Ebay and even said a price, £165, for it. I assumed I will have to pay for his time and inconvenience maybe additional £200-300, but not the £4k he demanded next day. That is why I asked him to bring his car to a mechanic I know. He refused. I wasn't going to go somewhere in a car park and hand £4k in cash for a minor accident. Everyone I spoke to about it, said it must have been a fraud and not to pay attention. I felt really guilty for not paying him at all, but in the second call I said I'm refusing to pay £4k and he put the phone down on me.
What a cock-up. Thank you, Everyone, for the invaluable (and conflicting!) advice.

You can't be very good at your job if you didn't notice OP was not insured after passing her test.

Any chance you could clarify the situation, OP?

Also, you have no need to speak to the other party about anything at the moment. The important issue is about you and your insurance, which might well be declared void because you didn't tell them about the accident you had (when you were uninsured).

@herbaltea21 as I read it, she took the insurance out before she passed her test ie Learner insurance, which would have been invalid anyway

It's interesting you keep posting but answering nothing anyone else has posted. Why did you even bothe asking.

When I was sorting out insurance for my son before he passed his test, it was made very clear to me that the learner driver insurance expired as soon as he passed his test and that we then needed to contact them again as he would then be driving on his own (while he was learning, he would always have to have someone with him)
So actually your insurance probably ended when you passed your test, unless you specifically told them you had passed.

Something that's not clear to me. How did you get your car repaired on your insurance (as you said in one of your updates) if you weren't actually insured? Unless you lied about the accident to your insurer? Or am I missing something here?

Why do you think that?
OP’s second post: “We sorted our car without an insurance claim ourselves- it was a little dent to the front/side”

Sorry, I must have misread it.

311 posts but you keep ignoring questions and focusing on the minor details.

What happens now, depends on what you did after the prang, with your insurance.

I've asked but you choose not to answer.

I could be wrong but it would appear that you are hiding some things.

And where is your H in all of this? What is his advice?
His car.
He's added you to his policy.

I wonder if you understand how you could both be uninsurable if he's not told his insurance co. about your accident, or when you passed your test, etc etc.

Why can't you discuss this here because what you do now depends on what's happened in the last 11 months with your insurance.

NO she had NO insurance at the time of the accident. HER insurance that she got a few days AFTER that DIDN'T know she'd had an accident as she didn't tell them and my insurance had no interest in hunting down or chasing up.

See, I can use capitals too.

311 posts but you keep ignoring questions and focusing on the minor details.

she won’t get away with it in RL.

the wheels are in motion. I have no doubt a shit show is heading OP’s way

There's far too much here that doesn't make any sense at all and I don't think we know all the facts, especially as @drintrouble isn't engaging with any questions.

Why would the insurance company send a letter now, 11 months later?
Or, more to the point, why would the woman whose car was hit, start a claim now?

If they had lost a light at the rear of their car, they'd need to get it fixed and would they wait a year to do that?

Anyway, that's all by the by.

The real questions are what has the OP been doing since then regarding her own insurance and any admittance of the prang.

I expect she's worried because her H didn't declare the accident and just added her to his policy.

OP I hope you are reading because if he didn't declare the accident and all the facts around you driving uninsured, then his policy will be void. So if he has an accident, it could cost him £millions if he injured someone.

My husband had this happen. The owner had a crash later down the line and tried claiming against him. As it was a year later and there was no evidence of the damage at the time (none visible, he barely touched the bumper) the insurance company fought it and won. Definitely be clear with the insurance company the woman was the driver and you have evidence as she may not even be insured. Might also be worth consulting a solicitor. First consultation won't cost you 4k.

I would also be tempted to message the guy to let him know you have video footage and being clear you will need to send it to the insurance company to clarify who was driving as they seem mistaken.

OP was the only one driving.

After the event other woman drove off. But actually you are right, that fact is moot as it is about who was driving at the time of the accident and I am guessing as the car was parked it is irrelevant and insurance may not be invalidated.

Are you certain you weren't still insured. Most companies only cancel the policy if you tell them to. It just carries on indefinitely.

Mistaken about what. They insurance company do not mention who was driving the other car - perhaps because they know nobody was

The insurance was for a provisional licence holder, when OP passed her test she did not take out insurance for a full licence holder. OP had NO insurance.

It was very foolish of the OP to create this thread on a public forum anyway, when she is clearly in the wrong. There have been other 'legal' threads in the past and it was made clear to posters that they were potentially jeopardising their case by posting in public.

especially as @drintrouble isn't engaging with any questions.

Because she doesn’t want to face the truth.

fair enough, I wouldn’t if I was in her shoes

no point posting. She won’t respond. She knows she’s in trouble. Indeed she is. Wheels in motion. She won’t update.