Crashed in to an uninsured illegally parker car

[thebossof3]

This morning I reversed in to an illegally parked car (they were parked part on the road and part on the grass verge completely blocking access to the foot path). I didn't know who the car belonged to so took photos of the damage and how they were parked, left my details and reported the accident both the police and my insurance company..

This evening the owner of the car has informed me that they don't have insurance as they has only purchased the car a couple of weeks ago. They have said that if my insurance company won't pay out, they want me to pay half the repair costs.

My insurance company is now closed so I can't speak to them until the morning. I want to know if I am legally required to pay for the repairs to this car if my insurance company refuses to pay .

Some of the advice on here is a bit confused, some is wrong, some is more accurate.

Your insurance will cover this. It doesn't matter that the other car was uninsured. The fact that it was illegally parked is only relevant if that contributed to the accident in some way. It does not sound like it did. I would therefore expect your insurance to pay the full cost of repairing her car less any excess on your policy, which you would have to pay.

If your insurance company did not cover this you would be personally liable. You caused the damage to her car so you must pay the cost. However, there is no way your insurance company will refuse to cover this. That is why you pay them. There is absolutely no basis on which they could refuse to pay up.

The suggestion that your insurers may try to make a claim against her is well wide of the mark. The fact that her car was uninsured did not in any way contribute to the accident. The fact that she was illegally parked did not contribute to the accident. She is therefore not liable to you or your insurers for anything. She could face prosecution for the offences if the police get involved but that is a completely separate matter.

If the previous owner taxed the car then it will be invalid.
Tax is no longer transferable when you sell a car.

Was reading the previous posts and getting more and more at some of the inaccurate advice given. Fingers getting twitchy by the keyboard, but finally I see prh47bridge has accurately summed up what I wanted to say.

Those policies that say they cover you in the event of an accident with an uninsured driver actually relate to accidents for which the other driver is at fault, and ordinarily they would be responsible for repairing your car.

Tax is no longer transferable when you sell a car.

I didn't know that. Thanks for mentioning.

Just to confirm the tax bit. DM passed her car on to me a month ago. We did ask the paperwork bit to register change of ownership and she automatically got a tax refund and I had to tax it from the date of transfer. Not because she wouldn't have quite happily passed over the remaining tax as well, but it seems to be an automated process since they got rid of the tax discs.

if the car is uninsured, whether or not SORN is declared, it is illegal to park it on the public highway. No wheels must touch that highway. Also, the choice is insure or SORN - doing neither is an offence, regardless of where the car is.

their premium will go up next time.

they are lucky you are insured. You certainly don't do any deals, you pass it all to your insurers.

BTW looks like you've done what happened to me, only my car was insured, correctly parked at the roadside and was written off by being reversed into. The accident is of course 100% your fault and your premiums will reflect this. Please reverse IN to your drive in future.