Car hit by foreign car with dodgy reg

[Istanbulnotconstantinople72]

Name changed as it's possibly outing.

My car was hit today by a left hand drive lorry. The driver just didn't see me and drove into the passenger side. No major damage, just scratches and dents, though my neck has started feeling a bit stiff.
The problem is the lorry was from another country and when I reported the incident to my insurance and gave them the licence plate, they said they couldn't find it. So now I'll have to pay the excess of £600.
Is it worth trying a no win no fee type solicitor? I always got the impression they were dodgy, but why should I be on the hook for £600 because some idiot didn't look where he was going?
Can anyone recommend a decent company?
Thank you.

Who are you thinking the No win, No fee solicitor will sue on your behalf?

I have the driver's insurance details but my insurance company didn't even want to see them. Maybe the solicitor would tkae more of an interest? I've never had an accident before so I'm not really sure what to do in this situation.

This solicitor I used to work with and he used to do driving and motor claims, he could be worth a try.

https://www.jdspicer.co.uk/site/people/profile/jonathan.lynn

I highly doubt a no win no fee solicitor will handle this as there’s no guarantee they’d win their claim. It might not be that much to bring an initial claim though.

Thanks for replying, and for the link. I suppose it is a bit low. I'm just angry at the injustice of it. £600 isn't a drop in the ocean for me. Thanks anyway.

I had similar and my insurance company weren’t interested in sorting it out, they were just happy to have £500 excess and I think would have had it down as my fault/or unknown fault. I employed a no win/no fee solicitor…..you have to have an injury but a neck problem is an injury 🤷‍♀️. My wrist felt sore after my accident and if there hadn’t been the issue of me about to have to carry the blame and lose my excess for it I wouldn’t have claimed for my wrist. But ended up with 2.5k compensation and my excess returned.

Which country is the lorry from? If it's a Green Card country, some NWNF firms would take it on.

I would go to my local police station and ask there advice

Glad you got a good result. My neck isn't too bad, though everyone has said to see how I feel in the morning.

It was from Turkey. Turns out TR on the licence plate doesn't stand for Transylvania as I'd always thought! I hadn't heard of Green cards, I'll look it up. Thanks.

This happened to me a few years ago. A foreign lorry driver drifted into my lane on the M4 and side shafted me, sending me into the fast lane. It was just coming up to rush hour and getting very busy. Thank heaven there wasn't a more serious accident and I managed to get across to the hard shoulder. I also got his registration number because he didn't stop.

The police at Reading refused to do anything about it, said they wouldn't be able to trace him, so I had to claim on my own insurance. Even more insulting, I had to present my documents at my local police station!

Your insurance company will want to claim back their outlay from the lorry driver’s insurance company so will take an interest at some point. They won’t have access to the MIB’s database which identifies UK handling agents for foreign registered vehicles. It’s the Green Card Scheme that will apply. Unfortunately any excess payable is because you claimed on your insurance, not because you weren’t to blame. If the handling agents accept liability they will reimburse this to you. Do you have any dashcam footage or independent witnesses to say it wasn’t your fault? If so, your insurers may waive the excess as a gesture of good will. If you are not happy with your insurance company you can always complain, and ask them to be more proactive. Re any claim, it will be hourly rate work given a foreign registered vehicle is involved. And I doubt any driver from Turkey will want to travel to the UK at their own expense to attend any Trial to defend this matter when they will get nothing out of it. Not a recommendation at all but if you don’t have LEI cover on your insurance policy, or home insurance policy may be look at Carpenters, Irwin Mitchell, Lyon’s Davidson, Slater Gordon for an initial chat. They seem to be quite prominent from what I can see. Good luck!