Jilliebee

Hi

My other half has been involved in a motor accident in which our car has been written off. The guy who went into him said at the time that he was driving a work car and that he had no insurance and wasn't insured to drive it etc. Hubby took all details anyway, informed police (who were not interested) and insurance company.

We only have 3rd party with this car (plus the compulsory third party with the rego) and now the insurance company have said that they can't get in touch with the other driver so there's nothing more they can do!! they suggest we take the other guy to the smalls claim court. What the hell do we have insurance for?

This has left us without a car and with no compensation to get another one. I'm fuming!

I've read our PDS today and it says that the insurance company will pay damages up to $3500 from an insured driver but that we have to provide evidence that the driver was indeed uninsured.

Anyway (sorry for the little rant) any idea how we go about proving this?

Thanks for reading ...

chris955

Bugger, sorry to hear about that. It is one of the major problems with the 3rd party situation in Australia. The driver that hit your car was driving legally even if he had no property damage insurance which seems to be the case here. It is legal for any driver to jump into any car and drive it but unless they have separate insurance they arent covered for damage to another vehicle or property. Your insurance company would have to sue the driver responsible but as you only have 3rd party yourself they wont be interested. The only real option I see is to take it to the small claims court and hope you can get the money that way. It happened to us years ago in Victoria and ended up being a total loss as the other driver wasnt insured, was drunk and had no money.
Best of luck.
My advice would be get comprehensive insurance from now on, that way you take the other driver out of the equation.

Jilliebee

Thanks for that. I think you're just verbalising what I suspect anyway. That we now have no second car and no funds to buy another one

Yeah, my car is fully comp but his was just a car to get to and from work in the wet season. Only cost $4000 4 years ago so didn't seem worth taking out full insurance. Don't have another few grand to replace it though

Good job we are moving to Melbourne in January where hopefully we won't notice the loss of the second car lol x

Thanks again

Dorothy

I would think that if he was driving a company vehicle you could go after the company. Surely they would be insured and the drivers of their vehicles would be on their policy.

Jilliebee

It was just a white ute with no logo etc. The insurance company wrote two letters to the driver but as he has not replied (surprise surprise) to comfirm whether or not he has insurance they won't do anything else.

knockoff nige

I don't see this as any different as to how it is in Ireland. If someone doesn't have insurance, you can't claim off them. If you only have third party insurance, your car isn't covered. Unfortunately, it's the risk we take with 3rd party.

Court is the way to go, especially if he has accepted blame and has given you his personal details.

Chortlepuss

Are there any witnesses?

chris955

In Ireland are you legally allowed to drive a car with absolutely no property insurance ?

Sherlock Holmes

No, you aren't, but, if they do it any way, it can leave you up the creek. Even if they are prosecuted for the driving offence, it doesn't get you any money. That part of the incident is a civil debt, not a criminal / traffic act one.

On the mainland there is a govt. pool of dosh to cover this type of event.

chris955

That is the same as anywhere, at least if property insurance was compulsory you would have a far greater chance of getting something, as it is in Australia you get the situation with loads of young drivers in big cars with no insurance.

Tim65

If the person who caused the accident only has 3rd party insurance you are covered are you not ?,You are the third party

Has he admitted liability if so you should be able to take legal action,if not against him then with the company he is working for or did he take the ute without permission even so the company must be insured for events like this.

Dreamy

If the driver was 'uninsured' (ie using the CTP only) then this only covers personal injury to another party, not damage to property or cars.

old.sparkles

Can't help with the insurance Jilliebee. Thought I would ask if your husband is okay?

Jilliebee

Yes, he's fine thanks.

No witnesses. They guy gave his info willingly but as I said, he told my OH straight away that he had no insurance.

The guy at our insurance company recommended we put in a complaint if we were not happy at what they were doing (or not doing) so we did. They have now appointed an investigator to see if he can confirm the position with the other guys insurance. Will look at small claims court once our insurance company make a decision.

Thank you for all your comments

chris955

The problem is that a surprising number of people driving in Australia think that the CTP insurance you pay for with your registration is actually third party property insurance when it actually only covers injury. It's a bit scary how many think they are driving fully insured.