[martin209aa]

Hi, i am new to this forum. A very nice website and a interesting place to be.

A uninsured driver had jumped a red light hitting me and another vehicle. We are confident it is 100% not our fault because the police have confirmed that the driver who hit us was uninsured and we was both going through a green light.

Just curious, when making a personal injury claim, while paying for the damages yourself on my own vehicle, if you do get a successful payout via the MIB. Does it still go against a claim on your insurance record, if its for personal injury via the MIB service. Do you have to do declare this next year when getting car insurance quotes to company on comparethemarket? Even its personal injury and through the MIB SERVICE? Does it still go down?

If you ever have had a personal injury claim and have been paid out successful BEING NOT YOUR FAULT, did your insurance go sky high the following year when looking for a quote? If so how much by?

I am just worried that if i do make a personal injury claim, and do get some money after months of running around that in the end my insurance will go up double and any money got paid out, i would be given it back for the next five years because my premiums have gone up.

Thank you for taking your time to read this. Wondering what answers i would get..

[TC1474]

Sorry to hear about your unfortunate incident. I hope sincerely that you make a full and speedy recovery. Now to your question.

When you are involved in a crash with either an uninsured or untraced driver, you are entitled to make a claim via the Motor Insurance Bureau (MIB). When we pay for our insurance premium., a proportion of our policy fee goes into a central pot to cover such claims.

However, as you may have already been advised, when you make an MIB claim, the MIB in effect become the third party and defendant insurer in the same way as if you were taking proceedings against the driver directly.

To this end, there are very strict protocols that have to be observed, and the MIB right from the start will be given 3 months to carry out their own investigation before any admittance or denial of liability is made.

They will also act in the role of the third party defendants in looking at ways that any pay outs can be reduced, for example was there any contributory negligence on your part? Were there any mitigating circumstances? In fact all the elements that a defendant insurer will look at, they will look at as well.

In the event that everything works in your favour (as I am sure it will) your PI claim will pay out exactly the same way as if it was the defendant insurers, the only difference is that there s a £350 excess on the damage to your vehicle part of your claim, and you would have to make a separate claim against the MIB to claim back your uninsured losses.

The injury element of your claim is divided into 2 elements.

1. General damages which are for the actual injuries you sustained and each injury has a value which is deemed as minor, moderate or severe and will have an upper and lower value in each category. This payment will also include a payment for lain and suffering, unless you were unconscious or in a coma for any substantial period as it is deemed that you do not suffer pain when you are comatose

2. Special damages which covers all out of pocket expenses (travel, medication or medical costs) vehicle damage, dame to clothing or personal effects, loss of earnings, specialist medical care and so on, and when you hear of the multi million pound settlements, this is where the bulk of the claim is made up.

It usually takes several months longer to settle with the MIB, but if you settle any personal injury case inside 12 months, it is usually a sign you have been short changed because once you sign a full and final settlement, you cannot go back and ask for more money if you have not mended properly unless you sue for professional negligence.

As far as declaring your involvement in a crash is concerned, the short answer is yes you must declare and insurers will usually ask if you have been involved in any crashes in the previous 5 years. Failure to declare such crashes could result in your cover being cancelled because it would be deemed a false declaration if you answered No.

As to whether it will affect future premiums, that depends on the insurers. Although it will be classified as a non fault crash, insurers will still deem you to be a higher risk even though it was not your fault. In short they will look at it as a way t make a few extra shillings, so it can pay to shop around.

What does work in your favour is that it is an MIB claim, and usually claimants using the MIB are not as a rule at fault, but it is something you will need to discuss with them.

As to whether it is worth making a claim, much will depend on what your injuries are. You are entitled to claim for pain and suffering, loss of amenity, out of pocket costs, in short, you are entitled to be compensated so that you are in the same financial position you would have been in but for the injuries you sustained through another's negligence, and then you are entitled to be compensated financially for the injuries you sustained.

Speak to a proper personal injury lawyer, because the other consideration is again dependant on your injury level which determines whether your case is handled on the fast track fixed cost portal, or they are serious enough for them to require multi track where there is no fixed cost or upper ceiling.

I hope that this has helped?

[Santa]

Just a minor point to add to TC's excellent reply:

Right from now, keep a record of everything you have to pay out because of the accident. This might include taking a taxi or having to employ someone to do something you would normally do yourself like cleaning or gardening. Write everything down as it happens.

[TC1474]

Originally Posted by Santa

Just a minor point to add to TC's excellent reply:

Right from now, keep a record of everything you have to pay out because of the accident. This might include taking a taxi or having to employ someone to do something you would normally do yourself like cleaning or gardening. Write everything down as it happens.

You are quite right and I did touch on that when I referred to special damages.

Third party insurers will often try and dispute expenses and it is surprising how quickly costs can mount up.

What I always tell people is to keep a diary (a small pocket diary is sufficient) and make an entry whenever any costs are incurred.

So if you need to use a Taxi because you cannot use your car, make a note f the taxi ride in your diary and get a receipt and put it in the diary.

If you need a prescription, get a receipt and put it in your diary.

Even if you are unable for example to cut your lawn and you pay someone to do it for you and you give them a tenner, you can claim for it.

Once the discussion comes around to looking at settlement, if you then hand over your diary along with your receipts, the third party will have difficulty in refuting those costs.

You may not remember to get a receipt for everything, but your diary and receipts form a type of contemporaneous note and will be accepted more readily than guesswork.