Car Accident in Victoria Where Other Car Is Unregistered/Uninsured

Lkokopop on 25/02/2020 - 14:07

Hi all

Not sure if it's ok to ask for advice regarding a hypothetical situation. I'm sure I'll be told if it's not.

I was involved in a similar scenario as described below but didn't pursue matter as it just was a minor accident and felt sorry for other person.

In my situation though, I had only third party insurance:

Car A has no insurance but is registered.

Car B has no insurance but VicRoads registration expired many months/years ago resulting in registration being cancelled.

Car A & B are involved in an accident, caused by Car B (ie Car B is clearly at fault)

Car B is also being driven by a person who is not the owner of the car (eg they borrowed a friend's car)

If legal action was to be taken by the owner/driver of Car A, would it be taken against:

i) the owner of Car B
ii) the driver of Car B
iii) both
iv) neither/something else

Thanks

KP

Automotive

Comments

  • godofpizza on 25/02/2020 - 14:14
    +1

    all of the above, i hope your not driver A

  • ozhunter on 25/02/2020 - 14:18

    option 2

  • wannagrababargain on 25/02/2020 - 14:19

    The owner of Car B is not liable. The Driver of Car B is the one who brought about the liability (and committed a number of crimes while going about it.) The Driver is at fault, not the "Car".

    Could sue Driver B but they are probably in jail by now…

    • photonbuddy on 25/02/2020 - 14:25

      Ummm … if a car doesn't have insurance, why do most decent insurers cover other people who drive the car?

      If the insurance was taken to cover Johnny, and not his '92 Corolla, then the insurance companies would expect Tracy to have her own insurance when she drives the Corolla.

      Whilst it's true the owner isn't liable if they weren't driving - assuming they have the car in good working order - they are liable for giving Police the information needed to pursue the person who is liable if they know who that person is.

      • DashCam AKA Rolts on 25/02/2020 - 17:02

        Because the car & owner, in the proposed case, were uninsured.
        If a valid insurance policy is taken out, it's predicated on the fact the car would also be registered.

        • photonbuddy on 25/02/2020 - 20:27

          Yeah … the post I replied to was edited. He was talking about the car not being insured, but the person.

          One can only speculate why the edit occurred!

  • photonbuddy on 25/02/2020 - 14:20

    If you have driver details, then 2, if not (they did a runner, or refused to hand over details) then 1.

    Of course, if it's 1, the last-known registered owner can say they have no idea who was driving the car.

    As above, though, I hope you're not driver A!

  • HighAndDry on 25/02/2020 - 14:21

    Generally for owner of Car A:

    1. See if third party insurance has cover for accidents with uninsured other parties (some include this),

    2. See a lawyer about suing driver of Car B.

    There are options about suing owner of Car B too but not practical (or likely to succeed) in most cases, and more to the point, not worth the cost.

  • Diji1 on 25/02/2020 - 14:24
    -3

    It's interesting because in civil cases there's the unspoken "clean hand doctrine".

    Which is basically, if you doing the wrong thing and damages occur then the court ain't gonna help you.

    All parties seem to be doing the wrong thing here.

    You can trust this because I am a qualified e-lawyer.

    • ozhunter on 25/02/2020 - 14:28
      +2

      Car A didn't do anything wrong, they just didn't have insurance.

    • [Deactivated] on 25/02/2020 - 14:41
      +8

      How is party A doing the wrong thing? Last time I checked ozb driving uninsured was dumb but not illegal.

      • kahn on 25/02/2020 - 17:25
        +2

        Driver A voted for LibLab while driver B voted for Greens and was on hold while on the phone to their electricity provider when the collision hypothetically occurred. Driver A is partly at fault for voting the wrong way.

        • [Deactivated] on 25/02/2020 - 17:34
          +1

          Driver A voted for LibLab, you say? No wonder Diji-erm-Driver B rammed into them. They had it coming :p

          • kahn on 25/02/2020 - 17:42
            +2

            @[Deactivated]: Witness A was none other than Rod Sims who wrote a report for the police blaming privatisation.

            • [Deactivated] on 25/02/2020 - 17:50
              +3

              @kahn: Hmmm… I wonder if Sims jumped the proverbial gun there. Without an Ms Paint drawing and the result from the Ozb poll, that fancy report of his is worthless.

  • oscargamer on 25/02/2020 - 14:24

    ii) - the driver caused the collision, not the car or the owner or the status of the rego

  • indium on 25/02/2020 - 14:24

    Driver B is liable. I know your situation was different because you have 3rd party insurance but if an uninsured driver damages your vehicle then most companies will cover you for up to around $3-5 thousand if you are able to get their details and have evidence they were at fault.

  • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 25/02/2020 - 14:38
    +2

    Option 2.

    Driver B is responsible and liable. It's possibly considered not fair but they should be making their own enquiries if driving a vehicle that they don't own. Rego lookup is free and instant for every state I can think of.

    Depending on the circumstances Driver B may have a third party claim against Owner B (ie. driving their bosses car during work etc.) - but that's between them and doesn't involve Owner A other than being a party to the Court proceeding.

  • JimmyF on 25/02/2020 - 15:39
    +1

    Why isn't this a poll!?

    But option 2….. against the driver.

    hypothetical situation

    But really get some full comp insurance so this never comes up as an issue.

    • crentist on 25/02/2020 - 17:51

      Why isn't this a poll!?

      OP wanted more of a tally

      • JimmyF on 25/02/2020 - 19:37

        Oh yes, silly me. The polll results don't tally up peoples votes. Carry on then!

  • [Deactivated] on 25/02/2020 - 16:15
    +1

    Car A has no insurance but is registered.

    Pay up. (If at fault or other party cannot afford to compensate, ie. Bankrupt)

    Car B has no insurance but VicRoads registration expired many months/years ago resulting in registration being cancelled.

    Lube up.

  • HelpMeiCantSee on 26/02/2020 - 08:01

    Third party property or ctp third party? There is a difference. If just ctp, the fault lies with driver a for being a fool

  • kanter on 26/02/2020 - 10:22

    Car A has no insurance but is registered.

    Which means any damage caused by someone driving Car A to another person (not vehicle) would be covered by TAC. Any damage caused to another vehicle or infrastructure will have to be paid by the driver.

    Car B has no insurance but VicRoads registration expired many months/years ago resulting in registration being cancelled.

    Which means that Car B shouldn't be on the road, the driver is completely responsible for any damages caused.

    Because there are no insurance company involved, you have to sue the driver directly.

    I can give you the details of someone who could help you, let me know

    • kokopop on 27/02/2020 - 22:27

      Thanks.

      In my situation I had third party insurance but other driver who was at fault had no insurance and owner of car had no insurance.

      Also, driver of Car B had no money/assets and free legal advice I received was that I could potentially sue the owner. But damage was fairly minor on both sides and I reluctantly decided I didn’t want to go to effort of pursuing matter as there were no guarantees. It was also implied that owner of Car B was not that well off either.

      • CMH on 28/02/2020 - 01:29

        If they are uninsured your TPP insurance might cover you for a small amount.

        Call them and ask.

  • kokopop on 27/02/2020 - 22:28

    Thank you everyone who responded

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