# Motor Insurance Bureau



## Monty (12 Nov 2004)

Hi All,
I had a car crash over the weekend and the problem is the guy isn't insured. People have told me various things about the Motor Insurance Bureau and what it will / won't cover. 
After looking at their website it appears they cover everything from loss of car/earnings as a regular insurance company would. 
Has anybody had any dealings with these guys? Given that they are (probably) involved with the great "grass-up your neighbours" phone line am I likely to have any trouble with these people? 
BTW everything was ok at the scene, ie guards, ambulance, kids having a gawk etc!!


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## rainyday (12 Nov 2004)

> Given that they are (probably) involved with the great "grass-up your neighbours" phone line


Why would any involvement with the Insurance Fraud hotline make you fear that you would have problems with these guys? [As far as I know, the hotline is run by the IIF, a different body altogether]


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## Tiger (12 Nov 2004)

*MIBI*

I went down the motor insurance bureau route also having been involved in an accident with an uninsured driver.

I engaged solicitors at the time (on the suggestion of the guard).  All of my costs were covered, the case was pretty black & white:
- car
- other out of pocket
- legal (not all, as these fall into 2 categories apparently)
- small amount of compensation

some points to note:
- process is very long, over 2yrs in my case, and that was with no personal injury.  That's about as quick as it gets.
- if you have fully comp, and claim through that, you can't then go to the MIB.

P.S. glad to here everything was ok


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## Monty (13 Nov 2004)

*Re: MIBI*

Hi rainyday,
No, I have nothing to fear. It just appears to me that there has been an agenda these past few years to call anyone making a claim a scammer. To me, the insurance industry sees nothing but a 'suspect claim'. Paranoia on their part, and probably paranoia on mine!! They have managed to push their agenda to the point where others do their investigating for them and leave them free to count their many millions......
My own insurance company sent a guy out to my house to investigate this crash after I reported it to them. If I had been at fault then they would have tried to get to the injured parties and offer them a few quid to settle immediately. They really don't want people going to solicitors.(I know the PIAB has done that for them anyway) It justs seems a bit unethical to me that if I was injured that some guy comes to my house to put pressure on me to settle. You don't get a chance to sort yourself out mentally and pysically. And, of course, this will reflect badly on you when they make it clear you weren't prepared to settle before going to a solicitor.....



Tiger,
Many thanks. 2 Years, wow!! I can't get/don't want a solicitor yet as I'm unsure whether this guy will produce insurance.(He told me he had none but told the cop he did) He has until next wednesday to produce. If he does, its grand because I can claim direct from his insurance. If not, I have to go to MIBI. I'm not going to be pushing for personal injuries, loss of earnings and out of pocket will do... In fairness to the guy, he hung around and took it on the chin. He could easily have legged it. He also apologised which means a lot to me personally.


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## ClubMan (13 Nov 2004)

*Re: MIBI*

*My own insurance company sent a guy out to my house to investigate this crash after I reported it to them.*

No offence but that seems perfectly reasonable to me.


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## rainyday (14 Nov 2004)

*Re: MIBI*



> It just appears to me that there has been an agenda these past few years to call anyone making a claim a scammer. To me, the insurance industry sees nothing but a 'suspect claim'. Paranoia on their part, and probably paranoia on mine!! They have managed to push their agenda to the point where others do their investigating for them and leave them free to count their many millions......


I think you are over-stating the case. As an insurance customer, I see nothing wrong with every claim being reviewed carefully and/or investigated appropriately before payout. I don't want to have part of my insurance going towards 'easy' payouts. And they don't really have 'others do their investigating' - the call to the hotline is just the first step in the process. They still have to investigate & if necessary, send out the private detectives to get the video footage of the back-injury claimant doing her belly-dancings etc.


> My own insurance company sent a guy out to my house to investigate this crash after I reported it to them. If I had been at fault then they would have tried to get to the injured parties and offer them a few quid to settle immediately.


Just seems a bit contradictory to me - You lambaste them for being too hard on you but settling to easily with others. You can't have it both ways. Who was the investigator? Was he a 'claim assessor', responsible for assessing the damage to your car?


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