Car insurance is about as much fun as dentistry. Except dentistry may be easier to understand. Imagine that a friend said to you, “Just give me a bunch of money each month and if you ever get in an accident, well, I’ll have the money waiting for you so you can fix your car. Unless of course, you caused the accident. Because then I have to use all the money you gave me to fix your car and, well then you’ll just have to pay me more each month afterwards, ’cause you obviously should not be behind the wheel. Oh, and if you didn’t cause the accident? We’ll just have to talk to that guy’s friend to see if he’ll pay for your car…and I’ll still probably need to get more money than you were giving me each month, ’cause, well you know…we’re friends. Car insurance companies can be helpful, but they are in business and as far as them being friends, well, the dentist will treat you better.

Sadly, not ever driver on UK roads is insured, which begs the question – what if you collide with one of these drivers?

According to the Road Traffic Act of 1988, Section 143, all drivers in the United Kingdom are required to have their vehicle insured. This is to make sure that in the event of an accident caused by you, your insurance will pay to compensate for the damage resulting from the accident. Unfortunately, some drivers ignore this rule and do not opt to insure their vehicles. They prefer to save themselves the cost of car insurance. When an accident happens to people without car insurance, it is the ones who do have insurance coverage who end up paying the cost of repairs.

According to the Department of Transport that approximately 5% of drivers are driving without auto insurance. The drivers most likely to be involved in an accident are those that are uninsured. It is hard to stop the growing number of uninsured drivers. The Motor Insurers’ Bureau would reimburse you, less and deductible you are responsible for, if you are involved in an accident where an uninsured driver is at fault. Where does the Bureau get the funds to do this? Some of the increased costs of insurance are provided to the Bureau from the insurance companies.

Compulsory Excess – the amount the insured individual must pay toward damages. This amount is determined at the inception of motor vehicle insurance and will depend upon an individual’s age and driving record. An older person with a clean driving record, for example, may have to pay £50. With a poor or short driving record, a person might have to agree to £500. The average for compulsory excess is £100.

The amount you wish to pay in addition to what the insurance company works out towards your insurance policy, is called Voluntary excess. In this case the insurance company gets an alert message that it need to shell out more in case of a claim in this case. Automatically you get a reduction of a few pounds since the insurer may not accept to your proposal of paying more.

When submitting a claim to your insurance company after an accident, you will need to be sure that you have all of the information the company requires in order to be reimbursed. They will need the receipt showing the cost of all repairs and also, a copy of the repair schedule showing the exact repairs completed. It is also very important that you inspect your car before leaving the garage to make sure that all work has been done satisfactorily.

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