Yes , similar here. (Although I am out of date) We have ( or had) the MIB ( motor insurers bureau) which basically all insurance companies paid in to as a levy on premiums received. This covered cases of eg, uninsured or untraced drivers. It was a safeguard but only covered basic loss. In most cases it only covered for personal injury with, in the main, no cover for loss of property or lost earnings. Alongside this we had what was the CICB ( criminal injuries compensation board ) that would cover certain elements ( not generous) and a very slow process. Even with CICB there were lots of hurdles they put in to prevent claims. Sadly, for years , lawyers have campaigned for a “no fault” process to compensate the innocent who have suffered loss through no fault of their own. Medical and other claims, eg a genuine accident with no negligence but with a catastrophic outcome. Many insurance companies, surprisingly were behind this. Legislation is belatedly coming through to stop the deluge of unwarranted claims eg whiplash where insurance companies roll over and pay too easily . May never come to fruition but this is where most of our premiums go. Not to say genuine whiplash claims should not be settled!
I had MIB ( uninsured losses cover ) we paid extra for it and we were glad we did one year. We had moved to an house on an estate through road but had no driveway as such so my Mitsubishi gallant ( my pride n joy at the time) had to be left on the road. One night a uninsured young lady high on coke ploughed into the back of it at 30 mph ( ) burying her Ford Fiesta bonnet deep into the rear seating area, needless to say it was a right off and low and behold she wasn’t insured. The MIB sorted everything out very promptly and paid more than the full value as I had documentation and pictures of a very well looked after Mitsubishi gallant VR4 and a letter from the local Mitsubishi garage stating their opinion of it. I still miss that car and still find it hard to forgive the girl as anyone sat in the back would have died instantly.
Footnote. The young lady was it transpired a local bad un into burglary, drugs, harassment etc, she was wanted by the police and after coming to my house to ask if I could change the date of the accident as she was now insured and offering me all sorts of favours was arrested as she left and got nine months prison. Her chap was already inside so her poor kids went into care. I felt awful, but it wasn’t what she did that night that put her inside it was her other behaviour and the outstanding arrest warrant.
That was us God knows how many years ago, just didn’t know any better and thought they all were like that. Picked up knowledge over the years of ownership, until it’s now a rusty, leaky wreck getting the gutters done, in fits and starts when other stuff doesn’t take priority. One day it might be finished but I can’t really see it, as I get one thing done there’ll be something else needs doing. Living the dream alright!
It were different in the olden days when everyone drove relatively slowly - there were lots of cars on the road that barely scraped along and I owned a few of them. Now with everyone driving faster and closer, with the roads clogged it's a different game and you do need your ve-hickle up to scratch and able to both keep up and stop fast.
