Compensation following a "Hit and Run" accident

Over fifty years ago the Motor Insurers' Bureau was set up to help victims of accidents caused by uninsured or untraced drivers. For accidents from the 14 February 2003 a new arrangement governs the entitlement to compensation. This is known as the Untraced Driver's Agreement to 2003.

The good news is that the Motor Insurers' Bureau will now entertain claims not only for personal injury but also for damage to property (excess £300 with an upper limit of £250,000).

The Motor Insurers' Bureau will now also pay an improved contribution towards legal costs, although the amount is unlikely to provide a full indemnity in respect of costs which may be incurred.

There are, however, some scary technical hurdles to by jumped before a claim can proceed. Examples are as follows :

• Whilst you have three years to bring your claim for injury you have only nine months in respect of a claim for damage to property
• You have to report the accident in which you suffered injury to the Police within 14 days
• If the accident caused damage to property you have to report this to the Police within 5 days
• You have to obtain a written receipt from the Police to show the crime number

The moral then is do not delay in reporting hit and run accidents to the Police and taking legal advice as to how you must satisfy the terms of the Untraced Driver's Agreement 2003. Delay may be extremely costly!

At Hand Morgan & Owen Nigel Pepper, Partner and Member of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) or Patrick Nelson, University of Wolverhampton Personal Injury Prize Winner can assist.  Both are based at our Stafford Office and may be contacted on 01785 211411.

Published on web site - April 2007

The contents of this article are for the purposes of general awareness only. They do not purport to constitute legal or professional advice. The law may have changed since this article was published. Readers should not act on the basis of the information included and should take appropriate professional advice upon their own particular circumstances.