does anyone know (for sure) what the situation is if a licence hasnt been renewed and you have an accident.

the mrs unknowingly let her licence lapse.

whats the go with the claim process.?

police were on the scene. they fined her for expired licence and said she couldnt drive till it was renewed.

she went in the next day (today) and renewed it.

anyone know for sure if she can still make a claim or is there an extended excess because of the fact. she isnt going to mention it unless they ask.

i'm pretty sure they won't pay out - i was always under the impression no current licence = no insurance

If your with RACQ then your insurance wont cover the incident.

Others would probably be the same.

she's not covered
read your policy though - I don't get why you'd post on here

that's gonna be an expensive lesson.

I don't get why you'd post on here

cause our internet is stuffed and i can only view one page every once in a while.

Pretty sure that legally she shouldn't have been behind the wheel of a car, so I highly doubt she will be covered. Sorry, probably not what you wanted to hear. I guess it might depend on what information the insurance company asks for. If you are required to declare these things, you're prolly boned, whereas if they just ask you to fill out a form then you might not have to declare it... who knows.

lodge your claim and just play dumb/innocent. Don't mention it unless they do. Maybe you get lucky.. else, hopefully the damage isn't too expensive :o

Don't insurance companies tend to look at the police report on these matters? I'm assuming that mentions the fact that she was driving sans license.

lodge the claim, if they ask tell them the truth if they don't so be it...

actually you're all wrong, if her license had been canceled/suspended she doesn't have any insurance
but it was just expired, she still has a license - just not valid

she can go get her license today so she wasn't exempt from driving, she should lodge the claim as normal

its strange cause years ago when i had a suspended licence for DUI i insured my car for the purpose of other people driving it.

they told me (racq at the time) i was covered even though i had no licence.
i did the 'you are kidding arent you' and they said you are covered but the excess would just be enormous.

Your insurance policy may allow the insurer to refuse a claim if your car was driven by an unlicensed driver when the accident happened.

I guess then Its just up to the definition of unlicensed

Licence renewed - thank you for the reminder! It's so easy to do online.

how about this

RING EM UP!

if they ask who it is, say reversing truck and hang up

actually you're all wrong, if her license had been canceled/suspended she doesn't have any insurance
but it was just expired, she still has a license - just not valid

she can go get her license today so she wasn't exempt from driving, she should lodge the claim as normal

I would have thought that to be allowed to drive, you have to have a valid driver's license. Maybe I'm wrong...

if they ask who it is, say reversing truck your Mum and hang up

I think you're probably fucked mate. Suncorp's PDS states explicity:

We will not pay a claim for an event occurring when your vehicle is being driven by, or is in the charge of,
anyone who:
• was under the influence of, or had their judgement affected by any alcohol, drug or medication
• had more than the legal limit of alcohol in their breath or blood, as shown by analysis
• refused to take a legal test for alcohol, drugs or medication or
• was not licensed, not correctly licensed or not complying with conditions of their licence.

This seems to clearly include expired licenses, and no doubt its a pretty common condition. You might get away with playing dumb...

last edited by Hogfather at 15:39:33 26/Oct/09

You might get away with playing dumb

maybe in the magical land where insurance companies aren't out to protect themselves before anyone else..

So how much damage did you do?

Insurance companies make money by NOT paying out. If they can find a reason not to, they wont.

Same for if they can just stall you long enough that you give up.

It's a numbers thing. If .0001% of people don't claim when they're first rejected or based on their reputation for being sticklers, they're lying on big piles of money with hookers and blow.

An invalid licence still means they aren't licenced to drive though at that point in time.

That certainly makes sense, but teq's comment seems to disagree???

I let mine lapse for 6 months once, didn't have to do anything special to get it back, just had to pay, if I were her I'd get my arse to the department of transport and pay for another 5 years or whatever right now and not let anyone know.

Edit: I also got a speed camera fine during that time, nothing extra in the mail.

FWIW I was with a mate who wrote his car off on whilst suspended on his licence coming back from a doof after 2 days...insurance company did not check his details and he was paid out in full for the write off

I also work in insurance and can assure you that the people running this place couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery I reckon there's a good chance you'll get away with it...

cause our internet is stuffed and i can only view one page every once in a while.

I mean I thought you'd have a paper copy of the policy that you could just refer to, which would provide you with a absolute answer instead of ppl's guesses on a forum

if your insurance company is anything like the insurance company i work for then claim = denied.

unless you get lucky and they don't check, but as people have already mentioned it will be in the police report.

I also work in insurance and can assure you that the people running this place couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery I reckon there's a good chance you'll get away with it...

sounds like where i work!

I hope she renewed it before close of business today, and hopefully no one does too much checking.

even if the accident is 100% the other persons fault and you dont have a license then your to blame cause you shouldnt have been on the road and therefore the accident wouldnt have happened.

I mean I thought you'd have a paper copy of the policy that you could just refer to, which would provide you with a absolute answer instead of ppl's guesses on a forum

yer true but i was at work and didnt have any paperwork with me.
was trying to shed some light from real life experiences or people who work in the field. people do it all the time on this forum.

not sure how much damage was done cause i wasnt there.

3 cars. first car braked hard, second car pulled up just behind first car, the wife hit second car and it nudged into the 4b in front.
little damage to car 1 rear bumper, bit of damage to car 2 in front, no damage to car 2 rear, wifeys car busted up in front.

the cop decided not to issue with a court order. he hasnt done his report yet and not in until thursday.

play the waiting game i guess.

sounded like they were some decent cops and told the wife to tear up the court order they originally issued. they also didnt issue her with a fine for following too closely which is standard procedure when you run into someone.
it helps being a pretty little thing and cutesy it up a bit i guess.

k after considering your responses, I've decided that it's ok that you're asking qgl about this issue
please continue

Jim aren't you supposed to call it AusGamers?

they also didnt issue her with a fine for following too closely which is standard procedure when you run into someone.

How can something be standard procedure when there's so many factors to take into account?

do as I say, not as I do hoggles!

jeez whats the go with all the knit picking.

ok maybe not standard procedure but generally they conclude running into the back of someone as following too closely.
or so im led to believe

also

k after considering your responses, I've decided that it's ok that you're asking qgl about this issue
please continue

why thank you oh gracious one.
crouches and cowers appropriately*

teehee

sell me your car sleepy. i am all the insurance you need

sell me your cutie wifey sleepy i'm all the insurance she needs

Hey sleepy

I work in insurance industry.

You won't b e covered if the insurance company knows you are unlicensed to drive the vehicle, regardless of if it was an accident or not.

I don't normally post but felt I could be of help.

Bad luck and hope it doesnt cost you too much.

Cheers.

You won't b e covered if the insurance company knows you are unlicensed to drive the vehicle, regardless of if it was an accident or not.

They weren't exactly unlicensed, just let their licence lapse. Is this the same thing? It's just it didn't feel like the same thing when I let mine lapse and renewed it some months later.

you really think an insurance company won't have every single possible way out of paying out a claim? unless your ins company is the coolest ever or they are incompetent (i.e. don't pick up on the expired licence) i'd be super duper surprised if the claim is accepted. i know for a fact if he's with the insurance company i work for he hasn't got a hope.

but i'm rooting for you!

This thread is full of insurance company negativity that normally I'd jump on, but the people that work for them aren't all money grabbing filthy corporates. I can't go in to details but A Friend had a large at fault claim ($200k+) with very lapsed insurance and they came through.

My advice would be, assuming you are in the same sort of ballpark and not just a $2k dingger is call up and speak to them. Be very polite. If your mrs is suitably upset and scared have her explain what happened. Go over it a few times. Be worried.

hopefully you have an insurer with local understanding staff not Indians. It's a person on the other end of the line listening to your troubles. They may relate. They may help if they can.

Driving with a lapsed licence is equal to driving unlicenced. It doesn't matter if the licence in question expired 8 months ago or 8 mins ago, if it has expired you are unlicenced until you renew it.

Simple.

pics of wife or lying

Actually, you very likely will be able to get the claim paid, if it was a particularly expensive claim i'd be stamping up and down.

While all PDS's will say that they won't pay if you aren't licensed, the problem occurs that the courts will look at why you weren't licensed at the time. If it had simply lapsed becaused you didn't renew it, then they court will rule in your favor. The reason being that you not having a valid license, was not the cause of your accident, i.e. you were still a competent enough driver.

If the license was cancelled due to demerit points or something like that, that's a different case.

Now, whether the claims officer you speak to will know this, is a different question. But push it high enough up the chain and someone will.

The reason being that you not having a valid license, was not the cause of your accident, i.e. you were still a competent enough driver.

Sleepy's wife was at fault, as she hit the back of the car in front of her, who nudged the car in front of it. (W -> C2 -> C3->). So her being unlicensed has everything to do with the accident as she was not supposed to be driving a car.

yeh giri is correct on this Financial Ombudsman would most likely rule in your favour so defo lodge claim, however as I mentioned above I personally would not tell them unless they ask it is not your requirement to disclose anything which is not specifically requested of you though if you are asked and fail to then you're more likely to have issues

Actually, it has nothing to do with the cause of the accident, the cause of the accident was her following too closely.

Your argument while by the strictest of rules is correct. But this society we live in works with many exceptions to every rule, and this is one.

I'm not just speaking shit, i do believe its been run through court many times, and has always come out as i said, the court looks at WHY it wasn't valid at the time. It simply being lapsed, is not a good enough reason to not pay the claim.

But yeah, as others have said, i wouldn't go out of my to mention it to the insurer.

last edited by giririsss at 10:04:07 27/Oct/09