Am I Entitled to the Driver's Contact Details?

Q.

I was hit by another driver driving a van which was covered by a fleet insurance policy. The police gave me the name of the driver, the vehicle owners details and his insurance policy number. However, the company which owns the vehicle has ceased trading and my own insurance company are saying that if we cannot recover the money from this company's fleet policy my own premium could be affected.

They have told me I am entitled to all the contact information of the other driver but when I have asked the police for this they have said that Data Protection Act applies and they can't give it out.

My insurance company say that the road Traffic Act supersedes this and I can demand this information. Am I entitled to this information?

A.

If you’re unfortunate enough to be involved in an accident with a car that is company owned or fleet owned, it can be a legal minefield to figure out exactly where you stand with claiming compensation.

One of the first points of contact should be your own insurance company. They will be able to advise you on making a claim against a vehicle that is covered by a fleet insurance policy. This in itself can be relatively straight forward, especially if you obtain the driver of the vehicle at the time of the collision. The police should be able to assist you in finding out the drivers name, the owner of the vehicles name and the insurance policy number. This becomes more difficult however if the company have ceased trading and thus you no longer have the right to make a claim against their fleet insurance.

If you’re in the unfortunate situation of having been involved in a collision with someone who was covered by a fleet policy and now that company no longer trades, you have a whole different scenario to deal with. Your insurance company are likely to tell you that if you’re unable to recover the money from the company’s fleet policy then your own insurance premium can be affected. Clearly this isn’t ideal as you don’t want to pay for repairs to your vehicle, especially when it wasn’t your fault.

You may be able to make a claim against the other driver’s personal insurance policy however, but to do this you will need all the details of that driver, including contact information. The easiest way of doing this is to contact the police, but you may be told that they can’t give out personal information due to the Data Protection Act. This is actually the wrong information.

The reality of this situation is that the police are obligated by the Road Traffic Act to present you with the full contact details of the driver of the other vehicle. You are entitled to this information pursuant to sections 151 to 154 and section 172 of the Road Traffic Act. This supersedes the Data Protection Act in this instance and is a worthwhile move to make in order to try and make a claim against the other driver. You should pursue this with both your own insurance company and the police and with the knowledge you have about the legality of the situation, you should be able to obtain the information needed to make a claim.