Hi Hopefully someone can help me. I do have a good lawyer who has explained this all to me, but I wanted to know if there is anyone who has experience of the possibility of additional charges being added to the defendant once they have already been charged? Current situation: Was smashed off the road by a suspected drunk driver, complete write off - other driver refused breathalyser at scene and was arrested. They seemed fine, but I sustained several injuries as did my daughter, a minor. Police officer asked me for a brief statement at the scene. I instructed PI firm, who have been excellent. It's quite bad atm, and my head is my biggest concern. No word from police, despite chasing the RTC team. Eventually manage to have an evidence folder setup, so I can upload our written statements, crash photos, and a video showing road conditions were good. Local area, and a friend in emergency services said the defendnt is known to the police for this type of offence. Six weeks after the event, the OIC (officer in charge) calls to say the defendant is being charged with 'failure to provide a specimen'; he wants to add dangerous driving to the list of charges and needs to come and take our statements. He was the arresting officer, accompanied the defendant to hospital, where the defendant refused to allow the doctors to take blood samples. He obtained signatures from the medical team stating there was no medical reason for the refusal to provide a specimen as he wanted the defendant off the road. He thanked us for the detailed plan and other evidence, and said he will simply copy and paste our statements and get our signatures. He wants to make sure the defendant is off the road. 20 mins after the call I receive an email from the OIC stating his sergeant has confirmed the overarching charge is 'failure to provide a specimen', so they do not require statements from us. Nothing further needed, and happy to take questions. I asked why dangerous driving cannot be added and will the CPS view all our evidence and statements? I also mentioned that surely it is new information to the police that I have serious injuries and this makes the case for dangerous driving even stronger. No response from the OIC to date, nearly a week now when responses were within 24hrs previously. A barrister friend of mine has said this is ridiculous and it is quite clearly a case of dangerous driving. He suggested the lesser offence is the path with the least resistance and this ensures conviction without the additional effort of a dangerous driving charge. Lawyer has advised that, whilst not an ideal situation, the case should be strong enough to demonstrate negligence. My issues: I know the lawyers for the defendant will claim that clearly it was not dangerous driving otherwise the police would have prosecuted for it. And that this might impact my PI claim. Not vindictive, but this person nearly killed me and my daughter. We were broadsided whilst on the main road passing a give way and they were going approx. 45-50mph. If we had a smaller car we'd be gone. I do not want this person driving for a very long time. Looking online, there are lots of lawyers specialising in quashing 'failure to provide a specimen' charges and I'm struggling to relax on this one. What joy can I expect from pushing the police for an answer? Are the CPS likely to accept my evidence and investigate if I get through to them? Sorry if I'm not coherent at the moment, my head is still cloudy and long thought processes aren't easy. Hopefully someone can offer some helpful advice. Thanks.

Yes

Quick update: Admiral were taking a very long time to get in touch. I was waiting for a long time using online chats, hours waiting on phone lines etc. My head injury has caused me to speak slower, type slower, think slower, and move slower in general at the moment. I'm hoping and praying for a full recovery soon. After getting fed up with the status quo and being incapable of listening to their hold music any longer, I emailed the CEO of Admiral directly. I said it needed to be resolved that day. The CEO responded within half an hour and claims team called within the hour. In summary: Confirmed all insured fine and that this is the same car I insured with Admiral. Useful to have both V5C documents. Reg change has been taken care of. Clear non-fault accident. Total loss settlement team will have a figure in a few days (assured by CEO). Originally assumed a total loss, but have also asked them to verify this as I do not know for sure. It was dark and we ended up off the road. I will be contacted by management regarding my complaint. They are still confirming the other driver was insured as their registration had a mistake. I believe it to be an honest one, but they need to verify this with the other side first. Identity of other driver: unknown. Have requested this from police, but presume insurers will need to find this out once report finalised. I haven't even been contacted by the police for a statement after the incident. Personal injuries to driver and passenger: was recommended by Admiral to Admiral Law. Not entirely impressed with their setup so I will hopefully be instructing a firm I know and trust to handle the case. All in all, a pretty good result. We could be dead, and I prefer the glass half full view. Just hard to get going when the brain is so slow! A big thank you to all of you for helping me. I'm usually pretty on it and capable. But I really needed your help and I thank you for your time and patience.

Much better thanks. I was a wreck yesterday. And when the officer said there was no insurance I was really worried. I was able to give my policy number and show the original mark though and they wrote it down. I called 101 today and went through to the county police HQ and they said well if there was an issue with the insurance then they should have checked that by now, and would have arrested me then or by this morning so that's a good sign hopefully!

I will do. You have helped me a lot on a very difficult and traumatic day.

You are a genius. Just checked in my folder. Have both. Photographed both, and sent off to insurers. It's the same car, they accepted the modification to my policy the day after the incident for £5.50. So I would like to think I stand a better chance with all this evidence. It wasn't intentional but I understand why it's wrong - hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Claim started. Many thanks for all your help. Let's see where this leads...

Ok, thank you dx100uk. That makes sense. I'll check that with them. I feel like a right idiot for not sorting it out. I guess I forgot this one. Not making excuses, I should have done it, but it was an honest mistake.

Hi Honeybee Yes. It's exactly the same car, VIN the same etc. No changes. Just private plate put on. Sorry if I am not that clear. I'm laid up in bed struggling to move easily and headaches are bad atm! So, drunk driver's car insured and hit us hard. Our car a write off. Police said mine was coming up as uninsured on that registration (the private plate). I proceeded to show the insurance policy and original registration to show policy was taken out for my car. I just changed the plate. I'm worried because it's an HP and I need to make sure the money is repaid to them by the other side.

Hi I'm hoping you can help me with this: Was smashed off the road by a suspected drunk driver, complete write off - other driver refused breathalyser at scene and was arrested. They seemed fine, but I sustained several injuries. Police officer asks me for a statement, then tells me the car is not insured. I said that's crazy, I insured it the day I bought it. I proceeded to download the policy in front of the officer, and showed the document. The officer said it was for a different registration. It was then that I suddenly realised I may have forgotten to tell the insurer. I'm sure everyone says this, but I was being very careful. The other driver was utterly wreckless, it was as if they were trying to dash across the junction without stopping. I even had full beam on. I think it was the crazy speed they were doing and their state of mind that combined to create this perfect storm I'm in now! Car has valid MOT, recent services and a brand new set of Michelins all round. It was performing so well. Before I'm vilified for not notifying my insurer of the reg change, I certainly did not do it on purpose. I notified the HP company and the DVLA at the time (late October - around 4wks after start of policy). I have since found it is only £5.50 to make this change and there's no way I would avoid that for this car! I am learning a very valuable and hard life lesson here. But I really need some sound advice to help me take this forward and ensure I am covered appropriately. As far as I can tell, the insurer cannot refuse to insure the vehicle unless they would have refused to insure the car with the requested change. I understand this in terms of modifying a vehicle, not something I have done at all. However, this implies that a registration change is not an unreasonable request, nor one that should be refused by Admiral. Please, please, please, can you advise me how to approach the insurers and what I need to ask for? I have never been involved in an accident like this before so appreciate all advice. Do I need to beg for some kind of indemnification? Are they allowed to reduce cover?