“I was going to struggle financially without MIB's support”
When mother-of-two, Natasha, had her car damaged by a hit-and-run driver, she was heartbroken. And she was left facing a bill for the excess of hundreds of pounds.
I was devastated. Maybe that sounds silly, because it’s just a car. But the fact that someone could do that and just run away was just so upsetting.
With one child at nursery and another only 11 weeks old, Natasha relied on her car every day. Losing it, even temporarily, added pressure to an already challenging period.
“I had a lot going on and now my car was damaged, and I didn’t even know how I was going to begin to rectify what had happened.”
To make matters worse, none of this was Natasha’s fault – she wasn’t in the car when the crash happened.
“I was in my flat, preparing my son’s lunch to take to nursery and I could hear a moped was being driven up and down the road. I heard a massive crash and when I went outside, I realised that my car had been crashed into.
“When I saw the damage to my car I was panicking because I need the car. I use it every single day.”
While Natasha was grateful that no one was hurt – if it had been 40 minutes later, she would have been putting her children in the car – the emotional toll was real. “I had so many questions. I started feeling really stressed as well.”
“When I realised I had to pay the excess, which was £750, I was worried because of the cost of living; just to get that money was going to make life very, very difficult for myself and my family. The only thing I could think was that I wouldn’t be doing nice things in the summer holidays with my children.”
She spoke to the police and asked them what she could do about the excess on her insurance, they said that she could try getting in contact with MIB.
“When I first understood what MIB could do, I felt hopeful that, even though at that point my financial situation was not good, potentially in a few months down the line I could get that money back. I was grateful to learn that there was somebody out there that could help me.”
