Default Court Judgement after no response - Admiral Law
I was involved in a road traffic accident on 23rd July 2016. The driver of a van drove into the back of my vehicle in stationary traffic. The other driver was quite uncooperative at the time of the accident but I was able to make a note of his car registration and company for which he worked for.
This was a quite simple accident and the blame clearly rests with the third party. However the third party insurers are unresponsive to any of the claim notifications or injury assessments sent to them. Hence, my insurers Admiral Law have decided to issue court proceeding on the defendant (the company of the other driver worked for and not the insurance company). Again there has been no response to the court proceedings after 14 days, so a judgement in default is the next step. This can take 6-9 months I have been told and the court will decide who is at fault and what the compensation amount for injury should be.
My question is the proceedings are against the company the driver worked for and not the insurer, so once the court decides a figure the company will have to pay and not the insurer correct? If so what are the chances the company will pay? Also, any county court judgement (CCJ) will be against the company and not a specific person i.e. the driver, so they could have no incentive to pay correct? Has anyone else been in a similar situation? Should the court proceeding have been issued on the insurer and not the company?
This was a quite simple accident and the blame clearly rests with the third party. However the third party insurers are unresponsive to any of the claim notifications or injury assessments sent to them. Hence, my insurers Admiral Law have decided to issue court proceeding on the defendant (the company of the other driver worked for and not the insurance company). Again there has been no response to the court proceedings after 14 days, so a judgement in default is the next step. This can take 6-9 months I have been told and the court will decide who is at fault and what the compensation amount for injury should be.
My question is the proceedings are against the company the driver worked for and not the insurer, so once the court decides a figure the company will have to pay and not the insurer correct? If so what are the chances the company will pay? Also, any county court judgement (CCJ) will be against the company and not a specific person i.e. the driver, so they could have no incentive to pay correct? Has anyone else been in a similar situation? Should the court proceeding have been issued on the insurer and not the company?
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All court claims are made against the vehicle owner or driver. Never their insurer.
Who told you it takes 6/9 months to get a judgement in default?
Assuming the claimant has requested it, It will be issued immediately after the 14 days are passed (28 if the defendant has acknowledged the claim)
The defendant should pass it to their insurer to pay!0 -
Admiral Law said it will take 6-9 months as a court date will be set to decide the amount that needs to be paid for the injury claim.
There has been no response from the defendant during the 14 days.
What happens if the defendant does not pay or does not pass it on to their insurer to pay? When is the liability of the accident decided? Is a default judgement confirmation that the other side is to be blamed? I had my vehicle insured for 4 months but paid the 12 months premium as Admiral said they cannot refund due to the accident being in dispute and no liability being accepted. So I need the liability confirmed before I can get a refund on the 8 months premium.0 -
All court claims are made against the vehicle owner or driver. Never their insurer.
Who told you it takes 6/9 months to get a judgement in default?
Assuming the claimant has requested it, It will be issued immediately after the 14 days are passed (28 if the defendant has acknowledged the claim)
The defendant should pass it to their insurer to pay!
If it's a claim for injury and not just for a fixed sum, even if judgment is entered in default, the matter still needs to proceed to a final disposal hearing to determine the level of general damages.0 -
Admiral Law said it will take 6-9 months as a court date will be set to decide the amount that needs to be paid for the injury claim.
There has been no response from the defendant during the 14 days.
What happens if the defendant does not pay or does not pass it on to their insurer to pay? When is the liability of the accident decided? Is a default judgement confirmation that the other side is to be blamed? I had my vehicle insured for 4 months but paid the 12 months premium as Admiral said they cannot refund due to the accident being in dispute and no liability being accepted. So I need the liability confirmed before I can get a refund on the 8 months premium.
Assuming that you (or your legal team) have applied for judgement and got it in default, then (assuming the defendant doesn't apply for and is successful getting the judgement set aside) once the figure to pay has been established then your legal team will be able to enforce the judgement, though when insurers are involved it shouldn't be necessary.
Even in straightforward claims it can take this type of time span (and longer) to resolve even when the insurers are co-operating with each other.0 -
Ok, so it has almost been a year since my last response so I thought I will give an update and see if anyone can help answer some of my questions.
So the injury claim was eventually sent to court on 14th Feb 2018 and the case was decided in my favour against the third party (not their insurance). However, Admiral Law have now told me the other side rang them and provided an "email with policy number" showing that their insurance at the time was with Enterprise (underwriter), which has since liquidated.
Now Gallagher Bassett are the appointed firm to deal with any new or existing claims against the liquidated underwriter Enterprise. It has been a month and no response has been received from Gallagher Basset. To be honest, this claim has been going on for almost 2 years and I just want it to be over with.
Admiral Insurance, are refusing to refund my premiums after the accident as they still have not recovered the loss for the car from the other side. Admiral Law are unable to identify who the other side insurers are for 18 months, but now that the finally believe they have the "correct" insurers, they are liquidated and we can't get a response from Gallagher Bassett.
My question is, why are Admiral Law not pursuing the other side directly with whom the court order was against? Why are they now pursuing their insurers? Surely, they should purse the person who they issued court proceeding against, and it is that persons responsibility to get in touch with their insurers at the time. Why should my time be wasted?0 -
My question is, why are Admiral Law not pursuing the other side directly with whom the court order was against? Why are they now pursuing their insurers? Surely, they should purse the person who they issued court proceeding against, and it is that persons responsibility to get in touch with their insurers at the time. Why should my time be wasted?
I can guess at the answer, but you'd be better to ask Admiral Law.0 -
Do you know if the company that the driver worked for actually has any assets?
So many companies these days have a rented office, leased vehicles and leased office equipment. The end result is that they have no assets worth claiming on, and at the first sign of a County Court Judgement, the company will be wound up and replaced by a new one with a slightly different name.If it sticks, force it.
If it breaks, well it wasn't working right anyway.0 -
Exactly what i thought. Which is why I told Admiral Law to issue proceeding against the driver and not the company. Having a CCJ against a company is pointless.0
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Well that's not true. Companies have assets.Exactly what i thought. Which is why I told Admiral Law to issue proceeding against the driver and not the company. Having a CCJ against a company is pointless.
In any case as he was carrying out employment at the time your claim against the individual would fail.0
This discussion has been closed.
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