Help Needed For Son

jacnorm

My son had a minor bump in his van last July he exchanged details of insurance etc and thought it was all dealt with at the time but today he has just came in from work and there is a letter which states its from a solicitor in stockport (we live newcastle) and that the other party is claiming £271 through the courts at stockport. Can they do this ? Also why would it come from stockport when both parties are from newcastle? Apparently the letter states the case will be heard tomorrow and as he has just got the letter now he has no time to sort this matter out as he will be at work in the morning and the office does not open till 10 in the morning.

lisyloo

and thought it was all dealt with at the time

What do you mean by this?
Did the other party agree to "full and final settlement"?

Can they do this ?

If it wasn't fully settled then they have 6 years to claim for property e.g. car (3 years for personal injury) so if it wasn't settled then yes they can.

Also why would it come from stockport when both parties are from newcastle?

I can only guess, but perhaps this person has legal costs insurance as an option on their car insurance and the solicitors are based in Stockport.
They won't always be in the local town.

Apparently the letter states the case will be heard tomorrow and as he has just got the letter now he has no time to sort this matter out as he will be at work in the morning and the office does not open till 10 in the morning.

Personally I would take the day off work as a personal emergency and go to the court with the date stamped letter and explain to the judge that it's just been received (or send a retired or unemployed friend or family member).
Or call the court in the morning as soon as they open.

Can he get in touch with his insurance company now? or the legal cover people to get advice?

Quentin

Let your insurer deal with it. You don't have to attend a court on receipt of a letter from a solicitor. The court issues summonses!

If there is a hearing tomorrow, and this is the first your son knows of it, your insurer will get the court's decision overturned.

jacnorm

Thankyou so much for the reply thats put his mind at rest Quentin

dacouch

A large percentage of the solicitors who deal with Accidents are based in Manchester / Liverpool hence you have a good chance when a solicitor is involved that it comes from that area

rictus123

Phone your insurers, this sort of thing is what they are there for! Do you have legal cover in your policy?

Crazy_Jamie

The thing that jumps out at me here is that this is the first thing that your son has heard of this and there is a hearing tomorrow (and given that it is a small claim, that will likely be the trial itself). Ordinarily that simply cannot happen, as there is procedure to be followed, and your son would have received many more documents in the post before the notification of the hearing date.

A few things to check. First of all, is this absolutely the first that your son has heard about this? The solicitors clearly have his address, so he should have received further documents, such as the claim form, particulars of claim and so on. He should also have filed an acknowledgment of service and allocation questionnaire at the very least.

If this is the first thing that your son has heard about this, then you should check with the insurers whether or not they know about this. The two main likely explanations for this is either that your son is lying and he's known about this and ignored it (sadly it happens), or that the insurer has been dealing with this all along and a document has accidentally been sent to your son direct when it should have gone to them.

Either way, if there is a hearing tomorrow that your son is expected to attend and this is the first he has heard about it, it must be adjourned. In which case he needs to get onto his insurers and/or the court first thing tomorrow. This whole situation is very odd for a number of reasons. Another point is that the claim should have been allocated to a court in or close to Newcastle rather than Stockport. Both parties live there, so that is where the claim would ordinarily be heard. The position of the solicitors is relatively insignificant by comparison.

ijgreer

If the claim is being handled by a 3rd party legal expenses cover provided by the insurance cover, then the court can be held anywhere as far as I know.

Crazy_Jamie

ijgreer wrote: »

If the claim is being handled by a 3rd party legal expenses cover provided by the insurance cover, then the court can be held anywhere as far as I know.

Don't get me wrong. The case can be allocated to any court in theory. But it is usual for it to be allocated to the court that is most convenient for the parties and witnesses. Solicitors firms can afford to pay for their representatives to travel anywhere. Witnesses and parties don't usually have that luxury. There are rules dictating when a case must be allocated to the Defendant's home court, but those do not apply here. Still, you would expect this to be in Newcastle or a surrounding area.

ijgreer

Oh yea, agree with you there, the company in question must have an interesting map of England when working out their choice of court.