Car Insurance - potential CCJ for third party claim?

robster1978

Sorry abouth the length of this post!: I was involved in a car accident with another car last year at the end of November 2008 which was my fault which I did not dispute. My then car insurance company admitted liability paid out for my car (a write off) and the third party's car (also a write off).

I last spoke to my insurance company at the beginning of June 2009 who told me that the third parties car had been paid for and that there were just settling a claim for personal injury (the third party had involved what I term 'ambulance chasers' at an early stage) which would be sorted out within a couple of weeks.

Then on 21 November 2009 I was horrified to receive in the post a County Court Claim from the third party's solicitor against myself for what seemed like an incredible amount of money - unspecified damages for injury, over £6000 for a hire car etc. Needless to say the medical reports and solicitors claims contain many errors and seem dubious.

I informed my insurance company and they stated that they were contesting the claim and that they would defend it in court if need be. However bearing in mind that they only have 14 days to act from 20 November 2009 (when the papers were issued) and that they have been slow and disorganised (that is to put it kindly) in the past I am not sure that they will take action in time.

I have tried to keep most of my communications between myself and them as written (by email) so that I have documentary evidence of what has been going on.

I am very concerned that the insurance company’s inaction will lead to me ending up with a CCJ against my name and while I know that it can be set aside this is a pain and will take yet more of my time to sort out and will also reduce my excellent credit rating until it is set aside. I know that the insurance has to indemnify me against the monetary claim of the third party.

Since this accident I have probably made around 30 telephone calls sent 15 emails, spent hours scanning and emailing documentation and posting documentation to the insurance company. I feel like I am doing there work for them.

Has anyone else been in this situation and what did they do about it? How can I get my insurance company to take action? Thanks.

Quentin

Issuing a summons like this is a regular tactic to get slow insurers to respond. and is really to bring matters to a head.

As long as you are sure someone with a bit of sense at your insurer has received the court docs, you can leave it to them to resolve. For your own peace of mind contact them and speak to a manager about your worries.

(The 14 days isn't the whole timetable - once an acknowledgement or defence is submitted, then this becomes a much longer timescale until a hearing takes place, and most of these cases don't actually result in a hearing.)

(And the 14 days start from the "date of service" which is 5 days from the date the summons was issued)

Astaroth

As long as the judgement is paid within 1 month of judgement it will not impact on your credit record.

In addition to their "inaction" it may well be the fact they are disputing quantum that has caused the claimant to issue (ie they accept your responsible for the injury but disagree with the claimant over how much compensation they should receive.)

You simply need to phone your insurers to tell them you have received a summons and follow their instructions - most will ask you to post it recorded delivery.

In all my claims handling I can only think of one cases where the monies were not paid within 1 month of judgement and that was due to a system glitch.

mattymoo

The questions to ask your insurer are -
a) Has a solicitor been appointed to handle the court summons on your behalf?
b) has a defence been lodged with the court?

The defence will normally be along the lines of admitting liability but disputing quantum (amount) of the claim. It is a holding defence that will stop judgement being given due to inaction.

I suspect in your case the big issue is the hire car bill. There is a lot of protracted legal action between credit hire firms and insurers who dispute the size of the bills. Test cases are likely but there is a huge dispute on the evidential side at present.

Quentin

mattymoo wrote: »

The questions to ask your insurer are -
a) Has a solicitor been appointed to handle the court summons on your behalf?
b) has a defence been lodged with the court?

A defence does not need to be lodged within 14 days from the date of service, and usually this is too short a time frame.

All that needs to be lodged during this first 14 days is an acknowledgement. This then gives them 28 days to enter a defence (or if they want, pay up without further court interference)

robster1978

Thanks for all your replies. I scanned in and emailed all of the court documents as soon as they came (the insurance company said this was ok). Hopefully now their solicitor will sort things out, I have emailed the insurance company but as usual have got no response so will call them again tomorrow.
To be honest I hope they do argue the third party claims in court because both the injury and hire car claims would appear to be well over the top. Too many people are making claims like this and pushing the cost of insurance up for everyone.

robster1978

Just to update you all, I emailed the claims handler on Monday to ask for an update - no response, so I emailed him and I believe his line manager on Tuesday - no response.
So yesterday I tried ringing them - all I could get was a voicemail even when ringing the main number! Anyway after this I decide to ring the county court to see if the insurance company's solicictor had filed an acknowledgement of service - guess what as of yesterday afternoon the court has heard nothing at all!
So late yesterday afternoon emailed the claims department the claims handler I have dealt with, the other contact I have and their manager and the complaints department) to tell them this and as yet have had no response.
Will try calling them again in a bit, where do I go from here?
Thanks

Quentin

Leave this to your insurer - don't get involved with the court yourself.

Follow up the scanned court docs you sent them by sending them the hard copy in the post using recorded delivery, and ask them to confirm they are dealing with this.