Being sued after car accident

kralas

In may I was involved in a car accident in which no contact happened, but a guy left the road and damaged his car. Anyhow, neither party are accepting blame, and the insurers are dealing with it. Today I got a letter through the post from his solicitors saying I'm at fault and he's suing me for car hire, policy excess, interest and court fees! How, what, when and why? Can he do this? ps as far as I'm aware it's all still waiting on the insurance companies!!!

Thanks guys!

mollypoppy

send the letter to your insurers they will deal with it

mattymoo

Yes of course he can do this if he can prove that negligence on your part resulted in his crash. Did he swerve to avoid you?

Just pass the papers to your insurers and they will handle it on your behalf. Do not enter into correspondance with, or phone the solicitors.

Astaroth

Whilst the insurers handle the matters they are doing so in your name.

If the insurers/ solicitors cannot come to an agreement over both liability and quantum (amount) then the claimant's representatives will issue proceedings against the driver(s) of the vehicle(s) they believe are to blame for the incident. All those people need to do however is pass the letters over to their insurers and they will respond to the claim/ summons on your behalf.

It is generally worth calling the insurers of letters received and then forward them to the insurer. If you receive an actual court claim form then this generally should be posted recorded delivery to help ensure it gets to where it should.

kralas

I was doing the speed limit, on left dual carriageway, looked in right mirror he wasn't there, indicated, looked again, turned right and started to break, and he must have been in my blind spot (as I have a people carrier) and tried to overtake me in the lane I was turning into. He was doing about 20mph above the speed limit and shot past me... i narrowly avoided him, but he lost control and hit the curb. Anyhow, I got the letter friday evening and the insurers close at 5pm! Nice isn't it when you don't know, have a bill for 1400 quid and can't ask anyone... thanks forum!!

kralas

Maybe I could sue them for harassment!

kralas

What's funny is the guy didn't even get my name right. He assumed I had the same name as my girlfriend, and so the letter claims Mr ****** v Mr mygirlfriends name.. but it's addressed to me with my proper name!

huckster

Make sure you have given your Insurers a full statement, including that in your opinion the other driver was speeding. If anyone else was in your car, they should also include a wtiness statement.

I cannot see the other driver being successful. Sounds like the accident was a minimum of 50/50, if not the other drivers fault for breaking the speedlimit and not having proper control of their vehicle. It is a shame that there is no camera recording of this to back your opinion.

Astaroth

Speed in itself isnt an act of negligence. To be honest, an unusually to disagree with huckster, from your own account it does sound that you should carry a significant proportion of the liability if not all. How what you say reads is that you changed lanes without checking your blind spot was clear which you admit is large given the type of vehicle you have and caused the other party to swerve to avoid a collision.

Without independent witnesses it is most likely to be a split liability case on the grounds that you admit doing wrong but will argue his reaction was excessive.

dunstonh

he must have been in my blind spot (as I have a people carrier) and tried to overtake me in the lane I was turning into.

So, it was your fault then.

He was in the overtaking lane, overtaking you. You moved into it and he had to take avoiding action.

huckster

My argument Astaroth is that speed was a significant factor in the accident. Had the 3rd party not been breaking the limit, the poster would have seen the other driver and the accident would not have happened. Also the speed the 3rd party was driving at would have contributing to them not being able to remain in control of their vehicle.

This is pure conjecture. Without proof or independent witness statements, I cannot see how fault will be alloted to either side. Therefore I would expect a 50/50 would be the outcome.