CCJ threatened from year-old accident

LayZ_3

Got a letter this morning, maybe some of you will be able to help.

The missus was driving my '89 Golf GTI last June and hit a guy in an import '91 MX5. It was on a single track road and she couldn't stop in time (she locked it up) as he came round the corner. Minimal damage to my Golf, required a new wing from the scrapyard etc, but his rear 3/4 panel took a beating. Guy driving was early 20s, and I know that it was his dad's car, hundreds of miles away from home - he was using it while at Lancaster Uni.

The insurance settled it (or so I thought) on 50/50 liability in August last year, and I lost 2 years ncb. Fast forward to today, (11 months after settlement!) and we have got a court claim form from them, claiming for £1466 repairs, plus £270 excess, plus court fee!

The other thing is that it is my name used as the Defendant, whereas it was my parter who was driving (I wasn't there at all). Not only that but they've got my name wrong.

They claim the Defendant was:

* Driving too fast
* Failed to accord the presence of the Claimant's motor vehicle on the highway
* Failed to take avoiding action, steering swerving or otherwise to avoid the collision

First impressions are that he's trying it on. Surely they will have had an insurance payout? If I had got a garage to fix my car I would have done, at 50% of the total cost.

Clearly we have to contest this, and can fill in the response pack, and also file a defence and/or counterclaim (no reason to do this). Any advice greatly appreciated.

Bossyboots

The first thing you need to do is contact your insurance company and tell them what you have received and see if they will deal with it.

It looks to me as though they are claiming for the balance of the repairs, plus their uninsured losses (the excess) which have arisen out of the 50/50 settlement.

However, a claimant has a duty to mitigate their loss and by issuing proceedings without writing to you and asking you to settle what they believe is their claim, they have incurred the cost of the court fee without giving you an opportunity to negotiate. I would therefore certainly object to paying the fee on the basis that proceedings were issued without notice.

I would imagine any defence here is that the insurance companies have already paid out and the claim settled. I have not come across this before where someone has sued for the balance of their loss but maybe Astaroth has and can help out a bit more.

They may have issued the claim against the policyholder but, it is clear that in its present form the whole claim can be defended in any event. As you are named as the defendant, it is clearly wrong that you were driving too fast and the other things mentioned, because you simply were not driving.

Subject to what your insurance company say, I think you should just return the acknowledgement and file a defence on the basis that you were not driving the vehicle and therefore cannot have done what is claimed in the paperwork.

Altarf

LayZ wrote:

First impressions are that he's trying it on. Surely they will have had an insurance payout?

Yes but probably losing NCB and an excess in the process. They obviously were not happy with the insurance companies settling 50/50 (assuming it was two companies and you were not both insured with the same one) and believed that your wife was 100% at fault and are attempting to reach that position.

Send the paperwork on to your insurance company and let them deal with it as it will be them who will have to pay out if the claim is successful.