Advice re Personal Injury claim after rtc 4 yrs ago

dud52221

I wonder if anyone could give me some advice please...not for me for my sister in law.
She was involved in an injury RTC 4 and a half years ago. Basically kid ran out in front of her vehicle,usual procedure police were called kid had very minor scratches and a cut to the head. There were no criminal proceedings and the matter was put to bed...well at least she thought so.

Yesterday she received a solicitors letter (NO win no fee job) stating the child involved at the time who was 15 has now decided to pursue a personal injury claim.

She is frought with worry and does not know what to do as obviously she has since changed her insurance company.

I was wondering what can she do...does she need to re contact her insurance company who she was with back then or will her current car insurance policy cover her for this 'alleged' liability?

I have tried to reassure her but she is extremely worried...any advice would be most appreciated.

Astaroth

It is the insurer at the time of the incident that she will need to contact. If there was no claim at the time of the incident she will be best off telephoning them and registering the incident over the telephone and then sending the solicitors letter in.

Depending if the letter she has received is the legal first letter of claim there are somewhat tight deadlines involved for the letter to be replied to so it needs to be dealt with without delay. If it isnt the initial letter of claim then it still needs to be replied to but the urgency isnt there.

If a response is done in time to an initial letter it does allow the solicitor to issue court proceedings as when they please which whilst it wouldnt necessarily go to court it does increase the amount of fees the solicitors can claim for handling the case and so the insurers wont be best pleased.

Once the insurers have received a copy of the letter they will handle the claim as they see fit from then on.... she will just have to be careful about its affects on her NCD if she didnt claim for damages to her own vehicle (I assume she has followed the law and declared the incident even if she didnt claim)

dud52221

Thanks astaroth...there was no damage caused to her vehicle at the time. I will need to clarify if she notified her insurance company at the time.

I think she is concerned that any expense etc will have to be paid for out of her own pocket...i have tried to reassure as best as i can...but i do think 4 and half years later is somewhat an indication of how serious the accident was (Tongue in cheek)...i can only assume that the other party has morethan likely bumped in to one of the high street 'touts' asking if they have had any accident or injuries in the last 5 years (call me synicle!) thanks again.

Bossyboots

I thought the limitation was three years when it is known or ought to have been known an injury existed so unless something has come to light in the last 18 months which can be proven to be attributable to the accident and wasn't known before, surely this is a vexacious action.

mikey-mike_2

Bossyboots wrote:

....surely this is a vexacious action.

that's what i think too

Bossyboots

mikey-mike wrote:

that's what i think too

I've just double checked and in fact it doesn't apply to children. The three years starts running on their 18th birthday.

mikey-mike_2

Even so I don’t think the OP has much to worry about…..

If it wasn’t her fault then any claim will fail

If it was her fault then the child involved is justifiably entitled to damages for injuries sustained but these will be defended (and if necessary paid for) by her then insurance company

Astaroth

The limit for adults of sound mind is 3 years from the date of knowing. For minors or those of non-sound mind the limit is 3 years from turning 18 or from recovering from their mental health problems.

As I say, hand it to the insurance company and they will deal with it.... could be a street tout (though is it just be or does there seem to be a lot less of them these days?) or just a 19 year old now thinking they could do with a bit of help paying for college etc.

dud52221

Astaroth wrote:

The limit for adults of sound mind is 3 years from the date of knowing. For minors or those of non-sound mind the limit is 3 years from turning 18 or from recovering from their mental health problems.

As I say, hand it to the insurance company and they will deal with it.... could be a street tout (though is it just be or does there seem to be a lot less of them these days?) or just a 19 year old now thinking they could do with a bit of help paying for college etc.

I think you have hit the nail on the head and this is exactly my thought!
The claimant was a child at the time and i would have thought that any responsible parent would have sought advice before now if the 'injuries' claimed were that bad..thnaks again

Alex-SPL

One of the most important things is that your sister-in-law documents as much as possible of the accident - time, environment, type of road etc - this will all help to fight the case. As much information as possible will help your cause.

This may be a bit late from your previous questions, but never the less still useful to know!