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Con/fake or genuine letter? two years old!
misterbarlow
Posts: 474 Forumite
My father (who is 68) has had a letter today claiming to be from Northampton county court saying that someone is claiming damages from him for an alleged accident on 21st May 2010, thats almost TWO YEARS ago!
It lists a claimant address which is about 1/2 mile from his house, and says the location of incident is the same road, where there is a large local shopping precinct of about 25 shops...
It lists a car reg that my father did own at that date, and claims at 8.30am on 21st may 2010 he drove into the claimants vehicle, which was safely parked to the side of the road, and caused damage before driving away.
They are claiming over £1800, about £1300 for a hire car, and the rest for damage repair and interest.
Although he uses those shops a few times a week, he is adamant he has never at any time in the past hit or collided with any other vehicle, either there or anywhere else.
If geniune why is this two years ago and taken til now for him to hear anything at all about it?
Surely if you saw someone hit your car and drive away and got their reg, the first thing you would do is contact the police, and second thing is contact your own insurance company, one of whom would have contacted you before two years?
Secondly why is this coming as a private claim from a claimant himself and not an insurance company?
The whole things stinks of a rat to us, bu the paperwork all looks very genuine and offical?
He strongly insists his innocence on this!
Who would be the best first point of contact for him to try and find out if its real or part of a con job?
And if it is real from the court, he insists he did not do this and its a fabrication, does he then have to go to court and hire legal aid etc??
It lists a claimant address which is about 1/2 mile from his house, and says the location of incident is the same road, where there is a large local shopping precinct of about 25 shops...
It lists a car reg that my father did own at that date, and claims at 8.30am on 21st may 2010 he drove into the claimants vehicle, which was safely parked to the side of the road, and caused damage before driving away.
They are claiming over £1800, about £1300 for a hire car, and the rest for damage repair and interest.
Although he uses those shops a few times a week, he is adamant he has never at any time in the past hit or collided with any other vehicle, either there or anywhere else.
If geniune why is this two years ago and taken til now for him to hear anything at all about it?
Surely if you saw someone hit your car and drive away and got their reg, the first thing you would do is contact the police, and second thing is contact your own insurance company, one of whom would have contacted you before two years?
Secondly why is this coming as a private claim from a claimant himself and not an insurance company?
The whole things stinks of a rat to us, bu the paperwork all looks very genuine and offical?
He strongly insists his innocence on this!
Who would be the best first point of contact for him to try and find out if its real or part of a con job?
And if it is real from the court, he insists he did not do this and its a fabrication, does he then have to go to court and hire legal aid etc??
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Comments
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What insurance company was he with at the time?0
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Should pass it on to his then insurers to deal with or at least contact them for advice.PLEASE NOTEMy advice should be used as guidance only. You should always obtain face to face professional advice before taking any action.0
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misterbarlow wrote: »My father (who is 68) has had a letter today claiming to be from Northampton county court saying that someone is claiming damages from him for an alleged accident on 21st May 2010, thats almost TWO YEARS ago!
It lists a claimant address which is about 1/2 mile from his house, and says the location of incident is the same road, where there is a large local shopping precint of about 25 shops...
It lists a car reg that my father did own at that date, and claims at 8.30am on 21st may 2010 he drove into the claimants vehicle, which was safely parked to the side of the road, and caused damage before driving away.
They are claiming over £1800, about £1300 for a hire car, and the rest for damage repair and interest.
Although he uses those shops a few times a week, he is adamant he has never at any time in the past hit or collided with any other vehicle, either there or anywhere else.
If geniune why is this two years ago and taken til now for him to hear anything at all about it?
Surely if you saw someone hit your car and drive away and got their reg, the first thing you would do is contact the police, and second thing is contact your own insurance company, one of whom would have contacted you before two years?
Secondly why is this coming as a private claim from a claimant himself and not an insurance company?
The whole things stinks of a rat to us, bu the paperwork all looks very genuine and offical?
He strongly insists his innocence on this!
Who would be the best first point of contact for him to try and find out if its real or part of a con job?
And if it is real from the court, he insists he did not do this and its a fabrication, does he then have to go to court and hire legal aid etc??
Claimants have up to 6 years to make a claim.
Northampton County Court don't issue letters but an official court summons. It will have a claim number on it.
If you still doubt it's authenticity, you could call the court and quote the claim number to confirm its authenticity.
But as the earlier poster says, best to send it direct, without delay to your insurers to handle."Now to trolling as a concept. .... Personally, I've always found it a little sad that people choose to spend such a large proportion of their lives in this way but they do, and we have to deal with it." - MSE Forum Manager 6th July 20100 -
Bear in mind the claim has to be responded to, or service acknowledged, within 14 days of service.
If not, a default judgement is issued requiring the defendant to pay 'forthwith'. The judgement can then be enforced by bailiffs, charging order etc.
A claim from NCC is deemed to have been served 5 days after it was issued.
We see a surprising number of claims like this at the CAB - usually more than two years after the incident0 -
OP, your dad would have known if he had hit another car as he would have at least scratched the paint on his.
Best to follow advice and phone the Court to see if it is genuine before he gets in to a panic.
If it is genuine, then you can always post on here or Pepipoo for further advice if required.Never Knowingly Understood.
Member #1 of £1,000 challenge - £13.74/ £1000 (that's 1.374%)
3-6 month EF £0/£3600 (that's 0 days worth)0
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