Might have to go Bankrupt because of a claim bought against me :(

PippaGirl_2

When you signed the hire agreement for the man and van, did it say in the small print that you would be liable for any injury to the driver caused by his manouvrering any goods or in the course of his work? Do you still have a copy of the small print/hire agreement?

shan7-8-6

PippaGirl wrote: »

When you signed the hire agreement for the man and van, did it say in the small print that you would be liable for any injury to the driver caused by his manouvrering any goods or in the course of his work? Do you still have a copy of the small print/hire agreement?

Hi PippaGirl,

I didn't ever think I would need to keep the hire agreement for it, that job was done in 2009, and there were no complaints at all, it went smoothly so I never thought to keep the agreement. Is there anyway I could have force the van hire company to give me a copy of the agreement? I'm sure they keep copies and I don't think they would want to give me it! Also I have the jobsheet for the driver, but that has no small print on it. Just an outline of the job.

shan7-8-6

dt3887 wrote: »

and if/when you prove it is a flase claim, i trust you will be counter sueing them?

What would I actually be able to sue them for? It's not fair that I'm being sued and can get no legal aid whatsoever but then these no win no fee companies are happy to fork out thousands fighting false claims.

Mouse1812

shan7-8-6 wrote: »

Is there anyway I could have force the van hire company to give me a copy of the agreement?

Yes it's called disclosure, all parties have to supply on request copies of all documents relevant to the case.

geri1965_2

shan7-8-6 wrote: »

Hi,
They are claiming that I had a "duty of care" and that I "breached" that duty of care and that he suffered loses because of this!

I checked the household insurance, my dad never got the extra legal cover

I'm going to go down to the citizens advice centre tomorrow and hopefully I'll be able to get help with filing a defence.
Thanks for the advice

You don't need extra legal cover - that would be for you to pursue claims against other people. Most household cover have a "personal liability" section, which would cover defence costs for a claim made against a member of the household. For example, if I ran into the back of my car when I was on my bike, and the motorist decided to sue me.

Double check the policy and it's there, give the insurers a call. There might be an exclusion relating to driving a vehicle, but in this case the claim doesn't actually arise from driving the vehicle itself.

It also might be worth posting about this in the insurance forum.

withabix

geri1965 wrote: »

OP, did you have household contents insurance at the time of this incident?

This appears to be a business transaction, so this wouldn't help.

Unless the OP has a living room full of dentist chairs as bespoke furniture.

geri1965_2

Ah, OK. Didn't notice that bit in the OP. Might be covered though if there is no specific exclusion.

shan7-8-6

geri1965 wrote: »

Ah, OK. Didn't notice that bit in the OP. Might be covered though if there is no specific exclusion.

Hi,
Thanks, I didn't know about that, and I'll check the papers tonight!

I went to the citizens advice, they just said put in a defense yourself, and that was it -_-

shan7-8-6

I found my dad has contents cover from co op and buildings from aviva, they both cover "personal and occupiers liability up to £2mill" does that mean I'd be covered and I'd be able to get financial help from them to defend myself?

chanz4

No as is was for business purposes